By Cameron Lucadou-Wells
GREATER Dandenong Council workers have ended their strike, accepting a revised pay offer from the council.
The workers had been on strike since mid-September, calling for 4 per cent pay rises and free parking at the under-construction civic centre in central Dandenong.
In a statement, the workers’ union Australian Services Union announced its members agreed to a new three-year enterprise bargaining agreement.
Assistant secretary Richard Duffy said the council ‘‘finally came back to the negotiating table with an offer considered reasonable enough by ASU members’’.
He said people on lower pay scales won ‘‘significant’’ pay rises under the new offer.
‘‘ASU members now want to make sure that [Greater Dandenong] CEO John Bennie looks after his employees during the transition into the new office in Dandenong, but also to see how he repairs the damage to the relationship he has with his workers after this recent round of negotiations.”
During the increasingly bitter dispute, ASU members placed work bans on emptying street bins until last Friday.
As a result, garbage had piled up in main streets in Springvale and Dandenong. A brief ban on preparing turf wickets disrupted cricket fixtures last weekend.
“The work bans certainly highlighted how important council workers are as significant services were cut during negotiations,’’ Mr Duffy said.
‘‘The end result showed the importance of a union presence when fighting for fair pay and conditions across all councils in Victoria.”
The Weekly is awaiting a response from Greater Dandenong Council.
