AWU members working for Townsville City Council (TCC) will begin bargaining with management for a new enterprise agreement this week.
Currently TCC wages are significantly behind those of council workers in neighbouring councils, with a gap of up to 14% for a level three worker.
This pay gap is despite TCC management charging ratepayers significantly more than neighbouring councils for the services these workers deliver.
AWU Northern District Secretary Jim Wilson said that Council workers do vitally important work for the community.
"AWU members do the jobs that need doing to make Townsville the great place it is to live. They make sure we have safe drinking water, they make sure our toilets flush, they keep our parks mowed and safe for our kids, they empty our wheelie bins plus more than a thousand other things we don't notice because they do them so well," Mr Wilson said.
"We know that TCC management is going to use a community scare campaign, threatening potential rate rises to avoid giving TCC workers a fair pay rise.
"But we also know that rates and wages aren't connected, because if they were, our members at TCC would be the highest paid in the region.
"Instead, TCC workers are the lowest paid.
"A good question for ratepayers to ask council management is, 'Why are we paying so much in rates when the workers get paid so little?'
"The disparity can largely be attributed to the bloated middle management – leaving little funding left for those on the ground working for the community.
"Townsville residents were at risk of losing skilled council workers to neighbouring councils if this pay gap wasn't addressed.
"If you could choose to drive an hour down the road to do the same job and get paid 14% more for doing it you might consider it. This is the current dilemma for our members at TCC.
"This skills exodus had potential huge consequences for residents moving forward.
"Long after the media and politicians have left AWU members are still there cleaning up after every natural disaster or weather event.
"If this low rate of pay continues, we could be faced with a situation where there's not enough workers to respond to the next emergency."
