Rubbish collection to be disrupted in four Adelaide councils as garbage truck drivers strike on Friday

Garbage truck drivers have gone ahead with strike action across Adelaide, saying they were left with no choice. See which rubbish collections were affected.

A group of frustrated garbage truck drivers have walked off the job causing disruption to the city’s rubbish collection service on Friday.

About 50 garbage truck drivers gathered at Cleanaway’s Port Adelaide depot to lobby for better pay and conditions after a 12-month dispute over the enterprise bargaining agreement.

Around 40,000 residential bins in four local government areas were expected to be left on the roadside due to the industrial action.

However a Cleanaway spokesperson said any rubbish not collected would be addressed as quickly as possible.

“We expected there to be some disruptions to household collections, however we ensured contingencies were in place to minimise any impact such as using drivers from other sites,” a Cleanaway spokesman said.

More than 60 union members have gone on strike for better pay and conditions. Picture: Dean Martin

“While a majority of households will have their bin collected, however if your bin was not collected it will be on Saturday.”

TWU secretary Ian Smith said the service would have been significantly disrupted.

“As far as I know there were only seven or eight drivers out there working and managers were forced to drive trucks, so I can’t imagine a lot was getting done,” he said.

He said the workers were apologetic to customers for the inconvenience caused.

“This was the last resort and the drivers were left with no choice because they’ve rejected basically every claim that we’ve put forward,” he said.

“What they’ve put on the table is deplorable, disgraceful and unsafe.”

During 12 months of talks, the union has battled for better pay and conditions, including the scrapping of enforced weekend work. Cleanaway, which has more than half of local council rubbish work, has offered an annual 2.3 per cent increase for top-graded drivers and 2.3 per cent for second tier workers.

Workers met with TWU Secretary Ian Smith (R) and Senior Branch Organiser Ned Pollitt (L). Picture Dean Martin

The company is expected to meet with the union next week to reach a resolution.

“We are hopeful that will happen and we will consider any proposal put forward, but it has to be better than the one currently or it will be rejected,” Mr Smith said.

A cleanaway spokesman said they would continue to negotiate in good faith.

“We will continue to engage transparently with the TWU to reach an agreement as soon as possible,” he said.

During 12 months of talks, the union has battled for better pay and conditions, including the scrapping of enforced weekend work.

The union wants at least 4.6 per cent along with additional superannuation.

The planned industrial action comes after an overwhelming 96 per cent of garbage drivers voted in favour of walking off the job.

Mr Smith said increasing the extraordinary pressure on drivers and locking in wage cuts was no way to reward the workers.

“Garbage truck drivers at Cleanaway are staring down an all-out assault on good conditions and fair pay,” he said.

“What’s on the table now is a backwards step, winding back strong rostering rules and replacing them with a substandard system that will mean workers are driving longer for less. Waste workers do a thankless but critical job.”