YOUR AWARD, YOUR VOTE


An end in sight and a chance for members to have their say

After 9 long months of challenging negotiations, the LGEA and the Award parties have reached an “in-principle” agreement on a package for the new Local Government Award. Before the offer can be formally put to union members, it needs to be endorsed by the LGNSW Board, who next meet on 9 June. We anticipate that the offer from the LGNSW Board will simply formalise the “in-principle” agreement reached by the Award parties, but that decision is ultimately down to the LGNSW Board.

Once the offer is formally made, members of the industry unions will be given the chance to vote on whether to accept or reject the offer. Given the tight timeframes and the voting requirements of some of the industry unions, some groups of union members may be commencing the voting process now. The LGEA will be conducting an online vote of our membership, and as such, we are able to hold off on our member vote until the Award offer is formally made by the LGNSW Board to the LGEA Committee of Management. This allows us to be certain of the contents of the offer before asking LGEA members to place their vote.

The LGEA will also be connecting with our delegates ahead of receiving the formal offer from LGNSW. This will enable us to seek their invaluable feedback and to ensure our workplace representatives are ready to answer any member questions about the offer once we go live with our vote.

The next steps are as follows:
  • 7 June: LGEA Delegates online workshop on new Award
  • 9 June: LGNSW Board meets, formal offer to unions expected
  • 12 June: LGEA Committee of Management to meet and consider whether to endorse offer for LGEA member vote
  • 14 June: LGEA Webinar for members, providing members with detailed information regarding the offer
  • 14 June - 21 June: LGEA member-only online vote on Award offer
  • 26 June: hearing date in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission for the making of the new Local Government (State) Award 2023
  • First pay period on or after 1 July: pay increase and SGC increase

Please keep an eye on your emails over the coming weeks and ensure you register for our Award webinar so you can have your say on the new Award.

If you are not a member of the LGEA, there has never been a more important time to join as only union members will be able to vote on the Award offer presented by LGNSW and have a say on the conditions and pay increases for the next three years.

Join now