Inner-city school cleaners protest

Date: 11 August 2004

Annie Owens, NSW LHMU Secretary

Inner-City Sydney school cleaners will take part in a state-wide rolling stoppages campaign tomorrow (Thursday August 12), mounting early morning information pickets at local schools.

RALLY AT DEPUTY PREMIER'S ELECTORATE OFFICE

MEDIA ALERT

School cleaner stoppage and rally

Date: August 12 2004

Time: 10 am

Place: 244 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville

This is the second week of rolling twenty-four stoppages across the State.

" Union members will be warning parents and teachers that once the school cleaners jobs are attacked parents will be asked to turn up and volunteer to clean classrooms, toilet blocks and playgrounds.

" Bob Carr doesn't just want your taxes to help his Budget, he now wants parents and teachers to volunteer their labour to help stretch the State Budget."

School cleaners from nearly 100 sites will take part in the morning pickets and afterwards rally at outside the office of Deputy Premier, Andrew Refshauge, 244 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville..

Cleaning schools for a decade

" I love the job. I work at the school because I think the students and the teachers are worth it. It's a job that I've put my heart into," Sherif says.

Sherif regards his work as the most important job in the world - looking after the health and hygiene of students and teachers at his TAFE colleges.

" The changes to the contracts from next year will either mean I do not have a job or I'll have my hours cut back so badly that I'll lose almost all of my wages."

Many of the cleaners are older women who came out to Australia as immigrants looking for the better opportunities that Australia offered.

" They've got little hope of finding other employment if Bob Carr goes ahead with this plan.

" I didn't believe in my wildest dreams they'd do things like this here in Australia," Sherif said.

"People work their whole life, work decently and honestly and hard and then this happens - and it comes from a Labor government which is meant to be on the side of working people."

The LHMU proudly represents around 130,000 hard working women and men throughout Australia

For more info:

Annie Owens, NSW LHMU Cleaners Union State Secretary, 8204 7204 or 0425 214 881

For further information

Contact:	Andrew Casey
Union:	Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union
Phone:	8204 7206
Fax:	92821 4480
Email:	andrewc@lhmu.org.au
WWW:	http://www.lhmu.org.au/

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