A Randwick waste company’s refusal to agree on pay and conditions is causing garbos to strike
Garbage truck drivers picking up bins in New South Wales’ Randwick Council area have voted to stop work for 24 hours.
The drivers decided yesterday to go on strike and rally outside Cleanaway early Monday morning in NSW suburb Peakhurst.
Garbage truck drivers are on strike over an ongoing dispute with waste company Cleanaway, with Transport Workers Union (TWU) members spending months meeting with the company to ensure rights, entitlements and protections are maintained.
The workers wanted these rights to be continued from previous waste contractor Randwick Council area.
“Cleanaway has a long history of bullying and disrespecting their workers,” TWU state secretary Richard Olsen says.
“Since Cleanaway took over the Randwick Council waste contract in March 2021, they have refused to ensure the protection of the pay and conditions of workers they were entitled to under an agreement made with Randwick Council.”
The TWU NSW says Cleanaway is trying to take away the rights of transport workers by refusing to negotiate in good faith over these privileges.
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According to the TWU, the company has remained silent on concerns expressed by garbage truck workers about pay and conditions proposals since last year.
After this stalemate, Cleanaway produced its own version of an enterprise agreement without consulting workers, with the TWU saying Cleanaway pushed workers to sign it.
“These garbos understand the importance of the service they provide to the Randwick community, but Cleanaway is declining the pay and conditions paid to them with no thought to the impact on workers’ families,” Olsen says.
The TWU says the matter is in the hands of Cleanaway and implores them to value their experienced workers.