A MAJORITY of staff at Frankston Council voted down a pay offer last week amid an ongoing stand-off between employees and council management over a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
A vote held last Monday (14 August) saw 386 council employees vote against a proposed 1.4 per cent pay rise and 275 vote to accept the pay deal.
It is the second time workers have rejected the proposed new EBA.
Australian Services Union branch executive president Michelle Jackson praised the solidarity of council staff who “are holding firm and refusing to be short changed” by a pay increase lower than the annual consumer price index rise, also known as the cost of living.
“No other metropolitan council is offering 1.4 per cent. Frankston is offering the lowest pay increase in the metropolitan area,” Ms Jackson said.
“Most other councils are 2 per cent or higher.”
She noted the pay offer is effectively “a pay cut” since it is below cost of living increases at a time Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe is urging workers to push for pay rises “for the good of the economy”.
Union members have taken industrial action in recent months – including a refusal to process fines on specific days – as the pay dispute drags on.
The ASU notes council CEO Dennis Hovenden received a near 10 per cent pay rise in 2015.
The mayor Cr Brian Cunial said in March this year that the CEO declined a pay increase offered by councillors as part of a performance review.
“The CEO’s total remuneration package will remain at $325,000, resulting in a 3.2 per cent average annual increase since commencing as CEO at Frankston City Council in October 2012,” a media release in March stated.
It is understood that councillors are due to talk about the CEO’s performance and pay this month as part of a scheduled review.
Mr Hovenden said last week “it is disappointing that the revised agreement has not been accepted by a majority of employees”.
“We appreciate and thank employees for taking the opportunity to cast their vote on this matter,” he said.
“We are reconsidering all of our options before going back to negotiations with EBA representatives.”
Ms Jackson said the ASU has asked council management to meet with the union again and may ask its members to vote “to escalate industrial action” if an agreement on pay and conditions cannot be reached.
