WHAT: School cleaners bring toilets to the front of the office of NSW Premier Dom Perrottet to show him the issues they face every day.
WHEN: 10.30am Friday, September 16 2022
WHERE: Premier’s Ministerial Office – 52 Martin Place Sydney, NSW 2000.
WHO: Milena Petrovic, Sydney school cleaner, will be available for comment.
NOTE: Photos depicting the school cleaning crisis – faulty equipment, unsafe working conditions, disgraceful toilets and classrooms, are available here for publication.
NSW school cleaners are being given 17 seconds to clean a toilet, according to a work schedule that demands cleaners use Superhero-like powers to meet their targets.
“When NSW school cleaners face these schedules they really do need the powers of a comic book hero,” United Workers Union Property Services Co-ordinator Linda Revill said today.
“We have seen work schedules that give one cleaner 10 minutes to clean a school’s 36 toilets – or about 17 seconds to clean a toilet.
“Either they need to be Flash from the DC Comics franchise, or they are being set up to fail by a rigid, uncaring system.
“School cleaners are being failed by a privatised system that prioritises a ridiculous stop-clock mentality.
“The impossible workloads created by work schedules like these are why school cleaners are calling on the NSW Premier, Dom Perrottet, to meet with them and discuss possible solutions.
“Earlier this year hundreds of school cleaners asked for a meeting and now – after they heard crickets – they are telling the Premier the problem has not gone away.
“Mr Perrottet needs to know school cleaners are being exposed to a one-size-fits-all system that pays no attention to cleaners, the needs of the school or the community.”
Judith, a school cleaner for 15 years in Northern NSW, said issues with cleaning had created stress for cleaners across the State.
“You wouldn’t be happy if you spent that much time cleaning your toilet at home,” she said.
“In all honesty you hit the ground at work and you go through the motions.
“The biggest issue is they compare offices to schools when setting up the contract terms and conditions.
“But you compare an office toilet – with limited numbers of people – with toilets for a whole school and hundreds of kids and it just doesn’t make sense.”
ENDS
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