United Voice News
School cleaner flees in fear
A cleaner at Newton Moore SHS in Bunbury feared for her life after being threatened while at work early this morning.
The cleaner was working in an area that was accessible to the public, when she was lunged at by a man wielding a long, pointed stick. The cleaner fled.
The man, who also ran away, was not authorised to be on school grounds.
LHMU assistant secretary Carolyn Smith has urged the Education Department to start taking these incidents more seriously.
“This is the third serious incident in 6 months, what tragedy is the Education Department waiting for before they properly address the lack of adequate security measures for school cleaners.
“It is unacceptable for an employee to find themselves in a situation like this -- and these incidents are occurring more and more.
“We have been calling on the Department to act as a matter of urgency on these matters, for months now. Urgent changes must be made to ensure the safety of school cleaners.”
The LHMU has also slammed the Education Department’s reaction to the incident.
“The first point of contact at the Department responded by saying ‘I’m not a security hotline’. A cleaner under his jurisdiction has to flee her workplace and that is the response.
“We will be lodging a formal complaint with the Department about the way this matter has been handled.”
