ASU Members at Onkaparinga Council Take Their Message to Elected Members & CEO

Congratulations to ASU members who took a step last night towards securing their rights at work and a fair wage increase. ASU members, joined by community members and members of other Unions, held a meeting outside the Onkaparinga Council meeting; by standing together en masse the CEO and elected members got the message that Onkaparinga staff are prepared to work together towards fairness.

Members at Onkaparinga have been negotiating their issues with management for more than six months.

One of their issues was a wage increase. Over seven (7) weeks ago staff rejected management's wage offer of CPI plus 0.5% per annum (with a minimum of 3% per annum) plus (possibly) 1.5% at the time of voting; they clearly stated that this offer was unacceptable and that they were still claiming 5% per annum. The wages issue remains.

There is another issue of great concern. Onkaparinga management are indicating that they may be unwilling to maintain existing and any negotiated conditions in their new agreement. They say this is because of the Howard Government's new laws.

Members want an unambiguous commitment to preserve existing terms and conditions of employment and are prepared to continue to work together towards this.

It was wonderful for ASU members to also have the support of some elected members last night. We will be working with supportive elected members across Local Government to help secure rights at work for ASU members in Local Government.

Well done to all ASU members at Onkaparinga on their efforts so far; there is no doubt that by sticking together they will win on the issues they care about.

If you would like to assist the Onkaparinga members or talk about how you can get more organized in the lead up to bargaining your workplace please call Katrine Hildyard at the ASU Office.