NEWS DESK
Guards march off job at naval base “These guards are highly-trained, professional staff who do incredibly important work protecting our men and women in uniform, as well as patients and health professionals, and yet their pay has been squeezed for the last two years,” Mr Walsh said. “They do not deserve this kind of disrespect. “They will do whatever it takes to win jobs they can count on.” Mr Walsh said the action caused significant disruption at HMAS Cerberus as well as at other Defence sites, including the Australian Geospatial Intelligence site at Bendigo, Simpson Barracks, Defence Fisherman’s Bend and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Maribyrnong. “There is a risk that if the action escalates, operations on some bases would be shut down,” he said. Wilson Security was invited to comment on the action. HMAS Cerberus would not comment. Stephen Taylor
GUARDS employed by Wilson Security walked off the job at HMAS Cerberus, Crib Point last week to protest changes to workplace rules. The action resulted in bans on visitor checks, on-site patrols, bag and vehicle checks and training. Industrial action elsewhere affected Defence sites across the state as well as at hospitals, offices, stations, and factories. The guards, members of United Voice, are angry at what they claim are “broken bargaining rules in the security industry and across the workforce”. They say they have been negotiating with Wilson on pay and job security for a year and a half. United Voice Victorian secretary Jess Walsh said Wilson had imposed a two-year pay freeze on the guards and sought to introduce a two-tier pay structure as a way of pushing new guards on to the award minimum. He said it was the third time guards had taken industrial action in recent months, and was “the most widespread action to date”.
Butt out at beaches BUTTS are out at beaches, says Rye environmental activist Josie Jones. Ms Jones says litter surveys counted 31,000 cigarette butts on the streets and foreshore over the past year which, “for a small coastal town of just over 12,000 residents, is 85 butts a day”. “From November each year, the surge of visitors increases by 1400 per cent and, with them, comes litter,” Ms Jones said. “With 95 per cent of beach litter coming via stormwater, getting butts in bins is so important.” The Only Butt campaign began rolling out in Rye last week. Bin posters were put up, posters and letters put in shops and 10 Enviropole freestanding ashtrays installed for the use of smokers. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne has joined the campaign to help educate smokers on the ills of littering. “We hope to inspire littering smokers to change their ritual and get butts in bins and off our streets,” he said. The campaign will run until the election of the next mayor in November and will be taking litter audits, surveys and making a short film on littering. The Only Butt has been put forward for a community award for Keep Australia Beautiful in which head Judge Robbie Rae visited the shire a fortnight ago. “She loved the campaign and thought it was a clever way to engage the community on a serious subject,” Ms Jones said.
‘Albo’ by the bay Snip and tuck: Volunteers prune roses at the Mornington Botanical Rose Gardens. Pictures: Supplied
Secateurs at the ready … VOLUNTEERS pruned more than 4000 rose bushes at Mornington Botanical Rose Gardens last week – and then enjoyed dinner. Fine weather on Saturday 14 July and a bracing breeze off Port Phillip on the Sunday made the annual pruning weekend enjoyable for the volunteers and visitors. Free pruning demonstrations by the Rose Society of Victoria attracted 65 enthusiasts over the two days. To join the group call Ron 0459 032 497.
THE federal opposition’s spokesman for infrastructure, transport, cities and regional development, Anthony “Albo” Albanese, will be guest speaker at a lunch at the McClelland Gallery on Tuesday 31 July. Mr Albanese will address members and guests of the Committee for Greater Frankston, including Frankston and Mornington Peninsula local government representatives, and will cover his recently announced City Partnerships program, which he said would foster “genuine collaboration between the three levels of government” to tackle urban growth. Committee CEO Ginevra Hosking said Mr Albanese would be asked how a Labor federal government would assist decision-makers deal with “access to jobs, nurturing successful competitive industry sectors in health and advanced manufacturing, extending the metropolitan train line, and improving car parking”. Details: www.trybooking.com/WYVL
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Southern Peninsula News
24 July 2018
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