Union claims Ballarat council staff 'worst paid' in Victoria

This claim comes from current enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations with ASU for the council employees which started in 2023.

The ASU used EBAs from other Victorian councils available from the FairWork website to compare wages in comparable wage periods, broken down into hourly rates.

They claim Bendigo and Geelong council wages are at least $2 or more per hour higher, and neighbouring shires like Moorabool "look after their workers better" in comparison.

They also claimed wages were higher for workers at Warrnambool, Horsham, Mildura, Shepparton, Wodonga and Latrobe councils.

ASU deputy secretary Tash Wark said Ballarat was the "worst place" to work if someone wanted to earn a reasonable living wage.

"The City of Ballarat is actually one of the worst paying councils in Victoria which we see as highly unacceptable for a major regional centre," she said.

"Comparing Ballarat to another council growth zone like Wyndham, the wage disparity is even greater.

"A band three worker in Wyndham - these are the people who work in jobs like childcare, waste, depot, and leisure services - will earn $150 a week more than their counterpart in Ballarat."

Ms Wark said the union had been told by members on the ground they'd been advised by council $850,000 would be needed to fund these claims.

An agreement was put to staff without the documents being provided to the union, which Ms Wark said was a lack of transparency.

The ASU was attempting to negotiate a new enterprise agreement with the City of Ballarat, but requests like having access to changes in documents for workers are being denied by executive management, the union have claimed.

"We have asked them three times, and the document is still not in our hands. Instead they have issued it without union consultation, hoping to bully our members into an agreement which leaves them worse off'', Ms Wark said.

Ms Wark said it was premature to put an agreement out to the vote.

"Our members do not agree with what's being put out on offer," she said.

Ms Wark said working with other councils in bargaining negotiations, there has been an attempt to "make up the wage gap" for lower paid workers.

"But councils have sought to rectify that in more recent bargaining rounds, so we've seen increased like four per cent to try and rectify that in some other regional councils that are smaller than Ballarat," she said.

"Councils who frankly do not have the same kind of budget surplus in place."

A City of Ballarat spokesperson responded to the union's claims, stating management held more than 35 meetings with the relevant unions as part of the negotiation process.

"Management believes that it has negotiated the best offer possible balancing the cost of living pressures of employees and the long term financial sustainability of council," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the proposed EBA provides guaranteed increases to pay conditions each year that are fair and reasonable.

"It is cognisant of employee cost of living pressures, while also ensuring the organisation can operate within its budgetary constraints," the spokesperson said.

There are challenges around being able to fund the wage increase, the council claim.

They argued the rate cap, which is 2.75 per cent for 2024-25, was a barrier in increasing the wage higher than this percentage.

"Rates are the City of Ballarat's primary source of funding," the spokesperson said.

"Any salary increase above the rate cap, will require operational savings to be found in order to fund it."

Current wage increases on the table in the agreement are based on the rate caps, which are set by the state government.

Management's offer is 3.5 per cent in year one, 2.5 per cent in year two and 80 per cent of the rate cap in year three.

"Management believes this offer is affordable, equitable and will bridge the gap between the City of Ballarat pay rates and like sized councils," the spokesperson said.

"The ASU's claim of 12 per cent in year one and 12 per cent in year two would cost the rate payers of Ballarat an additional $15.3 million over two years which is clearly unsustainable."

The $850,000 figure from ASU comes from the amount council would need for every additional percent above the 3.5 per cent.

The Ballarat EBA expired in September 2023 and there had been no 2023 pay increase for the council staff.

Some councils did have an pay increase in 2023 due to EBA expiring timing.

While the union claimed the council reported a surplus of $76 million, this surplus funds capital works.