BY MARG PERROTT
WOLLONGONG — "Sold down the alley", "Absolutely shocking" and "It was a waste of time [going out on strike]" — these were some of the comments by cleaners following a meeting with their union on April 12.
On April 7, 200 cleaners met in Wollongong and rejected a pay and conditions offer from contractor Menzies Property Services. They voted to hold a 72-hour district-wide stoppage which affected all public schools and TAFE colleges.
The company at first attempted to reduce the time cleaners had to complete their tasks by 47%, then by 24%. In the end, the contract included a cap on the reduction in working time of 3% per year over the remaining four years of Menzies' contract with the state government. The expected cleaning time performance is one minute for toilets and basins, six minutes for a carpeted classroom and nine minutes for a linoleum floor.
Officials of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) supported the deal. Many of the workers felt that the deal, although an advance on the initial offer, made their jobs impossible.
As Miriam Horasio told the NSW Labor Council: "We now have nine minutes to do a classroom — that includes dusting, cleaning tables, windows, vacuuming and polishing floors. How can one person do all that? It's a physical impossibility!"
LHMU assistant secretary Ian West, at the April 7 meeting, argued that the deal represented an advance as it placed limits on the reduction in cleaning time and provides the opportunity to fight the speed-ups on a site by site basis. However, even the largest schools and TAFEs have only or so 20 workers, so the chances of stopping the cuts to cleaning time unlikely.
The cleaners' strike won considerable support from other unions, especially from teaching staff. There was widespread public support, even though a number of Illawarra schools and the Wollongong TAFE were forced to close.
At the April 12 meeting of about 150 Illawarra workers, West reported on the final details of the agreement which the union had struck with Menzies. South Coast workers — who voted to reject the offer — were forced to accept the results of the state-wide vote held on April 10, even though the majority continue to reject the offer.