Strikes loom as shopping mall cleaners pushed to breaking point

Fair Work Australia last Wednesday gave approval for cleaners with Australia's largest retail cleaner, Spotless, to vote on strike action at nine shopping centres across Victoria.

The move comes as new data reveals Spotless cleaners are suffering stress, injury and breakdowns as their employer pushes them to clean more and more in less and less time.

"Cleaners work incredibly hard to make sure that our most popular shopping centres are always hygienic  and looking their best, but in return Spotless is pressuring them to bear impossible workloads while paying them poverty wages," says Ben Redford, Assistant State Secretary of United Voice, the Cleaners Union.

"Cleaners have repeatedly asked Spotless to back fair pay and safe workloads, but Spotless refuses to listen. Cleaners now have no choice but to vote on strike action, that could have a big impact on these centres during the busy Christmas period," Redford says.

The research, which included close to 150 Spotless shopping centre cleaners, found that:

• 55.7% of Spotless cleaners surveyed are stressed from impossible workloads.
• 80.2% of Spotless cleaners said their pay is not sufficient to support a family.
• 70.7% of Spotless cleaners have problems paying bills and debts.
• More than half of Spotless cleaners are even cutting back on groceries.

"This research paints a grim picture of cleaners at Australia' largest retail cleaner living on the margins," Redford says. "They are often unable to afford to visit a dentist or take a holiday.  Those with children do it even harder, often working two jobs to make ends meet."

"At the same time, cleaners in our shopping malls are under extreme pressure as Spotless cuts back on the time that staff need to clean properly," Redford says.

"But the amount of cleaning that needs to be done never decreases. The result is that more and more work needs to be done by fewer and fewer cleaners," he says.

"These relentless cutbacks are brutalising cleaners who are often buckling under the mounting pressure. Cleaners are reporting injuries and even suffering breakdowns as the stress becomes too much to bear." Redford says.

"Cleaners endure all this pressure and pain for just $16.50 an hour."
Spotless holds more shopping centre cleaning contracts than any other company in Victoria, boasting nearly 20 per cent of the market. In the year to June, it posted a 34.7 per cent rise in revenues to $433.8 million for its Australian and New Zealand cleaning operations.

Spotless cleaners will vote on strike action at Chadstone, Westfield Doncaster, Westfield Fountain Gate, Werribee Plaza, Broadmeadows Town Centre, Corio Village, Epping Plaza, Victoria Gardens and Hoppers Crossing Shopping Centre.

"Spotless is the leader in shopping centre cleaning, and cleaners are entitled to expect this company set a strong and positive example for the rest of the industry," Redford says.

"Instead, Spotless opts to undercut its rivals to chase new business but the company's revenues aren't suffering — instead it is cleaners who are paying the price," Redford says.

"Cleaners want Spotless to acknowledge their hard work with fair pay and to take pressure off their impossible workloads by giving them the time they need to do their jobs properly."

Download the Spotless fact sheet