Like an evenly matched tug-of-war, we work our way through the negotiations. Tomorrow it will be the eighth day we have met - still in a Socratic way, without sledging, arguing about the changes that we should make for the 2026 Award. We now start to meet weekly. We are under pressure to have an “in principle” agreement between us by the last week of March.

As far as we’re all concerned, it’s all about the money. Interest rates, Treasury projections of 4% inflation in 2026, and the increasing cost of living all mean that must be the primary focus.

The unions pressed the employers to recognise that while wages have kept in line with inflation over the last decades, we’ve never had the opportunity to provide increases that will actually attract and retain people to the industry. The employers don’t match the unions’ enthusiasm, but what could possibly go wrong with that approach?

The brutal treatment handed out to the former GM of Parramatta, aided and abetted by grubby local media, has brought things to a head. It’s time to provide better protection for General Managers.

It may have taken decades, but senior staff have better protection after removing the concept of senior staff from the Local Government Act and employing those people under the Local Government State Award or local Enterprise Agreements, where they apply. And having access to the Industrial Relations Commission for Unfair Dismissal.

When the senior staff legislation was introduced into the Legislative Assembly, everything was very celebratory and in a casual lunch in Parliament House we discovered what has to be the best kept secret in local government. The Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig announced he had always thought General Managers should be better protected.

We emailed the Office of Local Government to have this issue discussed by the next meeting of the Employment Matters Reference Group, an employment group established by the Office at the time of the mergers to deal with employment considerations which found that there were good reasons for it to continue.

Amongst other things, we said:

Our Committee of Management unanimously resolved at their last meeting on 20 November:

Following the termination of the General Manager at Parramatta City, Gail Connolly, as a result of political battles amongst councillors, depa resolves to take all steps, starting with an approach to OLG and the Minister for Local Government, to achieve consensus that it’s time to be extending protections now available to former senior staff, to general managers.

I know that we have discussed this in the past and LGNSW has had little appetite for curtailing the rights of their members to remove general managers for a variety of reasons (or none at all, meaning that there was a reason but it couldn't be published) but you never know your luck.

We've always taken the view that if there isn't consensus on extending the senior staff provisions to General Managers, then making the "no reason" termination provision something significantly more than 38 weeks, would assist in putting a stop to these practices. Or at the very least make councillors think more financially responsibly about the cost, and the risk of public/political humiliation.

65 weeks sounds like a reasonable compromise.

Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, I was in the IRC at the time of the meeting, and the Committee hasn’t met since. Maybe it was our suggestion that the current 38 weeks exit payment “for any reason”, should five weeks become 65 weeks that has struck them dumb. That amount of money should make councillors spend a bit more time contemplating the departure of the GM.

Over the last few months, we have received an anonymous letter every now and again, about the treatment of employees at a particular council and requesting action. Anonymous letters get the treatment they deserve in our office, anyone can assert they are a member or make any allegation, and we can’t check or verify. So, a quick read, and out they go.

We’re happy to be involved everywhere, whether we have members in management about whom complaints are being made or whatever, but no one responds to anonymous complaints because they have no integrity. Anyone who wants anything done can have letters or emails dealt with complete confidentially, but we can’t talk to anonymous people.

In the third letter, a question was asked about whether we had done or could do something, and we wonder, what sort of person makes an anonymous complaint, and then asks for a response? Never a dull minute, in our office.

depa’s Committee of Management is a President, a Vice President, four Members of the Committee, and the Secretary. That’s seven members, all of whom are elected democratically to manage the running of the union, make decisions, set policy and oversee our activities.

On 9 March the NSW Electoral Commission will post an Election Notice to all financial members. It will also go on their website. Nominations will be open until 23 March 2026.

If there are no more nominations than candidates, those candidates will be declared elected. If there are more candidates, the Electoral Commission will conduct a ballot.

The President, Vice President, and four Committee members have two-year term terms and are up for re-election, and the Secretary has a four-year term and is up for election as well.

This is all about the democratic management of the union, and all that financial members need to nominate is the nominated and seconded by two other financial members.

Historically, members of the Committee have been activists before they stand, as our delegate, and/or member of the Consultative Committee, and some have been in those active roles for decades. Given the difficulty we have finding delegates, we are lucky to have them.

If you’re interested in standing for election and wondering about likely obligations and how much time will be involved, contact me in the office and we can tell you.

In the November issue we announced “Minns Government smashed on Workers Comp” when the government didn’t have the numbers in the Upper House to push through their hostile attack on Whole Person Injury, in particular, to make it almost impossible for anyone to satisfy the test.

We announced there was a new “Workers’ hero” after a former Liberal in the Legislative Council, Taylor Martin, announced he wouldn’t be “the patsy for this government”. Unions were celebrating, but Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey always warned us about never under-estimating Treasurer Daniel Mookey, and eventually the Workers’ hero lost the mantle, and the changes were made.

But it could have been worse. Here is a list of achievements, significant concessions made in the brawling to protect workers compensation.

Yes, it still remains astonishing that it is always an ALP Government that does the dirty on workers comp, and those unions, which once upon a time were uncritical supporters of the ALP, are uncritical no longer.