Creating staff certainty at Inner West Council
Thursday 23 November 2017
Inner West Council will expedite the permanent placement of all outdoor and key worker positions before Christmas.
Affected staff include those working in Footpaths, Roads, Traffic and Storm water, Trees, Parks and Sports fields, Mechanical Services, Resource Recovery, Children and Family Services, Community Operations, and Recreational and Aquatics.
An extended period of restructuring from the top down has meant that many of Council’s key worker and outdoor staff are still waiting to hear about the security of their future positions within the amalgamated Council.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, who brought the proposal to the Council Meeting on Tuesday night, said that securing the jobs of 400 - 500 of the Council's lowest paid and hardest working employees in the lead up to Christmas was a significant step forward for the working rights and security of low income people in our community.
“These workers have been told for the past 18 months that they would have to reapply for their jobs and have been left feeling fearful and anxious. They will now receive an official letter before the end of the year letting them know their jobs are safe. Their work deserves to be valued and respected,” Mayor Byrne said.
On Tuesday night Council resolved to:
- Complete the bulk transfer of the permanent positions of outdoor and key worker staff, and notify these workers of this decision “urgently”
- Extend the former Leichhardt Council five-year employment protection to all staff
- Complete further harmonisation of employee conditions and service standards through collaboration between the Council executive, workers and unions.
- Identifying the best equal opportunity employment practices of the three former councils and across local government for implementation.
“It is important the new Council reflect the values of our community by raising the bar in gender equity, women in leadership and attracting, retaining and developing Indigenous people and people with disability," Mayor Byrne said.
“After such a long period of upheaval and disruption, I want Council workers to have confidence that they are valued and that the organisation that they work for wants the best conditions and opportunities for them,” Mayor Byrne said.
“We need to move on this now, before we risk further impact on the morale of our employees,” Mayor Byrne said.