The Queensland Services Union wants a better look at the Mackay Regional Council’s new private consulting partnership.

Mackay has signed an agreement with Propel Partnerships in a bid to lower rates, but the union appears to have concerns for the jobs of government planning staff.

Union secretary Neil Henderson met with Mackay Mayor Deirdre Comerford this week to find out if any managerial roles could be lost.

“Managers are people too ... they've got mortgages and obligations the same as everybody else,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“So there's still a fair few questions that are awaiting answers but I'm happy that we had the discussion and I'm certainly happier that we had it than if we hadn't had it.

“We made that very clear to the Mayor that we did not consider that the meeting of staff that was held ... was an adequate way to inform them of what's happening.

“We made it clear to the council that in our view they are required to provide us with more material and that our members really need more material before they can make an informed decision about what's proposed and I'm hopeful that we will get that material.

“If they don't provide that material we'll just need to go to the Industrial Relations Commission and see if that will deliver what we need.”

The Council has released a statement saying staff would remain its number one priority.