Critical water workers strike for better pay
Urban Utilities workers are striking next week after union members rejected a pay offer.
Members of the Services Union employed at Urban Utilities voted yesterday to take Protected Industrial Action (PIA) after pay offers were not improved following the new Administrative and Technical Employee’s Enterprise Agreement (EA).
The strike will see workers walk off the job on Wednesday in a series of rolling stoppages. They will also implement bans on issuing permits, approvals and certifications.
Brisbane, Ipswich, Scenic Rim, Somerset and Lockyer Valley councils own Urban Utilities, providing water and sewerage services to more than 1.6 million people across Queensland.
These frontline workers were responsible for customer contact, billing and finance, control room operations, trade waste and the dispatch and supervision of maintenance and construction teams.
An Urban Utilities spokesperson has assured business continuity plans were in place to maintain safe and reliable delivery of essential water and wastewater services while union members take protected industrial action.
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Over three years and months of negotiations, Urban Utilities offered a 12 percent offer which 70 percent of staff had now rejected in the offical ballot.
Lead organised Ben Jones said this offer was unfair and inadequate for Queensland’s frontline employees.
“Brisbane’s CPI jumped around 17 per cent over the three-year life of the current EA, yet our members’ wages rose just 10 per cent — clearly unfair in a cost-of-living crisis,” Mr Jones said.
“Over the same period, Urban Utilities increased customer prices by 14.2 per cent, yet clearly this increase did not come from staff wages growth.”
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The Queensland Government ordered a Queensland Competition Authority review of Urban Utilities’ pricing in September.
“Adding to our members’ frustration, four out of the five owner councils delivered substantially higher, union-negotiated pay increases, well above what’s been provided to Urban Utilities employees,” Mr Jones said.
“This frustration is compounded by the fact that Brisbane City Council, Urban Utilities’ largest owner council, provided an average of 16.75 per cent pay increase to its staff over the 2022-24 period, while Urban Utilities employees only got 10 per cent.
“While frontline workers received just 2.5 per cent on 1 July 2024, the Executive Leadership Team received a 4 per cent pay rise — a significant increase for those on a $400,000 base salary.”
The Urban Utilities spokesperson said the group was committed to engaging with frontline workers and their representatives to reach a fair and responsible outcome.
“Our offer is strong, including a wage increase over three years benchmarked against market and industry rates for similar roles, reflecting our commitment to being fair to our people while maintaining financial responsibility to the communities and customers we serve,” the spokesperson said.
Further negotiations were scheduled for today but have postponed by Urban Utilities until next week.
The Services Union is urging Urban Utilities to return to negotiations with a fair offer that reflects the value of its workforce.
