MEDIA RELEASE The majority of Casino Canberra workers are having to get by with JobKeeper payments. In most cases, this is significantly less than what they would normally earn. To drive the knife in further, Casino Canberra is demanding that their staff take annual leave. Staff are being bullied and tricked into using leave entitlements they have worked for so that the Casino can use the JobKeeper payments as an annual leave subsidy scheme. Today Casino Canberra workers tried to present management with a petition against using their annual leave, but management refused to come out and meet with their staff and hear their concerns. Lyndal Ryan, United Workers Union ACT State Secretary said: “Casino Canberra has made a direct choice to take advantage of workers’ confusion around their rights and what is allowed in the current climate, to try to catch them out. “The company has requested staff who […]
In the Australian Capital Territory, hospital cleaners protested outside Calvary Bruce Hospital in response to contractor Compass Medirest’s insulting offer of a 5-cent wage increase and their attempts to block lawful industrial action. Calvary Bruce Hospital cleaners have been trying to negotiate a wage increase for months and are on a base rate of $22.02 per hour. This is significantly lower than their counterparts at Canberra Hospital. After months of negotiating, Compass Medirest threw a 5-cent wage increase offer on the table, forcing cleaners to seek a meeting with hospital management. Calvary refused, leaving cleaners with no other pathway but industrial action. Hospital cleaners plan to walk off the job for 24 hours on Monday, insulted by a pay offer that leaves them well behind their counterparts at Canberra Hospital, despite performing the same role. Yesterday, Compass Medirest made an application to the Fair Work Commission to prevent them from […]
Calvary Hospital’s cleaners walked off the job in the Australian Capital Territory today in response to contractor Compass Medirest’s disrespectful 5¢ pay offer. Last Thursday the cleaners protested outside the hospital, calling on Calvary and the contractor to respect them. Given the complete lack of action on the part of both hospital management and their chosen cleaning contractor, cleaners have little choice but to take industrial action. “People have thanked cleaners throughout the pandemic,” says Lyndal Ryan, United Workers Union Director for Property Services, “They’ve thanked them for working on the frontline, for keeping our communities safe, for helping to stop the spread of the virus. “But thanks is not enough. Talk is cheap, and that’s exactly what Calvary’s cleaning contractor is – cheap and disrespectful. “The cleaners at Calvary Hospital are paid significantly less than their counterparts over at Canberra Hospital, despite the fact that they are doing the […]