SYDNEY GARBOS ON STRIKE

Around 35,000 bins were left unemptied in the Sydney area one February morning as workers from the Transport Workers Union (TWU) went on a 24-hour strike to demand better pay and working conditions. This is the third stoppage at the Hillsdale-based garbage site in a year, and one of many across other facilities the operator runs in NSW. Garbos are standing up to say that they’re essential workers who keep our streets clean and safe and deserve to be treated with respect. The TWU members are employed by subcontractor and waste giant Cleanaway. Workers say they haven’t received a pay rise in over two years, even though they are working at levels of staffing as low as 40%. Cleanaway had been refusing to partake in negotiations until they were eventually dragged to court by the union, with workers in the City of Sydney area paid $4 less an hour than other NSW council area counterparts.

Workers are asking the Sydney City Council to intervene, arguing that they can outsource waste services, but they cannot outsource responsibility for its hired subcontractors. Richard Olsen of the TWU NSW said:

“We’re calling on the City of Sydney council to intervene here. They are responsible for waste collection for the community, and they can’t bury their head in the sand.”

Cleanaway made a last-ditch effort when it heard about more strikes, but members again rejected their offer, saying it fails to fall in line with the rocketing cost-of-living across Australia. After this rejection, Cleanaway came back again with yet another offer, but workers say it still sees them fall further behind on keeping up with the cost of essentials and fails to address many of the important conditions matters like overtime, workload, and safety.

In their latest offer, Cleanaway are also seeking to increase the maximum length of an ordinary shift from 8 to 12 hours so they can avoid overtime rates, which have been skyrocketing due to the poor recruitment and retention of staff. But workers are bravely standing up to say that enough is enough and they’ll keep protesting Cleanaway’s poor wages and attempts to cut conditions.

Cleanaway’s garbos are the perfect example of what can happen when workers stand together in unity and withdraw their labour to strike. Traditionally their roles as garbos have been seen as more or less expendable by corporate interests, but these latest strikes are proof of the essential work garbage workers provide for their community – especially when they see the reality of having bins left unemptied. Not staffing services the public rely on can often be a hard decision to make for workers, but when the value of their work isn’t respected then these small inconveniences can often be the biggest route to gain public awareness and see real change.

With numerous other negotiations and disputes in other states, it’s clear that Cleanaway are on a mission to attack its own workforce and undercut them on wages. Garbos aren’t going to stand for it, and they say that further strikes will come if Cleanaway fail to improve conditions and give them the same pay as their counterparts. As one group of essential, and often invisible, workers we send our solidarity to another – it’s time to hold scabby employers to account.