Mid Coast salary system dispute arbitrated

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Published: Thursday, 16 November 2023 13:32

This is the dispute that earned MidCoast our prestigious Worst HR in Local Government Award in 2022, it continued in attempts at conciliation and a six-month trial and went into formal arbitration in the Industrial Relations Commission in Newcastle on 7 and 8 November.

The dispute, to which the three local government unions and the ETU have all been made parties, is over the imposition of a new salary system with different progression arrangements that disadvantage existing staff – moving the goalposts during the game.

This is accompanied by a legal argument to unpick the protections available in clause 8(xii) of the Award that allow employees to remain on their existing salary system if a new salary system disadvantages them.

The Council’s original argument picked up on the use of the word “structure” in clause 8(xii) and argued if they didn’t change the structure, no one could be disadvantaged. In response, because we have a shared interest in protecting the integrity of salary systems and how they can be changed only by avoiding disadvantage, LGNSW and the unions in the 2023 Award negotiations agreed to remove the word “structure” to remove that argument. They then found another argument, unpicking the wording out of the context of its intention, again.

Both sides have swapped settlement offers and the dispute resumes in the IRC in Parramatta on 13 December. At the conclusion of proceedings in Newcastle Commissioner Webster recommended that the parties try to reach agreement in the meantime.