Kiama Council members marching through Kiama Village town centre after voting to stop work.
Long term inaction from Kiama Council resulting in our members being underpaid and overworked in unsafe conditions has finally ended after affected members voted to take collective industrial action.
For far too long members in the Waste Management Team had been denied their Adverse Working Conditions allowance and were forced to work rosters that were in breach of the Award because they didn’t give them the correct number of days off throughout a roster period. Further, several work health and safety concerns had been raised by members and largely ignored by council management.
Finally, our members had had enough and on Tuesday 20 August they voted to stop work, march down Manning Street and picket council.
Pictured above: Holding management to account: Kiama Council members establishing a picket line at council chambers to demand action.
Within 30 minutes of the picket line being setup outside council headquarters, council agreed to:
- Pay all outstanding Award entitlements with backpay
- Grant days in lieu for every shift members were forced to work within rosters that were in breach of the Award
- Address all WHS issues and commit to further improvements
This was a fantastic outcome for our members and a strong reminder of the power of collective action.
We are in no doubt that the escalation was justified and necessary, given council’s long-term inaction.
At the time of writing this article, all affected members have received their entitlements.
We’d like to thank our hardworking delegates at Kiama Council – Darren Brennan and Chris Da Silva-Stewart for supporting members throughout the long and hard-won fight.
