Frustrated Cairns Council members walk off the job over Council’s double standards

Frustrated CRC staff set to walk off the job over Council’s double standards
Public can expect delays

Cairns Regional Council employees sick of Council’s blatant double standards have voted to down tools from Friday.
ETU Organiser Rob Hill said residents are advised they can expect delays and to find alternative days to conduct council business.
“Workers are disappointed and frustrated by Council’s ongoing wage freezes and lack of good faith bargaining. While they don’t take industrial action lightly they believe it is the only way to send Cairns Regional Council the messages they have been ignoring for the past year and a half,” Mr Hill said.
The key issues for workers include the lack of any progress in finalising a fair and reasonable Enterprise Bargaining Agreement that seeks to maintain current conditions and provide pay increases that alleviate cost of living pressures. The other issue is Council’s double standards when it comes to infrastructure spending.
“The workers have only received piece meal administrative increases which pale into insignificance compared to the increases received by Mayor Manning and his Councillors during the same period.
The way Council is behaving means hardworking Council workers are going backwards in real terms against the cost of living, as the administrative increases don’t even come close to keeping pace with CPI” He said.

“As indicated in previous media statements there are double standards in other areas as well. They see Council splashing money around when it comes to the Cairns Performing Arts Centre, where Council have nonchalantly signed off on millions of extra dollars due to “Scope Creep”.

They see the Council’s PR team boasting about a $1.8 million surplus and a massive $160 million-dollar infrastructure spend, and they the workers are rightfully asking, “Why is Council refusing to pay responsible pay increases that would cost Council a fraction of those spends and why aren’t they ensuring critical infrastructure is appropriately maintained? He said.