The Noosa community has been asked to be patient as further industrial action threatens to disrupt or delay some council services.
Members of The Services Union have been involved in ongoing protected industrial action after negotiations with the Noosa Council on a new Certified Agreement stalled.
TSU members on staff currently have work bans in place, which include not checking emails and not issuing parking tickets, as part of their campaign for improved wages and conditions.
They have held two strikes and TSU Senior Organiser John Denny said they were currently considering their next step.
A council statement said it was doing what it could to minimise the impact but delays in responding to some customer requests were likely.
The statement said parks, roads, plumbing and local laws were the most affected areas.
The council’s Customer Service and all community facilities, including the Leisure Centre, libraries, Noosa Seniors, the J, Noosa Regional Gallery, and Peregian Digital Hub, are operating as normal.
Planning and regulatory services such as development assessment, environmental health and event permits remain unaffected.
Council CEO Larry Sengstock has apologised for any disruption to council customers.
“The non-union staff in Council are working diligently to respond as quickly as they can and I hope the community can understand the current situation,” he said.
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The council has warned there are likely to be further impacts due to the rolling, unpredictable nature of the stoppages.
“The community may get little or no notice of what and how services will be affected. We simply ask for patience and understanding.”
Mr Sengstock said conciliatory meetings before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission had commenced and further talks were scheduled for May 7.
“We are willing to negotiate in good faith and are mindful of the importance of striking a balance between maintaining services, being financially responsible to our ratepayers and rewarding our employees,” he said.
TSU members at Noosa Council have been aiming for an 18.5 per cent pay rise over three years, comprising 9.5 per cent in the first year and 4.5 per cent in the subsequent years, to acknowledge the rising cost of living and to achieve parity with staff at other councils.
Mr Denny said the council had previously offered 13.5 per cent, made up of 6.5 per cent in the first year, 3.5 per cent in the second, and 3.5 per cent in the third year.
He said the council more recently offered 5.5 per cent in the first year, and 4.5 per cent in each of the next two years, but this was a lesser offer than had already been put on the table.
“When you look at it initially, that’s an extra 0.5 per cent but they (employees) are actually worse off when you look at the compounding effect,” he said.
Mr Denny said TSU members were steadfast in their position and would look at further action while Mr Sengstock had the power to bring the dispute to an end.
“If he wants to stop any inconvenience to the community or holidaymakers, he could actually do that at any point in time, and the way to do that is to table an offer that is acceptable to members.”
