Bin mayhem will continue indefinitely across three Melbourne councils following last week’s 24-hour strike, but residents will have no idea which homes will be affected until it’s too late.
Until now, garbage workers in parts of Merri-bek, Hume and Darebin have deliberately skipped collection on certain streets, as council union members continue to push for a 24 per cent pay rise over four years.
However, action is set to escalate again on Thursday, when areas selected by the union will not have their rubbish collected.
“In the morning when they’re looking at their runs they will just select some streets, some bins that they’re not going to do,” Australia Services Union branch secretary Tash Wark said.
“Yes, it’s disruptive, it causes some mayhem. It allows the value of their work to be fully seen and appreciated.”
Merri-bek resident Jacky Stibilj’s said her green-lid organic bin smelt rotten and had become “absolutely disgusting” after last Thursday’s collection was skipped.
The Hadfield ratepayer said working out what to do with an extra week’s worth of food scraps had been stressful, and that it didn’t seem fair for some households’ bins to be emptied while others were not.
“I have a toddler. I don’t want my child to be exposed to all that,” Stibilj said. “I don’t even let my son play outside because my bin is overfull and smelly.”
Over the past week, about 26,000 red-lid bins in Hume went uncollected, according to council.
Carer Faye Mina, who looks after two elderly people who require incontinence pads, said just one week of their collection in Meadow Heights being skipped had left her scrambling to find a place to dispose of an extra seven days’ worth of waste.
“It’s still sitting in the backyard,” she said.
The union has released lists of streets that could be affected.
Collection is not universally disrupted across the three councils. In Merri-bek, which takes in suburbs including Brunswick, Coburg and Pascoe Vale, only households north of Bell Street are affected.
Wark said that up to 100 garbage workers were fighting for a pay rise to keep up with cost-of-living increases, pushing for a 10 per cent rise in the first year, followed by three 4 per cent rises, which would compound over time to 24 per cent.
She said that while workers empathised with affected residents, councils had been “obstructive” in negotiations and the decision had been made by workers to use the tools available to them.
“We’re really sorry for that impact on you, and we hope that you can echo how this is affecting you [to the council] because it is in council’s hands to fix this,” Wark said.
A garbage worker involved in industrial action, who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity over concerns they could lose their job, said drivers were still performing a “big chunk” of their job and believed many locals supported them.
“If you don’t get your bin emptied for a couple of weeks, and you’re storing your own rubbish, you get how important it is,” the worker said.
Wark said more than 2000 union members were eligible to take part in various forms of protected industrial action across the three councils, as well as in the City of Melbourne, Yarra, Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay and Greater Dandenong.
Library book returns may also be affected in all eight municipalities from Thursday, while in some areas there are bans on other duties including graffiti or litter removal, taking down road safety signs, emptying public bins or repairs to small potholes that do not pose a safety risk.
Letters from the union released publicly show that members were told to stop processing transaction fees at the Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre, community care workers in Merri-bek were asked to stop mopping or vacuuming except for bathroom areas, and a ban on issuing infringement notices for parking offences was extended within both councils.
Merri-bek and Darebin councils have advised residents to bring in any bins that have not been emptied until their next scheduled collection day. Hume’s resource recovery centres are not allowed to accept household waste such as food scraps or nappies, and it is understood the council is looking at how to manage disruptions.
The union accused Hume of threatening to dock waste workers’ pay, which the council has not disputed. It also accused Merri-bek of breaking its own noise restrictions last Tuesday as trucks driven by non-striking drivers left a depot earlier than permitted. The council says this has been addressed.
A spokesperson for the eight councils said they acknowledged the union’s right to take part in industrial action, but it had come “very early in the bargaining process” and adverse effects to the community were regrettable.
“We ask those affected in our community for their patience, and we will continue to negotiate in good faith with all unions representing our staff,” the spokesperson said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Rachael Ward is a journalist in the City team at The Age. Contact her at rachael.ward@theage.com.auConnect via email.
