Council workers walk off the job, close libraries

A 24-hour stop-work led by the Australian Services Union saw council workers from the City of Melbourne and seven other local government areas walk off the job on May 5, as the union steps up industrial action around Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) negotiations.

Five out of seven libraries were closed, causing events and room bookings to be cancelled, and parking enforcement was at a minimum across the City of Melbourne on May 5, when more than 1000 council workers walked off the job and converged at Victorian Trades Hall before walking to the Victorian parliament.

The action, the “largest city-wide strike in the sector’s history,” caused “significant disruptions to essential services” across the Greater Dandenong, Darebin, Hobsons Bay, Hume, Maribyrnong, Merri-bek and Yarra as well as Melbourne council areas, the union said, including to garbage collection, street cleaning, library operations, mowing, aged care, and parking enforcement.

It followed earlier industrial action in April, when rubbish collectors in Darebin, Hume and Merri-bek left thousands of bins unemptied and, according to the ASU, was a deliberate strategy to draw attention to the important role of the workers in running community services.

Our members are dedicated professionals who take immense pride in serving their communities. They perform essential work that is often invisible when it is done well, ASU Victoria and Tasmania branch secretary Tash Wark said.

“But recently, the public has noticed when it stops. We’ve been hearing from members of the public every day that they’re with us …”

Council workers’ pay had “gone backwards in real terms for half a decade” with “a compounding cost-of-living crisis [seeing] real wages fall by up to 12 per cent since 2021,” according to the union.

“Striking is a last resort,” Ms Wark said.

“Our members don’t want to stop work, but they’ve been left with no other choice because of employers that refuse to act.”

The union is calling for a 10 per cent wage increase in the first year “to address four years of soaring inflation”, followed by four per cent per year thereafter.

Ms Wark said the best offer from councils had so far been only around 2.5 per cent.

“Employers can take action and end this strike immediately if they’ll just meet our demands and restore these vital services to their community,” Ms Wark said.

However, councils have said they are unable to afford significant wage increases because the state government’s 2.75 per cent cap on rate rises means they can’t raise more money from ratepayers.

A spokesperson for the City of Melbourne said it was “continuing to bargain in good faith with our employees, unions and seven other councils to deliver a new multi-employer agreement”.

“Our focus is on reaching an outcome that supports our people while ensuring we continue delivering services for our community,” they said.

“While we respect the right of the ASU to take protected industrial action, we’re working to minimise disruption for the community as much as possible.” •

Caption: City of Melbourne union members among the crowd of striking workers outside the parliament on May 5. ASU branch secretary Tash Wark addresses the crowd of striking workers. Photos: Hanna Komissarova.