Progress made in pay talks
26 Apr 2006
Sufficient progress reported on protection of employment standards
The Executive Council of Congress unanimously agreed today (April 26) that sufficient progress had been made in negotiations on the issue of Labour Market Reform to allow talks to begin on pay and related issues, in the context of agreeing an overall deal to succeed the Sustaining Progress agreement.
Following 12 weeks of negotiations between Congress, Government and Employers, a series of draft reform proposals covering the area of employment standards has been drawn up.
While these draft proposals do not constitute an agreement of any sort, the Executive Council considered that they represented sufficient progress to allow the social partnership talks to move on to the issues of pay and key policy issues.
The draft proposals will now be effectively 'parked' with Congress, Employers, and Government returning to the issue in the context of concluding a successor deal to Sustaining Progress.
It is expected the pay element of the talks will begin next week, after the May Day public holiday.
ends