Waste workers in Noosa are set to strike tomorrow, but the contractor says it has contingencies in place to minimise the impact of any interruptions to bin collection.
Cleanaway Noosa workers, who service the Noosa Council area, have been fighting for a wage increase, saying pay increases have not kept up with inflation over the past three years.
In a social media post, Transport Workers’ Union Queensland director of organising Josh Millroy said the decision to walk off the job wasn’t made lightly.
“Taking industrial action is always a last resort but this is the only option when Cleanaway continues to fall short on a decent offer after months of bargaining,” he said.
“These workers are out in the trucks or at the transfer stations nearly every day of the year and are currently slogging it out in the summer heat.
“I think Noosa residents would agree that these workers deserve a fair pay rise and more rights at work.”
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The post said workers’ pay had gone backwards by more than 3 per cent in real terms over the past three years.
A spokesperson for Cleanaway said it was continuing to work with its staff over the pay issue, and that rubbish would still be collected.
“Cleanaway will continue to negotiate in good faith with our employees to reach a speedy resolution,” they said.
“Cleanaway has contingencies in place to minimise the impact on Noosa residents. If your bin is not collected, we ask the residents leave their bin on the kerbside and it will be collected the following day.”
A TWU press release said the industrial action would result in about 6000 missed residential bin collections, disruptions at the Waste and Resource Recovery Centre at Doonan and further missed commercial services.
Tewantin and the western half of Noosaville are scheduled to have their waste collected tomorrow.
It said contract insecurity was also a serious issue and workers were calling for certainty if Cleanaway was unsuccessful in future tenders with the council.
Noosa Council said it had been advised by Cleanaway about potential industrial action by its workers.
Council CEO Larry Sengstock said the matter was between Cleanaway and its workers, but hoped both parties would resolve the matter quickly.
“We have a good working relationship with Cleanaway who do a great job servicing our shire,” he said.
“We remain hopeful that our residents will not be impacted by the potential action.
“Council is not involved in any of the negotiations, and we have advised Cleanaway about the importance of maintaining reliable and regular garbage collection for the Noosa community.”
