News / Council
Angry workers take their campaign to council’s doorstep
Rally on Wednesday ahead of major strike next week
Mark Phillips
Updated: Wednesday, June 10, 2026
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Dozens of union members protested outside the Coburg Civic Centre before Wednesday night’s Merri-bek Council meeting as their campaign for an inflation-busting pay rise continues for a third month.
The rally was held ahead of a major local government strike being planned for June 17 when it is expected that council services will again be disrupted in Merri-bek.
With their union saying little progress has been made in negotiations for an historic multi-employer agreement with eight Melbourne councils, workers took their case directly to the doorstep of Merri-bek’s offices.
No councillors attended the rally, apart from Bababi Djinanang ward’s Sue Bolton, who gave a short speech in support of the workers’ claim for a 22% pay rise over four years.
Bolton said she would seek to amend the council’s 2026-27 budget to provide a larger amount for employee costs when it is adopted at a special meeting on June 22.
“The council needs to allocate sufficient funds for employees, workers to get a proper wage rise, and if that doesn’t happen, I’ll definitely be voting against the budget,” she said.
Two state election candidates – Gabriel Steger, who is running for Labor in Brunswick, and Victorian Socialists’ Pascoe Vale candidate Yasemin Shamsili – also spoke at the rally along with union officials and several council workers.
Union members then marched with placards into the public gallery outside the council chambers to watch the council meeting.
The rally followed a submission by the Australian Services Union on Merri-bek’s four-year budget that council management initially attempted to suppress which criticised “deep and flawed” estimates of its labour costs in the next financial year.
ASU acting branch secretary Zoe Edwards called on Merri-bek’s “progressive” councillors to stand up for its workforce.
“You cannot claim to stand for workers while passing a budget that locks in a real wage cut for the very people keeping this council running,” she said before the rally.
“We are asking elected representatives to do their job: amend this budget, adopt an industrial strategy, and stop hiding behind management’s excuses.
“Workers at Merri-bek are not asking for anything extraordinary. They are asking for wages that keep pace with the cost of living, and councillors who were elected to represent this community have both the power and the responsibility to make that happen.”
Several thousand workers across the eight councils – Merri-bek, Melbourne, Yarra, Darebin, Maribyrnong, Greater Dandenong, Hume and Hobsons Bay – are seeking a 22% pay rise over four years.
This includes 10% in the first year to make up for a decline in their real wages due to inflation since 2021.
The workers are using new laws to bargain together with all eight councils for the first time.
They launched their industrial campaign in early-April and bans on rubbish collection later that month resulted in major disruption to households north of Bell Street.
Other workers taking part in the campaign include workers from the councils’ roads, parks, cleaning and waste, local laws and parking, libraries, indoor staff, administrative, early childhood education and community care areas.
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Bans were lifted in late-April but the action is set to escalate again after more than 500 union members endorsed a strike on June 17.
That day the union will co-ordinate a march from the Victorian Trades Hall building to the steps of State Parliament for a rally where they will call for the state government to lift the rates cap that councils say is putting strain on their budgets.
In its budget submission which was emailed directly to all councillors late last month, the union says workers’ pay would fall further behind the cost of living if changes were not made.
The budget allocates $124.1 million to employee costs in 2026-27, which represents a 4.4% increase from this year, less than half of what union members are seeking to “catch up” for inflation.
The union said this was inadequate at a time when demand for the council’s services was increasing. It claims there is room in the council’s finances to invest more in its workforce.
The ASU said council workers – many of them living in Merri-bek – were facing the same cost of living pressures as the rest of the population.
“Ensuring fair wages, adequate staffing, and sustainable workloads is essential not only for supporting council employees, but for delivering the high-quality, accountable services that the Merri-bek community expects and deserves,” the union’s submission said.
While no councillors apart from Bolton attended the protest outside the civic centre, several others confirmed during Wednesday night’s council meeting that they would join Merri-bek workers at the June 17 rally in the city.
Late last week, Merri-bek Council had not yet been officially notified of either of the rally or the strike being planned for June 17, but was aware of the latter.
“Council is continuing to negotiate in good faith with all unions as part of the multi-employer bargaining process,” Merri-bek’s acting CEO Sue Vujcevic said in a written statement.
“The Australian Services Union’s industrial action is being undertaken very early in the bargaining process.
“None of the eight councils have been officially notified of any ASU strike action on 17 June.
“While we acknowledge the legal right of the ASU to take protected industrial action, any adverse effects on our community are regrettable.”
This story was originally published on Monday, June 8 and updated on June 10. The author is a member of the ASU and a Merri-bek ratepayer
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