A truck drivers’ strike scheduled for next Monday (9 November) has been expanded and will now impact garbage pickup on Tuesday as well.
Originally, only 23 suburbs were affected by the strike. Now a total of 40 will have their service disrupted.
The move comes after this week’s industrial action failed to end a dispute between Suez and the Transport Workers Union (TWU).
Suburbs that have a Monday household waste and recycling bin collection are advised that their bins will be collected on Tuesday, 10 November instead of Monday, 9 November.
Residents are encouraged to leave their bins on the kerb until collected.
However, suburbs that have a Tuesday household waste and recycling bins collection are advised that their bins will not be collected on Tuesday and missed collections will not be caught up.
Monday rubbish collection will be affected in:
- Chapman – waste
- Chifley – waste and recycling
- Coombs – waste
- Curtin – waste
- Denman Prospect – waste
- Duffy – waste
- Farrer – waste and recycling
- Fisher – waste
- Greenway – waste and recycling
- Holder – waste
- Kambah – waste and recycling
- Lyons – waste and recycling
- Mawson – waste and recycling
- Oxley – waste and recycling
- Pearce – waste and recycling
- Rivett – waste
- Stirling – waste
- Torrens – waste and recycling
- Uriarra Village – waste
- Waramanga – waste
- Weston – waste
- Wright – waste
- Yarralumla – waste.
Rubbish collection on Tuesday will not take place in:
- Banks – waste and recycling
- Bonython – waste and recycling
- Calwell – waste and recycling
- Conder – waste and recycling
- Chisholm – waste
- Fadden – waste
- Garran – waste
- Gilmore – waste
- Gordon – waste and recycling
- Gowrie – waste
- Isaacs – waste
- Isabella Plains – waste and recycling
- Macarthur – waste
- Monash – waste
- O’Malley – waste
- Phillip – waste
- Richardson – waste and recycling
- Tharwa – waste and recycling
- Theodore – waste and recycling
- Wanniassa – waste
Green waste bin services, bulky waste collections and the wheeled bin assistance service are unaffected by the industrial action and will continue as normal.
The following temporary rubbish only drop-off sites will be available from Saturday, 7 November until Sunday, 15 November for excess household waste of up to three large plastic bags to be disposed of for free between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm:
- Woden – Easty Street, Between Smith Family Carpark and Callum Offices
- Gordon – McGilvray Close
- Calwell – Calwell Neighbourhood Oval off Outtrim Avenue
- Waramanga – Walpiri Place, off Namatjira Drive
- Kambah – 66 Springbett Street, near the tennis courts
- Gowrie – 7 Finlay Place, near the Scout Hall
- Weston – Hilder Street, at the Weston Neighbourhood Oval.
Alternatively, from Saturday, 7 November until Sunday, 15 November, three large plastic garbage bags can be disposed of for free at the Resource Management Centres between 7.30 am and 5:00 pm:
- Symonston – Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre, Mugga Lane
- Mitchell – Mitchell Resource Management Centre, Flemington Road.
The TWU is pushing for drivers to receive a 4 per cent yearly wage increase. Suez is currently offering a 2 per cent increase in the first year, followed by a 3 per cent increase in both the second and third years.
The minimum hourly wage for ACT truck drivers is $37.28 under the current arrangement, Suez said.