Council workers at the City of Melbourne went on strike for two hours from 3.30 pm on September 27 and rallied outside Melbourne Town Hall. The rally was followed by a protest march along Swanson Street from Bourke to Flinders streets.
The workers are demanding a new agreement with better pay and conditions. City of Melbourne is the richest capital city in Australia.
The Australian Services Union (ASU) said its members will continue with work bans across the City of Melbourne as management refuse to meet to agree upon a fair Enterprise Agreement for its staff.
Australian Services Union (ASU) Organiser Ty Lockwood said the ASU had offered to meet with management every day to resolve the outstanding issues before work bans again kicked off over the Grand Final weekend.
“We have reached out to meet in our attempt to further negotiations before any planned industrial action commenced this week. Since last week, the City of Melbourne haven't made one attempt to meet with the ASU negotiating team before Thursday’s formal meeting.
“The ASU and its members apologise to all people affected by the protest, but we feel this is one of the few ways we have to get management's attention. Any affected people can contact City of Melbourne CEO Martin Cutter or Lord Mayor Robert Doyle to convince them to get this EA finalised and limit any more industrial action affecting the city.
“Staff have universally rejected a sub-standard offer put forward by management. As we have said all along, this is about an employee’s right to procedural fairness and having the ability to appeal a management decision should they disagree with it, particularly with regard to disciplinary outcomes.”
The strike will continue over the Grand Final weekend, one of the busiest weekends in Melbourne. Industrial action from September 29 will include parking officers not enforcing green signs across the city, including during the AFL Grand Final Parade on September 30, and the AFL Grand Final on October 1.
For campaign updates visit the ASU website.
Video of Shane from City of Melbourne Indigenous Unit playing didgeridoo for the striking workers.
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