Linencare workers victorious

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 11:00

BY ANTHONY BENBOW

PERTH — After six days of a round-the-clock picket line, workers at Linencare linen service in Perth's southern suburbs returned to work victorious.

The members of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, overwhelmingly women and many from migrant backgrounds, went on strike on March 9 after Linencare refused to take on more permanent staff during negotiations for a new enterprise agreement. The workers' victory means that many casual workers will be offered permanent positions, which was a key demand of the strikers.

"This is about equal pay for equal work", Rose, who has worked at Linencare for 12 years, told Green Left Weekly. "The casual staff are paid less than permanents, and do not receive penalty rates for overtime, weekend or public holiday work. Over the years, as permanent staff have left, they have not been replaced. Instead, management has just put on more casuals through Ready Workforce, a labour hire company."

Linencare was previously known as Hospital Laundry and Linen when it was state owned. In 1993, the former Liberal state government privatised the company. This is when casualisation started. In addition to servicing hospitals and nursing homes, the company servicing hotel linen and boosted its casual work force to more than 60, at times more than the permanent work force. Some casual staff had worked at Linencare for four years.

Linencare workers took action two years previously over the same demands. "It was very confrontational on that picket line. Management agreed to our demands then, but nothing was in writing. We went back in good faith, but in the next two years they didn't put one more person on permanent", said Rose.

That experience fuelled the women's determination to succeed this time around. When the picket line was established, management locked the gates on the workers. On March 12, management claimed it would declare the company bankrupt. The workers replied: "Go ahead!".

The following day the company asked to negotiate. The workers received help from other unions including the Maritime Union of Australia. Many unionists visited the picket line to show their solidarity.