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Last Thursday Australia's cleaners made history by taking their first ever national industrial action in shopping centres around the country. Watch the video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCD_khM0E0



Westfield Centrepoint cleaners in Sydney took action by wearing union t-shirts for two hours. And the response they got was bullying; these minimum wage workers were docked a whole day of pay and threatened about taking further action. But cleaners have decided they can't sit back and watch things get worse - for themselves, for future cleaners, or for the public who deserve more. Shopping centre cleaning is unsustainable; workloads are unsustainable, and cleaners’ wages are not living wages. And that's despite Australia's shopping centres being some of the most profitable spaces in the world.



But, in spite of Spotless’ heartless reaction, cleaners around the country will be taking more actions today and tomorrow, with community groups holding rallies and supporting them, to show Spotless that the stakes might have been raised—but cleaners and their communities are ready to fight.



“Spotless’ reaction is unprofessional, gratuitous and overblown,” Louise Tarrant, National Secretary of United Voice, the cleaners’ union, said. “This is a company that has spent a year ignoring the problems their employees were trying to express. Now they have overreacted, showing that not only do they not care about their workers; they don’t care about looking rational, either. Cleaners around the country are suffering due to high workloads and poverty wages. Could you raise a family on $600 a week?”



“Spotless keeps saying the award is good enough; that it’s enough for a family. It’s clearly not true. Cleaners are standing together and taking industrial action to ensure cleaner shopping centres and liveable wages. What about their employees living in poverty leads Spotless to believe that locking people out is the best and most appropriate response to a cleaner wearing a different shirt for a few hours? This is a callous company that suffers from a lack of long-term vision, often acting impulsively and hastily. Spotless seems to believe that demeaning their employees will make this fight go away. They’re wrong.”



“Cleaners are standing up to Spotless, and they’re asking wealthy corporations to do their part for their communities and their shopping centres. They’re asking Westfield and Colonial First State to actually do the right thing by the cleaners that work so hard to ensure that shoppers return to their centres. That’s the missing piece—cleaners keep shoppers returning. Cleaners ensure quality spaces for families and shoppers. And cleaners want to be able to do the job they love. They just need cleaning companies like Spotless and shopping centre owners like Westfield to see the light.”



Messages of support to be addressed to Kirsty McCully, Property Services Industry Coordinator, National Office United Voice. Email: kirsty.mccully@unitedvoice.org.au