Our workforce has voted in favour of us joining other councils in a multi-employer enterprise agreement (EA). Thank you to everyone who voted. As promised, we will support your preference for this new kind of EA and make preparations to join negotiations once the Fair Work Commission gives its approval, expected after 30 June 2025.
70.7% of our employees voted, which is a fantastic participation rate. The result of the employee ballot was 70% in favour of a multi-employer EA while 30% preferred the single employer approach we have had in the past.
Importantly, just on 49% of our total workforce voted in favour of the multi-employer agreement. While the vote fell just short of the majority of the total workforce it was only by a handful of votes.
With 70% of voters favouring the multi-employer bargaining approach, you have given us a strong and clear signal which we will honour. This means we will now consent to the ASU’s request to pursue a multi-bargaining approach.
These multi-employer EAs are relatively new, and we don’t yet have much information for our sector about how the process will work or what will be negotiated.
As we know more, we will continue to update you and provide information through The Source Our EA 2025 page.
Jacqui Weatherill, Chief Executive Officer