The cleaning contract for Perth’s largest office building, Central Park, has changed hands amid competing claims about the role of the union in the sector.
The cleaning contract for Perth’s largest office building, Central Park, has changed hands amid competing claims about the role of the union in the sector.
Danish-owned company ISS Group took over the cleaning contract this month from local firm Linfoot Cleaning Services, which had cleaned the building for the past 10 years.
The contract for the 66,000 square metre building changed hands at a time when the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union is waging a vigorous campaign to improve working conditions in the sector.
This has included union protests outside several prominent CBD office towers, such as Central Park, the Woodside building, 140 St George Terrace and Governor Stirling Tower.
The union’s assistant secretary, Sue Lines, said the local protests were part of the CleanStart campaign, which was designed to secure improved rates of pay and better working conditions for cleaners across Australia and New Zealand.
Building Service Contractors’ Association of WA director Ian Westoby is concerned the union is overstepping the mark in seeking to achieve its goals.
“The union claimed to me personally that they had influenced the [Central Park] contract decision,” Mr Westoby said.
He said the union tactics included organisers entering Central Park after hours and trying to sign-up cleaners.
Mr Westoby said the union was also applying pressure for the industry to shift from individual contracts to collective agreements.
Ms Lines denied making any claims about the Central Park contract.
“I’ve got no idea what Ian was talking about,” she said.
Ms Lines also had no knowledge of union organisers entering the building after hours, though the Central Park property manager did confirm an incident.
Jones Lang LaSalle property and marketing manager Jane Lothian said two union representatives had been escorted from the building last month after they followed some cleaners through a secure door.
Ms Lothian said the awarding of the new cleaning contract followed an open tender, leading to the selection of ISS – which earlier this year acquired Australian company Tempo Services – on a mix of factors including price, staff supervision and service quality.
Ms Lines believes contractors in WA have been competing primarily on price, and as a result they have pushed pay and conditions lower than every other state.
She said many office cleaners had lost allowances for working after 6pm and for cleaning toilets, were employed just two hours per day and were expected to clean up to 1,000sq m an hour.
Mr Westoby said the association’s view was that cleaners’ rate of pay should reflect the rate of pay in the contract cleaners’ award, which was $14.32 per hour.
“The industry has no interest in cleaners being underpaid,” he said.
Mr Westoby said he believes the union’s real agenda is to boost its membership.
