GAWLER Council CEO Henry Inat has stalled council staff enterprise agreement (EA) negotiations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking a petition to see his removal.

Local resident Marc Webb began an online petition last Tuesday to replace Mr Inat due to the CEO’s attempts to extend his own contract during the pandemic. The petition was started despite the CEO’s decision to stall his own scheduled salary increase.

Council has been negotiating a new EA with the Australian Services Union (ASU) since March 2019, which includes calls for staff wage increases of 2.1 per cent, and the introduction of parental leave.

However, Mr Inat told The Bunyip that by postponing his bid for a wage increase, he was putting the council and its employees first.

“I have advised Mayor Redman that given these challenging times that we are experiencing I think it’s appropriate that I do not seek any adjustment to my salary… for the next 12-month period,” he said.

“Our current organisational focus is on the health and well-being of all staff and long-term preservation of jobs to serve our community.

“This will allow council to continue to provide essential services during and beyond this crisis.”

In a memo to staff on April 1, Mr Inat explained his reasoning for the EA postponement.

He told The Bunyip that EA negotiations with staff would recommence after the pandemic.

“We are progressing with and finalising substantially all aspects of the enterprise bargaining agreement with council staff, while decisions around any pay adjustments have been agreed, in principle at this time, to be held over until the COVID-19 crisis has passed,” Mr Inat said.

“This reflects the collective recognition of the unprecedented climate we are in…”

Ms Redman said council’s focus was “firmly” on effective support for its community and staff, while following due process.

“Council has endorsed the independent performance review process of our CEO and this is now under way, which is in fact due process that affords fairness and equity to an employee, in this case, the CEO,” she said.

“Any discussion around contracts for our CEO, I assume would only occur after the performance review has concluded.

“This allows for a clear process to occur, and that process to inform the way ahead. This is best practice and one that is based on evidence rather than hearsay, insinuation or other such non-evidenced based dialogue.”

Meanwhile, Mr Webb’s petition ‘Gawler Council CEO Should Not Have His Tenure Extended’ has so far received 153* signatures.

Shadow cast by CEO meeting?

A LOCAL councillor has failed in his attempts to adjourn last week’s CEO Performance Management Panel (PMP) meeting despite the current COVID-19 crisis.

Gawler councillor Nathan Shanks urged fellow elected members to resume the meeting in three months’ time on July 7, 2020, for a variety of reasons, including community perception of council operations, however lost the motion.

“I believe asking stakeholders to participate in a review of our CEO’s performance in this climate could be considered insensitive and ill advised,” Cr Shanks’ motion read.

“I believe it is a bad look for both the CEO and for council, if we were to be devoting time and resources to matters related to the CEO’s job security, and increased salary package during these times of uncertainty for many others in our community.”

Mr Shanks told The Bunyip he believed his motion had the “best intentions at heart” for his community and council.

“Items like these cast a shadow on the good that council does for our community and pours fuel on the fire that has been burning since late November,” he said.

“My motion was to allow all (CEO included) to deal with COVID-19 then come back to this item with a fresh head. Not to dissimilar to the enterprise agreement deferral.”

Member for Light Tony Piccolo, who is also State Opposition spokesperson for local government, said the motion should have been supported by council.

“The decision could be seen by staff and the community as reflecting a double standard,” he said.

“This decision does not demonstrate leadership, but rather could be seen as greedy by the community, while many in our community are doing it tough, the council is determined to only look after their CEO.

“Council’s priority should, in my opinion, be the community and their staff.

“This is a matter I certainly will raise with the minister (Stephan Knoll) and in State Parliament”.