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Calvary Hospital cleaners XmasDate: 05 December 2004
Cleaners at Canberra's big Calvary Hospital are hoping to present the hospitals contract manager, Steve Madex, with a large outsize Christmas Card on Monday morning - which he can accept on behalf of the directors of the church-run hospital. " We reckon Steve might be hoping for a great Xmas, but he has left 15 committed cleaners with a very ugly Christmas - they' ve not been given any job security guarantees in a new tender round," Lyndal Ryan, ACT LHMU Assistant Secretary, said. " Our people are wondering if they'll be having a big hearty Xmas - or they'll need to bring in Scrooge and save the cents for uncertain futures."
Hospital cleaners strike and leave Xmas wishes in more than half-a-dozen languagesLHMU Cleaners Union members are going on strike from 6.30 am on Monday at the hospital - and they will decide on the day whether the strike will be indefinite or just for 24 hours." Our members will write Merry Xmas messages to the Calvary Hospital Directors in German, Swedish, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Spanish and Burmese - representing all the different cultures that the cleaners have come from to work hard at this hospital," Ms Ryan said.
Dedicated service working alongside Sisters of the Little Company of Mary" At least half of these cleaners have worked for between ten and twenty years at Calvary but the hospital has refused to guarantee their job security." One member, Danica Juric, has worked at the hospital for 25 years - but is now wondering for how much longer." Calvary Hospital - started in 1987 - is run by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary and now has nearly 300 beds in their public, private and hospice facilities.
Original talks successful - and then something happened" In July we sat down, talked - and most importantly agreed - with Calvary about a number of provisions they would place in the new contract - provisions which would ensure " value for money" for the taxpayer as well as look after the cleaners jobs." However when the contract tender was sent out four months later, in October, not one of the agreed provisions had been included in the documentation. " We sat down once more with the hospital administration but now they are refusing to include into the tender documents a range of issues we had shaken hands on way back in July.
Other Canberra hospitals can make a win-win deal why not Calvary?When John James was considering contracting out their cleaning they had no difficulty in giving the LHMU an assurance that existing staff would be retained and that the incoming contractor would be required to be a signatory to the Cleaning Code of Best Employment Practice.John James Executive Officer, Phil Lowen, said: " We have a constructive relationship with the LHMU and we had no difficulty in giving them these assurances, after all these things are not only in the unions interest they are in the hospitals as well."
Concerns about the Christian word and values, especially at Xmas timeLyndal Ryan said it is because of the different responses between Calvary Health Care and John James that the LHMU cleaners are now very worried." The cleaners are worried that this Christian hospital is not prepared to stand by their values and their word," Lyndal Ryan said. " The cleaners are very worried that this portends job losses, and the introduction of a cleaning contractor who is not a signatory to the ACT's ground-breaking Cleaning Code of Best Employment Practice."
The LHMU proudly represents more than 150,000 hard working women and men throughout Australia.For interviews: LHMU ACT Union Assistant Secretary, Lyndal Ryan, 6273 1238 or 0411 643 982
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© 1997-2002 LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW 10th Floor, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: (02) 9264 1691 Fax: (02) 9261 3505 http://www.labor.net.au/news/1102238218_19441.html Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 18:34:47 EST
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