Another successful ASU Local Government Roundtable

One of the highlights of the union's yearly calendar is the ASU Local Government Roundtable.

It's always a productive, energising day.

This year we had a number of members attend the Roundtable for the first time. It's was fantastic to see fresh faces around the table, joining some of our experienced Reps such as our President Kristen Gilbertson (Alexandrina Council), Vice President Maggie LÉstrange (City of Tea Tree Gully), Branch Councillor Laurie McCann (City of Charles Sturt) and Branch Councillor Julie Douglas (City of Playford).

Guest presenters included

• Dr Gemma Beale, Senior Project Officer at the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute

• Emma Thornton, Practice Leader at Johnston Withers Lawyers

• Mick Petrovski, Chief of Staff to Minister for Local Government Geoff Brock MP

There was a lot of discussion around

• the bargaining results we have achieved in the past 6 months

• the impact of insecure work

• converting fixed term contracts / casuals to permanent positions

• bullying and harassment

• the results of our Local Government survey (see next article for details of the shock findings)

• the recently announced State / Local Government Accord

• what the ASU is asking from Labor Governments at a State and Federal level in order to address issues impacting Local Government - for example, investing in training and apprenticeships through local councils to address skills shortages; and disaster funding relief to assist with the increasing costs to councils from climate change.

Thanks to everyone who came along and participated in the Roundtable. We've got lots of exciting things to begin rolling out to Local Government members thanks to these important discussions. Stay tuned for more announcements in the next few weeks!