Canberra Hospital cleaners have won the right to strike after almost six years without a pay rise. The Australian Electoral Commission declared the specialist cleaners, who earn about $21 an hour, successfully voted to take a range of industrial actions, including a ban on cleaning toilets and collecting waste, as well as stopping work. The cleaners received a small bonus earlier this year, but have been locked in a fight with ACT Health to bring their wages in line with public service cleaners for more than a year. About 100 cleaners are affected and the group have called on the ACT government to fix its contract with ISS – the company which employs them – to allow for a pay rise. The company claims it cannot pay the cleaners any more than an extra 64 cents an hour, due to insufficient funds in its contract.
