Lake Macquarie City Council Enterprise Agreement 2014 [2015] NSWIRComm 3

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Lake Macquarie City Council Enterprise Agreement 2014 [2015] NSWIRComm 3 Hearing dates: 8 December 2014 Decision date: 23 February 2015 Jurisdiction: Industrial Relations Commission Before: Harrison DP Decision: Application for Enterprise Agreement approved Catchwords: Enterprise Agreement - Interest-based bargaining - Collaborative Process. Agreement approved. Legislation Cited: Industrial Relations Act 1996 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) New South Wales Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Energy, Airlines & Utilities Union (USU) Local Government Engineers Association (LGEA) Development and Environmental Professionals' Association (DEPA) Representation: Ms M Cameron, Director Community Development LMCC Mr R Potter Organiser USU Mr G Brock Director LGEA File Number(s): IRC 865 of 2014

DECISION 1. This is an application for approval of an enterprise agreement to apply to employees of Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC). 2. The application was heard on 8 December 2014. 3. Ms M Cameron appeared on behalf of LMCC with Ms A Colbey and Mr M Gray. Mr R Potter appeared on behalf of New South Wales Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Energy, Airlines & Utilities Union (United Services Union) (USU) with Mr J Foster, Ms E Abraham, Mr G Vesovski. Mr G Brock appeared on behalf of the Local Government Engineers Association of New South Wales (LGEA). 4. The application follows significant interest-based bargaining conducted in Matter No IRC 807 of 2013. A separate decision issues in that matter [2015] NSWIRComm 2. Suffice to say here that all parties applied themselves to the process in a diligent and responsible manner, resulting in agreement to industrial arrangements founded upon stability, sustainability, and fairness as the basis for job security, productivity and efficient service delivery. 5. In putting the application forward Ms Cameron referred to the Statement of Intent found in the agreement: "The organisation's high levels of performance are directly attributable to the work and commitment of our employees. It has been the intent of all parties participating in the development of this agreement to ensure that whenever possible provisions are made to support and encourage the ongoing commitment of employees while ensuring that council's financial position is not compromised." 1. Ms Cameron went on to say: It is important to reflect on these two points because when I speak of cultural change occurring subsequent to the development of the agreement I'd like to note that it's not because the culture is currently broken or poor, it's in fact the very opposite. We are performing well and we have a strong culture delivering quality services efficiently and continually improving our performance, however, we recognise that maintaining such a high level of performance is in many ways harder than striving to achieve this in the first place. The subtle and in many ways personal changes that I envisage this agreement unlocking will allow Lake Macquarie City Council to maintain our high performance into the future and equally importantly keep the organisation sustainable and as resilient as possible for the outside forces that frequently challenger our day to day activities. Since the agreement was development I've had the opportunity to address a number of staff forums including our Corporate Management Team and smaller team meetings. I talk about the primary premise developed and the agreement is one of trust and personal responsibility and creating an environment where a starting point is to trust our employees and teams and deal with employees who are not behaving appropriately on an individual basis as opposed to writing a set of rules that assume people will break those rules. Finally, your Honour, it is important to state that I fully acknowledge that developing an agreement in this matter is only a starting point or a catalyst. We will continue to develop the culture and provide new and innovative leadership training for our employees, particularly those in supervisory roles, to ensure that they are equipped with the skills to manage in this less directive and more collegiate manner. I believe we have an enterprise agreement that everybody involved in creating should be very proud of and I'm certainly looking forward to the agreement and the new provisions developing, being implemented, and undoubtedly being refined over the next four years. 1. Mr Potter and Mr Brock supported the application, giving recognition and credit to all of the participants, in particular, the courage displayed in what Mr Potter described as a high trust environment. 2. Mr Potter submitted that the Agreement received a 100 per cent "yes" vote from USU members. 3. Mr Brock submitted that the Agreement was supported by all but one member of the LGEA and all of the members of the Development and Environmental Professionals Association (DEPA). 4. The application is supported by the necessary Statement of Particulars and an affidavit (exhibit 1) signed by Ms Cameron in her capacity of Director Community Development of the Council, testifying that the agreement complies with the relevant statutory requirements and the no net detriment test; was not entered into under duress; and complies with the principles for approval determined by the Commission. Ms Cameron was not required for cross examination. 5. I am satisfied that the Agreement submitted for approval meets all of the necessary tests other than the term. 6. The Agreement follows the Local Government (State) Award 2014 379 IG 817 wage movements and a range of other provisions providing flexibility, job security, training and development consistent with the objects set out in Clause 6 in the following terms: 6. OBJECTIVES OF THE AGREEMENT The objectives of this Agreement are: • The provision of quality services to the community of Lake Macquarie at all times. • The attainment of strategies, objectives and action plans of Lake Macquarie City Council's Long Term Financial Plan, Delivery Program and Operational Plan. • The enhancement of the image and profile of Lake Macquarie City Council and the City of Lake Macquarie • To provide employment conditions that are fair, sustainable and support the wellbeing of employees The objectives of this Agreement will be achieved through: • Maintaining a high performance, high trust organisation through a genuine partnership between management, staff, unions, councillors, and the community. • The embracing of change and a commitment to continuous improvement by all within Council. • The development of a learning organisation based upon teamwork, flexibility, competency in skills and opportunities for development. • The development of an organisation focussed on the customer, driven by the achievement of results. • The upskilling of the organisation by training of existing staff being the nominated preferred option. • Any changes to Council policies relating to the employees of Council shall be done in consultation with the Consultative Committee. • Attracting and retaining people with the best skills and capabilities for each role. The reward for achieving these objectives will be: • Improving quality of service, enhanced productivity, and the development of new services. • Financial sustainability for the organisation resulting in consistent levels of service. 1. The Lake Macquarie City Council Enterprise Agreement 2014 is approved pursuant to section 35 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 to apply for a period of three years from 1 July 2014. 2. The parties may make application for a further agreement at any time after 1 July 2015 for a period to 30 June 2018 to give effect to their substantive agreement that these arrangements give stability to the organisation to that date.