Aussie city erupts as bins overflow heading into Christmas: 'Absolute joke'
Garbage truck drivers in Queensland have taken industrial action with more planned next week. And thousands of residents are being left with overflowing bins.
Thousands of residents may be forced to deal with overflowing bins during the Christmas break, as a dispute between garbage truck drivers and a major Queensland council continues to boil over.
In recent days, streets throughout the western suburbs of the city of Ipswich have been littered with rubbish as bins have been left uncollected. Workers, with help from the union, are fighting for better pay conditions and are taking industrial action to achieve it.
Workers will strike again on Friday for the third time in seven days as they insist on better pay. According to reports, two more days of industrial action are planned next week meaning bins will continue to overflow during Christmas week.
It's understood residents in 11 suburbs across the Ipswich area have been impacted by the strikes. That's roughly 18,000 homes, according to council. However reports suggest as many as 60,000 bins have so far been left uncollected.
According to The Courier Mail, strike action on Monday and Tuesday will result in a total of about 120,000 missed bin collections.
'Stinking' bins infuriating residents
Residents in the area are growing frustrated by the mess with one telling 7News "our bins reek and we have nappies."
Another said the streets are "definitely stinking" with the summer heat making matters worse.
Some are resorting to taking their bins to the tip to be emptied, with no other option.
Other locals described it as an "absolute joke", urging council to solve the issue. "I might leave our bin on Council’s doorsteps, see if they like it," one person was quoted as saying in the Local Ipswich News.
Josh Millroy from the Transport Workers’ Union Qld said workers were asking for a 15 per cent pay rise increase over three years, or $1.76 extra per hour, and are continuing to negotiate with council to get it.
According to council, three unions rejected an Ipswich City Council bargaining offer and instead announced further industrial action which was carried out this week.
"It’s disappointing that these three unions are continuing interruptions to residents’ bin collection services," Council’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Matt Smith said.
Another Aussie city at risk of bin strike
Meanwhile, further south in Adelaide, workers in the northern suburbs are threatening the same action. They too want better pay conditions.
They're reportedly threatening to walk off the job in early January if pay requests aren't met. Doing so would leave up to 80,000 homes in the state without rubbish collection.
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