About 50 shopping centre cleaners and their supporters rallied on July 13 outside the Westfield head office in Market Street to demand a better deal on pay and conditions. The protesters chanted, “Hey Westfield, listen up! The cleaners are standing up!” and, “What do we want? Clean Start! When do we want it? Now!”
They were also protesting an assault on a union organiser at a protest outside the building the previous day.
Leaflets distributed to passersby said: “Westfield posted a profit of $1.53 billion. A shopping centre cleaner made less than $30,000. Westfield’s profits are skyrocketing every year, as they make billions from their shopping centres around the country. But Westfield keeps cutting cleaning contracts, leaving shopping centre cleaners — the people who work so hard keeping centres clean and sanitary for you — trying to get by on just $16.57 an hour.”
United Voice union lead organiser for the cleaners’ campaign, Alex Morales, told Green Left Weekly: “Cleaners in shopping centres are fighting for better pay and conditions. The big problem in the industry is that there is no job security. We are also seeking respect from companies and contractors for the cleaners.
“Westfield continually picks the lowest tender for its cleaning contracts, and takes no responsibility for the conditions of its workers. This is a national campaign, involving other states as well. We are also targeting other shopping centre owners as well as Westfield.”
[United Voice is seeking public support for the campaign via an online petition at http://www.cleanstart.org.au/how-can-i-help .]