Union members at Noosa Council will strike for the second time in just over a fortnight on Thursday, in an ongoing dispute over wages and conditions.
Striking members of The Services Union will hold a stop-work rally from 10.30am to 1.30pm along Hastings Street, Noosa Heads.
Work bans, including restrictions on emails, phone calls, and meetings, started on Tuesday.
The union and the council are at a stalemate after about six months of negotiations.
The council has offered a 13.5 per cent pay rise over three years, starting with 6.5 per cent in the first year and 3.5 per cent for the next two years.
However, union members are holding out for an 18.5 per cent increase over three years, made up of 9.5 per cent in the first year and 4.5 per cent for the next two years.
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Union members held a day of strike action on March 19 and there have been no formal discussions between the sides for about a month.
TSU Senior Organiser John Denny said members had had enough of Noosa Council’s failure to recognise their worth.
He said the increases offered by council would bring staff wages up to par with Gympie Council only temporarily.
“Noosa Council keeps comparing wages to Gympie Regional Council, yet a Level 3 Stream A employee in Noosa earns about $4000 less per year than their Gympie counterpart – and Gympie is now bargaining for further improvements,” Mr Denny said.
“Despite extreme cost-of-living pressures, Noosa Council expects workers to accept a wage increase that doesn’t keep up.”
Mr Denny said Noosa Council had a 20 to 30 per cent staff turnover rate and needed to do more to compete with other councils for staff.
He said 30 per cent of the council’s staff lived outside the shire due to affordability issues and others worked elsewhere where pay and conditions were better.
“The council themselves have said they want to compete more favourably with Gympie Council … there’s a lot of people that work at Gympie Council because conditions are better,” he said.
Mr Denny said the council had saved money through vacant positions and needed to put that money back into its workforce instead of spending $2 million on a new payroll system.
“Our members are saying you need to improve your offer because it’s all having an impact on our wellness due to the increased workload,” he said.
CEO Larry Sengstock said the council’s offer was “fair and reasonable”, aiming to tackle cost of living pressures, ensure employment security and be financially responsible.
“We’ve had productive discussions with the unions during the process but their position for a much higher wage increase would have significant impacts on council’s budget,” he said.
“Our offer of 13.5 per cent over three years is well above inflation and is recognition of the efforts of our staff during a challenging economic period.
“Our staff continue to deliver great services for our community. However, we need to be financially responsible and keep rates down and limit cost pressures on ratepayers.
“Apart from a generous wage offer above inflation, we’ve included many of the conditions asked for by the unions, including five days health and wellbeing leave among others.”
Mr Sengstock said council was committed to striking the right balance between staff and Noosa shire ratepayers.
“We’ve made submissions to the Industrial Relations Commission and fully respect the right of employees to take protected industrial action. We look forward to the designated process of this independent tribunal to deliver a fair and reasonable outcome for our people,” he said.
“Council does not expect any major disruptions to community and will be looking to minimise any issues as they arise.”
Mr Denny said staff were not interested in backing down.
