By Belinda Nolan
SUNSHINE child protection workers went on strike last week in a bid to improve their pay and conditions.
Employees at Sunshine’s Salvation Army Westcare rallied at the Devonshire Rd office last Monday following a breakdown in negotiations for a collective agreement.
Workers walked out of the Salvos’ residential units at 5am, leaving management to take over the care of children living in the facility.
Australian Services Union organiser Leon Wiegard said the walk out would give Salvation Army command a taste of life in the shoes of their employees. Westcare staff have been fighting for a pay rise for more than three years, and have gone on strike four times in recent months.
Mr Wiegard said some workers at the Sunshine office worked four days a week, but were still eligible for a healthcare card due to poor pay.
“The pay is shamefully low and yet the management continues to drag the chain, forcing our members to lose more pay as a result of industrial action,” Mr Wiegard said.
The Salvation Army management is currently offering a pay rise of three per cent per annum with no paid parental leave and no overtime payments for staff on 12 hour shifts, Mr Wiegard said.
“They are essentially asking ASU members to accept an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement that contains worse conditions than they had three years ago.”
Salvation Army spokesman Major Bram Cassidy told Star there had been no disruption to services during the walkout, with non union staff and management picking up the slack.
Mr Cassidy said the situation had reached stalemate with a final offer already on the table.
“The management has acted in good faith and actually implemented the offer.
“We can’t offer any more because of the implications for other sites.”