Negotiations between Cleanaway and bargaining representatives the Transport Workers’ Union Victoria & Tasmania have broken down this morning which paves the way for work stoppages from 10am this morning and a further set of stoppages on Tuesdays, 19 April from 10am. These essential workers have not had a pay rise for nearly 3 years despite being celebrated as the heroes of the pandemic and despite the cost of living crisis.
This delays to waste collection for a variety of businesses and schools across the north-west region of Melbourne affecting the local council areas of the Moonee Valley, Moreland, Hume, Brimbank, Banyule, Wyndham and beyond.
Cleanaway management have a long history of disdain toward workers with incidents reported to the TWU of workplace bullying, extreme pressure on drivers to meet bin-flipping targets which contravene the Company’s own safety policies, targeting TWUDelegates in the workplace and behaving aggressively toward TWU Officials throughout negotiations.
At the start of the current negotiations, Cleanaway also attempted to deny workers a critical elected worker representative at the negotiating table.
There are currently several council-based domestic waste collection Enterprise Agreements being negotiated between Cleanaway and bargaining representatives TWUacross Victoria. Cleanaway’s dishonest tactics have been repeated throughout these negotiations also.
The TWU warns that if this behaviour continues and results in protected industrial action, tens of thousands of households could experience delays of domestic waste collection across the state.