Union organisers said they would represent employees in eight separate matters after an agreement between the parties could not be reached.

United Services Union (USU) organiser Rudi Oppitz spoke to the Crookwell Gazette late on Friday December 20; no council spokesperson was available to comment.

The disagreement arose from contested underpayment of council employee wages.

Most were works (infrastructure) department employees, the USU organiser said.

The council wants to introduce a new employee grading system, but the union wants wages to reflect workloads.

The new employee grading system can't be implemented until position descriptions are updated.

The union said the council had done little to update the roles in the past 12 months.

The Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) will hear the matter in March or April, 2020.

The decision to go to a hearing came after a Monday December 16 meeting between the union, the council's acting general manager, and its director of infrastructure.

Fifteen matters were heard that day, with most minor matters able to be resolved.

"The union attempted to meet agreement, but [the council] refused all the different options we put to them," Mr Oppitz said.

"A simple solution was to allow these eight positions to be regraded under the existing grading system, but they've refused to entertain the regarding of positions."

Mr Oppitz said members had not gone backwards in wages, but had stagnated.

"There are eight employees ... who are working at a significantly higher level ... and are not being paid at that higher level role; and some of those matters go back to 2017."

Mr Oppitz also said members were not being supported.

"We are forced intro arbitrating each one of those matters," he said.

"This will cost the ratepayers a significant amount of money, if not in direct dollars, in lost time, stress, anxiety and the like."

Mr Oppitz said the union and its members had been hopeful that discussions with the acting general manager Andrew Croke and mayor John Stafford would progress to a conclusion, but this had not happened.

"The council sit back and condone their employees doing work at a higher level to what they're being paid," he said.

"[Neither] the union nor its members can sit back and allow this to continue."

The Upper Lachlan Shire Council offices are closed until Thursday January 2.

More to come