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LHMU lodge injunction against State Government

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Cleaners, janitors and groundsmen representing the LHMU and QPSU will be out in force to support an injunction against the Queensland Government to be lodged this morning.

The LHMU will lodge the injunction in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission at 11.30am to stop the government from breaking a certified agreement and outsourcing school cleaning.

LHMU Assistant Secretary Nev Swan said the lawful agreement with the LHMU clearly stated that no cleaning positions would be outsourced in Queensland schools.

“The Education Department thinks it is above the law and agreements count for nothing,” Mr Swan said.

“They plan to use external contractors instead of government employees as part of their push for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) which will lead to dirty schools and the breakup of school communities,” he said.

“The LHMU won a campaign against the Coalition Government in 1996 when it tried to outsource school cleaners. That campaign was supported by Labor in Opposition. Now, they’re trying the same thing.”

QPSU Secretary Alex Scott said that the conditions of New South Wales PPP schools, which were recently visited by the two unions, highlighted the need for the Queensland government to readdress its plan.

“The NSW schools built under PPPs have only one low-paid site manager to manage grounds and school property, emergency cleaning, security and other duties,” Mr Scott said.

“In Queensland there are at least two staff to handle the high work load,” he said.

“Contractors in Queensland would have to make their money by paying employees poorly, increasing the duties they’re expected to perform and cutting the time they’re expected to do it in—as we’ve seen in NSW.

“The hours provided to school cleaners, security and janitorial staff in NSW PPP schools are far less than those worked in Queensland public schools.

“We need to learn from the lessons of other states and put the welfare of kids in our schools and the employees who work there as our top priorities.”

The recent tour of NSW PPP schools showed that:

• There is one site manager per school. The site manager is paid $38,000 and is doing at least two jobs.
• The PPPs were extended beyond the original plan and now include refurbishment of current schools.
• There is no set number of cleaner hours in NSW, with cleaners working fewer hours than in Queensland schools now.
• The LHMU and QPSU are working together as part of the Positively Public campaign (www.positivelypublic.com), which is aiming to stop the State Government from proceeding with its plan to outsource cleaning, security and janitorial roles in Queensland schools.