Striking cleaners protest at Parliament House
The rooms of Parliament House were left dirty on 15 June as cleaning workers took industrial action over pay rates. At 7:30am, cleaners marched out of work and across the Parliament lawns to cheers from a crowd that had assembled to show solidarity.
Unionists, union officials and supporters from the community provided an honour guard with raised broomsticks. Everyone joined in the cleaning workers’ chant of “The workers united will never be defeated”.
The cleaners voted to strike as part of their fight for a wage increase of $1.80 per hour, which would bring their pay up to $22.90. Since the Abbott government scrapped the Commonwealth Cleaning Services Guidelines, their pay and conditions have stagnated. They have not had a wage rise since 2012.
“The withdrawal of the commonwealth cleaning guidelines means cuts in pay of $6,800 a year for people who clean commonwealth buildings. That is a shameful situation”, United Voice national president Jo-Anne Schofield told the crowd.
United Voice also used the occasion to award the “golden toilet brush” to Joe Hockey. The award is presented yearly to the person or organisation that has done the least to support cleaners. Despite the award being well earned by Hockey, who never shies away from a chance to attack those on low incomes, the golden toilet brush is unlikely to find a place on his mantelpiece.
