Streets in Springvale have been left in a mess thanks to pay talks between the council and union broke down. Picture: Meagan Rogers
By JARROD POTTER and MELISSA MEEHAN
SPRINGVALE’S streets are full of rubbish, with bins overflowing and plastic bags, fast food wrappers and other trash spilling out onto the road.
Those walking along the footpath literally have to step over the mountains of rubbish just to get by.
A few shoppers and traders, while they don’t want to be quoted, speak of how unhealthy and unsafe the mess has become.
Talks remain at a standstill after the management at the City of Greater Dandenong attempted to use private contractors last week to break a strike by its employees as enterprise bargaining agreement stalled.
A spokesperson for the Australian Services Union (ASU) said the private contractor attempted to empty bins in Springvale but was turned away by union officials.
ASU assistant secretary Richard Duffy said that the council’s recent move again highlights their inability to bargain in good faith.
“This is a new low point in wage negotiations, which are becoming increasingly nasty,” Mr Bennie said.
“We call on the CEO to stop wasting money on private contractors and lawyers and to pay his employees properly. Let’s hope the CEO can act in good faith and work to end this dispute so our members can get back to keeping the streets of Dandenong and Springvale tidy.”
Cricket in the City of Greater Dandenong could also be a collateral victim of the dispute, with pitches across the Dandenong and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and Noble Park’s Pat Wright Senior Oval in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association (VSDCA) unable to be used if maintenance by council curators isn’t undertaken before the weekend.
Buckley Ridges Cricket Club, located next to Shepley Oval on Pultney Street, said their Park Oval pitches looked good for play, as long as action was taken by the council on Friday to complete the final maintenance required for play.
“Our pitch looked OK last night, so as long as they could cut and mow it on Friday it would be fine as the ground is OK,” club president Chris Rattle said. “It’s pretty good – he’s looked after it well, if they could roll it and cut it and roll it again on Saturday morning that would be fine.”
Rattle estimates the club could lose $2000 in takings across the weekend if matches aren’t able to go ahead, with the club scheduled to host matches on Saturday and Sunday.
Clubs in the City of Greater Dandenong area aren’t allowed to maintain the wicket, so if the dispute fails to be resolved by Friday, all cricket matches in the council area could be postponed or cancelled.
Noble Park is also affected by the decision, with their VSDCA pitch unavailable for play as the Star went to print.
“At the moment our grounds will not be available for play on this weekend,” Noble Park Cricket Club secretary Darren Willcox said.
“The VSDCA will have a meeting tonight and we have told the association that the ground won’t be ready and the council has also contacted the association.”
Dandenong and District Cricket Association secretary Ray Nicholls said the dispute affected 13 turf matches across the council area and there was a contingency plan in place in case the dispute dragged on and had sent the plan to the clubs and the DDCA executive for further discussion as the Star went to print.
