Late last week the Union and the Council were engaged in discussions about previous agreements regarding staff finishing times on Christmas Eve. This included frank discussions before the Industrial Relations Commission on Thursday 17 December 2020.
While the parties were unable to reach a resolution at that time, following further productive discussions between the CEO and senior Union Officials over the weekend, an agreement has been reached that will see:
- all permanent and temporary staff will receive a bonus two hours of annual leave which can be used for Thursday, 24 December 2020 or at a future time, and
- permanent and temporary staff who are required to work on Thursday, 24 December 2020 will be able to finish at 2:00pm.
Based on this agreement, the Arbitration scheduled before the Industrial Relations Commission on Monday 21 December 2020 will no longer proceed.
The parties have recommitted to engaging directly with each other in an open manner so that we can jointly work through the significant workplace issues that are facing the Council.
Both the Union and the Council consider this to be a very positive outcome for all concerned, but most importantly the hardworking staff of Liverpool City Council, all of whom are to be commended for their exceptional responses to the many and varied challenges presented through a year characterised by fires, floods and the Covid-19 pandemic.
We take this opportunity to wish all staff a safe and happy holiday season.
