Council staff face sack for illegal work bans

Andrew Mathieson
COUNCIL staff could face the sack or have wages docked for striking over a pay rise push, their boss has warned.
City of Greater Geelong chief executive Stephen Griffin said walking out on the job was illegal for some of the City’s workers.
“Only those employees who were members of the participating unions were eligible to take part in the industrial action,” he said.
Mr Griffin said the City planned to apply to Fair Work Australia to have some bans lifted, arguing the industrial action had compromised “health and safety issues”.
The Australian Services Union had invoked members to implement 11 work bans including attending staff meetings with supervisors or team leaders, some street cleaning work, issuing infringement notices, processing rates or infringement payments and acting on requests from councillors.
Mr Griffin said the work bans created a “very difficult situation” for council and the community.
“It is very disappointing that the unions are pushing ahead with work bans but we will do our best to maintain council’s services across the municipality,” he said.
Many of the City’s 450 staff complied with the work bans on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The bans led to the City abandoning services and activities such as policing car parking fees and issuing fines.
An Independent survey during the strike found that motorists were still paying for two-hour parking despite the strike, with tickets in 29 of 30 parked cars.
Union officials entered a second day of negotiations with City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to broker a new deal.
The union wans a 14 per cent increase over three years. The City has offered annual rises of 3.75 per cent over the same time.
Mr Griffin said the unions’ demands were “excessive and unreasonable” and unaffordable amid the economic crisis.
The proposed pay increase could cost $28 million in increase rate hikes, he warned.
A council spokesperson said City workers were already paid in a mid-to-high wage range compared to other councils.
Australian Services Union organiser Barry Miller did not return the Independent’s calls for comment before the paper went to press.