14 Weeks Paid Maternity Leave for Katherine Town Council Employees

The Australian Services Union (ASU), the principal local government union that represents staff such as parking inspectors, indoor staff, clerical, administrative, regulatory officers and librarians employed at the Katherine Town Council, has agreed to a new 3 year enterprise collective agreement which will deliver employees no less than an 8.6 per cent pay rise in the next two years.

Northern Territory ASU Official, Lucio Matarazzo, said the collective agreement offered by the Katherine Town Council provides ASU members employed at Council with:

· A 2.6% week rise paid from September 1, 2005.

· A further 3% pay rise from September 1, 2006.

· A further 3% pay rise from September 1, 2007.

Lucio Matarazzo said that the agreement is a good outcome for ASU members. He praised Katherine Town Council's commitment to agree to 14 weeks paid maternity leave. The ASU has further praised Council's commitment to protect employees' entitlements to 6 weeks annual leave and 3 weeks sick leave per annum. Lucio Matarazzo also said that the new agreement would allow employees to take advantage of salary packaging arrangements for superannuation which would have income tax savings benefits for them.

Lucio Matarazzo said that he was confident that the proposed agreement would meet the no disadvantage requirements of the Workplace Relations Act and would be certified in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and this collective agreement is far superior to the proposed new Federal Howard Government's no disadvantage test employment laws that are being introduced into Federal Parliament.