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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-10 Daily Xml
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CLEANING INDUSTRY

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:55): I am very pleased today to be able to report on a great initiative by a union that I am a member of, the Miscellaneous Workers Union. It is called the It's Time campaign, but in this case it is time to fix the cleaning industry. Having worked as a cleaner myself, certainly when I was a student, I have some idea of the trials and tribulations of being a cleaner, but certainly I have not had the opportunity to work for some of the big cleaning firms, which is where this particular campaign is directed.

What the Miscellaneous Workers Union has found out is that cleaners are saying that their workloads have increased so much that it is impossible for cleaners to do their job in paid time, and this increases cleaners' risk of injury, and that in many cases cleaning shifts are so short that cleaners have to take on a second and even a third job to earn enough to live on. In many buildings some shifts are just two hours long. I think certainly there have been some issues raised with the government with regard to the cleaning of our electorate offices. So I think this is something that we should put on notice for them as well.

In many cases the pay is too low. On average, it is less than a third of the average weekly earnings. Job security is low and precarious, and when contracts finish many workers in those contracts lose their jobs. So cleaners find it very difficult having to then join up with a new contract, and a new firm in many cases.

Cleaners have got together with the Miscellaneous Workers Union and looked at ways in which they can change the industry. One of the programs that they have employed is The Clean Start 7 Fair Solutions campaign, where they are looking at fair hours, fair workloads, fair pay, fair job security, fair treatment, fair leave and fair rights.

I am very pleased to say that a number of employers that I have spoken to, both within the electorate and outside, have supported this campaign and are looking at making sure that cleaners get a fair deal, and also that the contracts that they are awarded actually do include these particular points. First of all, a minimum four-hour shift; a commitment to safe and reasonable workloads; improved job security; and looking at increasing the actual wage level for the work that is performed.

The contractors, and, as I said, there are many of them, I am pleased to say have been prepared to sign up to the Clean Start collective agreement, and there have been a number of areas of support from the community for this particular program.

At the end of last year I had the opportunity to visit my relatives in England, on a private trip, and one of the places that we were going to meet was in front of the new Tate Gallery and then have dinner in the restaurant upstairs. We had trouble getting into the gallery because there was a picket line, and the picket line was made up of workers who were part of the UK Clean Start campaign, and also local people who were very concerned about the fact that many workers who worked within the area of London itself are on minimum wages, particularly cleaners. So, I am pleased to say that my relatives were not prepared to cross the picket line either, and we had to find somewhere else to dine. This is after we joined in on the picket line.

It is interesting that across the world—I know particularly in the US and in some parts of Europe—cleaners have been asserting themselves because, while we tend to take this job for granted, it is really important that we recognise all workers, particularly workers in industries that are quite often precarious and where job security is low.

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