Drivers with decades of experience have dumped on the scrapheap under the ACT Government’s new household garbage collection contract.
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Shiny new garbage trucks were on display outside the ACT Legislative Assembly on Monday to mark the beginning of the new waste collection contract with SITA Australia.
But waste collectors, who had already taken industrial action over fears their pay would be lowered under the new contract, were angry at the news that several of their colleagues had missed out on jobs with SITA.
Klaus Pinkas, secretary of the ACT sub-branch of the Transport Workers Union, said seven drivers who had worked for previous contractor Cleanaway had not been employed by SITA.
“We lay the blame purely at the feet of the ACT Government,’’ Mr Pinkus said.
“We’ve got a guy who has serviced the same streets for 32 years.
“Two more have worked for 20 years. We don’t even know if they’ve failed medicals or what the story is. We’ve asked on numerous occasions why and…. The silence has been deafening from SITA.’’
John Hassett, NSW General Manager of SITA, said the company would employ 35 drivers for its Canberra runs - the same number as had worked for Cleanaway.
Mr Hassett said about six former Cleanaway workers had not been employed, but was unable to say why.
“That’s something that’s quite privileged information between us and the employees,’’ Mr Hassett said.
Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said drivers would have received redundancy packages when their work with Cleanaway finished.
Mr Rattenbury said the decision not to employ all of the former Cleanaway drivers was a matter for SITA.
“Some of them didn’t pass their medical tests for example. That’s been a decision from SITA,’’ he said
“I respect that they’ve gone through a professional recruitment process. It’s obviously tough for some people.’’
Drivers will begin working under draft pay conditions until an enterprise agreement is finalised.
In August, workers walked off the job over concerns about the pay being offered by SITA.
Earlier this month, a small number of drivers parked their trucks outside the Legislative Assembly and protested by beeping the horns.
The new garbage trucks run on bio-diesel and feature displays which promote recycling.
