Media release – Australian Services Union, 22 March 2021
Call for incoming City of Hobart CEO to address bullying and restart negotiations on pay deal
The Australian Services Union welcomes new leadership at the City of Hobart, hopeful the incoming CEO will put the organisation’s toxic workplace culture and re-opening enterprise agreement negotiations at the top of her to-do-list.
New CEO Kelly Grigsby will face significant challenges when she starts at the City of Hobart on 10 May, but none bigger than building a positive and respectful workplace culture.
Australian Services Union organiser Karen Tantari said the outgoing General Manager had presided over a harmful workplace culture where staff were bullied and mistreated.
“I am hopeful that with real focus from the incoming CEO, every employee at the City of Hobart will begin to see what it’s like to work in an organisation free from bullying and harassment,” Ms Tantari said.
“After two years of the outgoing General Manager being unwilling to genuinely negotiate on a new enterprise agreement, the ASU has been forced to the Fair Work Commission in an attempt to get the City of Hobart back to the bargaining table.”
“With the new CEO starting soon, we are looking forward to working constructively with her in developing a more positive approach to dealing with the workplace conditions and entitlements of City of Hobart employees,” Ms Tantari said.
The union’s concerns with the workplace culture led it to conduct a survey in 2020 that was completed by 107 City of Hobart employees.
- 88% of respondents reported being unsatisfied with the City of Hobart culture,
- 60% had witnessed a colleague being bullied or harassed, and
- only 47% felt they could report bullying or harassment
- Of employees who had reported bullying and harassment at the City of Hobart, two-thirds did not feel supported by management after making a report.
The City of Hobart’s own International Women’s Day survey conducted in 2020 reported a disturbing level of bullying and aggression toward women and an unacceptable level of gender inequality.
“Members of the Australian Services Union who work at the City of Hobart deserve much better leadership and management than they have experienced over recent years.”
“A new CEO at the City of Hobart is an opportunity for a reset where employees are treated decently at work, and they can negotiate with their employer around their pay and conditions,” Ms Tantari concluded.
Statement – City of Hobart, 22 March 2021
Statement from General Manager Nick Heath in response to ASU member survey
The City of Hobart has today been made aware of the results of a survey into workplace culture conducted by the Australian Services Union of its members.
I want to make it clear from the outset that the City of Hobart does not condone bullying or any sort of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.
We do not dismiss the experiences of any individual employee who chose to complete the ASU’s survey and I strongly encourage employees to raise with us any specific concerns so they can be addressed. However, the survey respondents account for 15 per cent of our large and diverse workforce and the results are not necessarily reflective of the majority of employees.
That said, it’s disappointing that ASU chose not to share the survey or its results with me or other members of the City’s management team, or offer any other constructive method of contact in response to the issues identified.
We have made a commitment to fostering a positive workplace culture and to improving processes for employees to raise any incidents, issues or concerns.
With this in mind, in the lead-up to International Women’s Day last year, we encouraged employees to tell us – anonymously – about their experiences as a woman working at the City of Hobart. We specifically invited feedback about challenges women had experienced in the workplace and what could be improved. We asked these questions because the only way to identify any issues is through direct and honest communication.
We received hundreds of responses – many of which reflected a positive working environment.
However, a small number of responses referred to serious matters of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace and these responses have been treated very seriously.
In consultation with employees – including our International Women’s Day staff committee – we are continuing to take steps to address the issues raised. These include:
- A Contact Officers program that involves training employees who volunteer to provide support to other employees who have any concerns relating to discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment or bullying in the workplace.
- Engaging Equal Opportunity Tasmania to provide training to all employees about discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
- Updating information and processes around reporting of incidents and inappropriate behaviour.
- Providing anti-bullying training to staff.
If the ASU has any constructive suggestions to contribute, I encourage them to work with us through the proper processes – including our Consultative Committee – towards identifying meaningful solutions.With regards to the Enterprise Agreement, our EA bargaining team has attempted to negotiate in good faith with all relevant unions. In the past 12 months, however, our focus has been on maintaining secure and meaningful employment for our large workforce throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring continuity of services for our community.
