17 January 2018
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Aquatic Centre management decision
Enquiry
I understand the working party preparing a document for Council maintaining management of the Rotorua Aquatic Centre, is presenting the document to a senior management team this afternoon.
Could you please tell me what Council do with the document once the presentation has been made and what the next steps in the process are.
Response
Reporter was referred to the following statement which was provided to the Daily Post and is also on Council's website:
A proposal from the Amalgamated Workers union (AWUNZ) and Rotorua Aquatic Centre staff was presented to Rotorua Lakes Council managers today [17 January 2018] as part of an agreed process following an Employment Relations Authority hearing in December.
This was step 3 in the process and timeline to which both parties agreed, as per an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) consent determination.
We are working through that agreed process in good faith and following today's presentation will work through the proposal and meet again with union and staff representatives later this week, Rotorua Lakes Council Acting Chief Executive Craig Tiriana says.
Council and the union reached an agreement following an Employment Relations Authority hearing in December which followed a day of mediation when the two parties were unable to reach a resolution.
In November, following a review of the Aquatic Centre, Council approved a recommendation to partner with Community Leisure Management (CLM), which could extend the facility's offering and provide opportunities for future investment in upgrades.
AWUNZ and its members who are staff at the Aquatic Centre are opposed to an external provider managing the centre and have challenged the pre-decision process which did not enable them to present an alternative proposal.
Rather than going to a formal determination of the ERA the matter was resolved through what is called a consent determination, whereby the two parties agreed on a process to enable the union and staff to put forward an alternative proposal for management of the Aquatic Centre.
The process agreed to was put forward by the Council and the alternative proposal from the union and staff will be tested against the same criteria against which external proposals were considered.
The union and Aquatic Centre staff now have that opportunity and their proposal will be given due consideration and be put to elected members as additional information relevant to their previous decision, Mr Tiriana says.
The alternative proposal and a report on the matter will go to the council's Operations and Monitoring Committee, on 1 February 2018 when the committee will determine whether it should progress to the Full Council for its consideration.
Background
During 2017 staff were involved in an Aquatic Centre review, conducted under Section 17a of the Local Government Act. That process which contributed to a report that outlined future opportunities and options. The report identified that a partnership with the private sector to manage the Aquatic Centre to a higher level should be explored and that was done.
The resulting recommendation was that partnering with the private sector would bring with it significant sector experience, new opportunities and the potential for future investment in the facility.
Proposals were sought from the market and a recommendation was made to elected members for their consideration with a decision made in November to partner with Community Leisure Management (CLM) to manage the Aquatic Centre.
The Consent Determination of the Employment Relations Authority relating to this matter is publicly available via the authority's website (www.era.govt.nz).
*See also THIS LINK on Council's website for updates, background etc regarding the Aquatic Centre management decision.
