There is no need to keep asking, the Board of Local Government NSW will meet on Friday 6 June and at that meeting will endorse a proposed new Local Government (State) Award for three years from 1 July 2014.
Negotiations over a long period have resulted in an “in principle” agreement between the negotiators for the employers and the unions. The “in principle” agreement needs to be ratified by the peak decision-makers at LGNSW, their Board of 24 councillors and, when it has been ratified, it will be formally offered to the three unions.
We will probably be advised on the afternoon of Friday 6 June of whether the Board has accepted or rejected the proposal, or fiddled with it, and we have high hopes that the board endorses what has resulted from a very cooperative and inclusive exercise.
You can expect to receive a special depaNews with details of the offer the week after.
Treasurer Joe Hockey has been talking up the “inevitability” of an increase in the retirement age all year. The Government in the recent budget endorsed proposals that will see Australians working until the age of 70 before there are eligible for the age pension.
Prior to the election the Treasurer said people should “work as long as they can” and ridiculed responses that there were many jobs were so physically demanding and debilitating that this would be impossible.
"The Government’s appointment of Rogerson as a role model for ageing Australians illustrates that no one should be written off at the age of 73. Roger is an inspiration to many of us”, Treasurer Hockey said. “An active life, never hurt anyone”.
Winking distractedly, the PM observed it was a bit like fighting fires. Sometimes you had to smash a door down.
