News / Council
Bin ban on hold ahead of major strike
Hundreds of council workers to walk off job next Tuesday
Mark Phillips
Monday, April 27, 2026
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Union members have suspended their bans on household rubbish collection in the northern parts of Merri-bek as they focus on a citywide strike and a rally on the same day as the Victorian Budget next week.
The Australian Services Union has announced a pause on bans on bin collection along with most other workplace bans for a fortnight, although some actions by Merri-bek library workers would continue.
The action has been suspended to ensure the union was “singularly focused” on strike action on May 5.
Rolling bans on rubbish collection in dozens of streets in the north of Merri-bek have caused overflowing bins to the growing frustration of residents.
The industrial action is part of a pay campaign across eight Melbourne councils which started in earnest on April 7 when waste collection workers went on strike for 24 hours.
Union members are seeking a pay rise of 22% over four years, beginning with a 10% “recovery” increase this year.
ASU members are using new federal workplace laws to unite for the first time in pursuit of a multi-enterprise agreement that would cover the councils of Merri-bek, Melbourne, Yarra, Darebin, Hume, Greater Dandenong, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong.
The union says more than 1000 members will walk off the job next Tuesday, which is when the Victorian Budget will be delivered.
They plan to march from the Victorian Trades Hall Building in Carlton to State Parliament for a rally.
The union says the strike will cause significant disruption to garbage collection, street cleansing, mowing, library services, and aged care.
“Undertaking a citywide strike is a last resort,” said ASU branch secretary Tash Wark.
“Our members take immense pride in serving their communities, but after 18 months of being ignored, they have been left with no other choice.
“It is a total failure of leadership that councils continue to turn up to negotiations unprepared to offer wage increases during this cost-of-living crisis.”
Merri-bek’s acting chief executive officer, Sue Vujcevic, said the disruption caused by the industrial action was “regrettable” and welcomed the suspension of bans on rubbish collection.
“This withdrawal of industrial actions will be a welcome reprieve particularly for our communities most affected by the ASU’s industrial action, particularly in Darebin, Merri-bek and Hume,” she said in a statement.
“There have been many missed bin collections across these three council areas and now there will be an opportunity to catch up on these collections.
“Councils respect the ASU’s right to take protected industrial action, and we’re working to minimise disruption to our communities where possible.”
Vujcevic said councils were eager to continue negotiating with the union in good faith.
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The union has also accused Merri-bek of docking the pay of some workers when they took industrial action earlier this month.
It said home support workers had 66% of their pay docked, and home maintenance workers who mow lawns and do other household work were docked 100%.
“Our members are dedicated professionals, but they will not be silenced by gag orders or threats to dock their pay,” Wark said.
Maggots and rotting food in unemptied bins
Residents in the city’s north have taken to social media to express their dismay at the impact the industrial action has had on their regular rubbish collections, describing rotting food and other waste as overflowing bins sat unemptied on their nature strips.
“I find it absolutely appalling that not only our yellow bins, purple bins but also our green waste bins have not been collected for over two weeks,” one Coburg resident wrote on Facebook.
“The green bins are now swarming in [sic] hundreds of white maggots and the smell is overwhelming. Will the council be providing Free cleaning of these bins?”
Another resident said: “It’s worse when the same people are hit in two consecutive weeks on their FOGO bins – the maggots were born left the bin [sic] and died, it has been that long.”
Many of the comments have been in response to a Facebook post on April 18 (before the lifting of the bans) by Pascoe Vale Councillor Oscar Yildiz where he said responsibility for settling the dispute rested with council managers, not elected councillors.
“Industrial action sits within the operational space, which means we [councillors] are not directly involved in those processes,” Yildiz wrote.
“For clarity, Councillors have no role in union negotiations … Like you, I am keen to see this matter resolved as soon as possible so services can be restored and the impact on the community minimised.”
Responding to some of the comments on his Facebook page, Yildiz advised disgruntled residents to contact the council directly rather than bring their grievances to councillors.
Bababi Djinanang Councillor Sue Bolton has taken a different approach by sharing several social media videos by the union, criticising a proposed 20% increase in councillor and mayoral allowances and urging Merri-bek residents to support union members at next week’s rally.
“The situation will only be resolved once the councils agree to support their workers with a good agreement to retain good workers in the local government sector,” Bolton said on Facebook.
In one Facebook post, Bolton has described the upcoming strike as “historic” and in another lashed out at Merri-bek for organising seven “scab” waste collection trucks to keep services running when rubbish workers downed tools for 24 hours on April 7.
Disclaimer: the author is a member of the ASU
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