Moreland City Council: council workers prepare for second strike; CFMEU boss John Setka pledges support

Moreland locals will likely have to deal with more streets littered with rubbish as council workers prepare for another round of strikes.

CFMEU boss John Setka rallied Moreland council workers outside the Coburg City Hall on Wednesday night, telling them they had the full backing of his powerful union. Picture: Hugo Timms, News Corp Australia

Heavyweight union boss John Setka has given his blessing to Moreland Council workers to go on strike for the second time in as many weeks.

Moreland maintenance workers, based at the Hadfield depot, remain at loggerheads with the council over a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement which expired 10 months ago, a disagreement which last week saw workers padlock the depot and refuse to empty bins.

The rubbish was so bad that councillors and business owners hired a van to clean up pedestrian and retail areas on Sydney Rd in Brunswick and Coburg.

On Wednesday night, Mr Setka told a large gathering of disgruntled depot workers they had the “full support” of the powerful CFMEU.

“Good on you for having a crack,” Mr Setka told the workers.

“During Covid you were front line workers.”

workers will meet at the council’s Hadfield depot on Thursday morning to decide whether, as expected, they announce a second round of industrial action.

The Municipal Utilities and Workers Union are holding out for a two per cent increase each year for three years, back dated to July last year, and a $20 per week emergency allowance for depot staff.

Last week, a Moreland gardener, who could only speak anonymously due to a council policy banning employees from speaking to the media, said the past two years had been among the most “depressing” of his working life.

More to come.