United Voice News
Canberra’s school cleaners need urgent action – not more meetings
The Minister for Education and Training's announcement today that school cleaning contracts will be reviewed has given ACT school cleaners some hope that an end to their two year Clean Start campaign may be in sight.
However, the LHMU the cleaners' union says a timeframe for change must be agreed upon immediately if the Minister's promise is to be meaningful.
Cleaners and their supporters protested today outside the ACT Assembly Building calling on the Minister, Andrew Barr, to urgently introduce a fair contracting system.
"A review of school cleaning contracts without a time frame, without a starting time and without a deadline for reporting is simply not good enough," says Lyndal Ryan, ACT Secretary of the LHMU.
"School cleaners don't need a review from the ACT Government. They need fair pay, fair working conditions, fair workloads and fair job security and they need them urgently.
"I hope that after seeing today just how upset school cleaners are at the prospect of continuing to work with such unfair working conditions Andrew Barr will reconsider and urgently introduce a new contracting system.
"If he doesn't, he can expect more protests from cleaners and our supporters. If he does he will be remembered by the cleaners as the Minister who helped them to a better, fairer future.”
