News / Council
Council rubbish strike is just the start, union warns
Merri-bek workers are seeking an immediate 10% pay rise to make up for inflation
Mark Phillips
Updated: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
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MERRI-BEK’S waste collection workers went on strike on Tuesday morning as union members at eight metropolitan Melbourne councils make a combined push for pay rises.
The 24-hour stoppage by waste collection workers at the neighbouring cities of Merri-bek, Hume and Darebin is the first stage in an campaign of industrial action by about 7000 union members in pursuit of a 22% pay rise over four years.
Australian Services Union members have united for the first time to seek a multi-enterprise agreement that would cover eight councils.
Union members 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.
While only 70 workers were involved in Tuesday’s strike, it is the first salvo in a campaign that is expected to escalate in coming weeks to include work bans on a range of duties including parking, permits, bin collection and libraries.
The action comes after a year of talks between the union and councils with little progress. The councils involved are Merri-bek, Melbourne, Yarra, Darebin, Maribyrnong, Greater Dandenong, Hume and Hobsons Bay.
ASU Branch Secretary for Victoria and Tasmania, Tash Wark, said wages for council workers had declined by between seven and 12% in real terms since 2021.
The ASU is calling for a 10% wage increase to bring workers back to where they would have been if pay had kept pace with the cost of living over the past four years, followed by 4 per cent per year thereafter.
“The average council worker earns just $70,000 a year,” Wark said.
“They have watched their wages fall by 10% in real terms over the last four years. During this fuel crisis and as the cost of living across the state continues to soar, workers cannot afford another pay cut.
“Council workers perform essential work that is invisible when it’s done well, but the public really notices when it stops.
“Our members don’t want to be on strike, but they have been forced into this position because the state government and employers simply do not value their work.”
Merri-bek’s acting Chief Executive Officer Sue Vujcevic said the industrial action may have some impact on waste collection services this week.
“While we acknowledge the legal right of the ASU to take protected industrial action, not emptying bins is frustrating for residents and interferes with the running of households and local businesses, which is regrettable,” she said.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith with all unions representing our staff. Bargaining continues between the eight councils and unions this week.”
On Wednesday, the council clarified on its website that delays were confined to parts of Merri-bek north of Bell Street and the southern parts of the city were unaffected. But residents in the north were told that they may have to wait until next week to have their bins collected.
The position of union members has hardened since it was reported that the state government is considering increasing councillor and mayoral salaries by up to 20%.
Last month, union members at all eight councils voted overwhelmingly in favour of protected industrial action.
In Merri-bek, 97.4% of ASU members voted for industrial action with a voter turnout of 74.9%.
The last time Merri-bek council workers went on strike was four years ago when they eventually won pay rises of about 10% over three years.
“It’s a simple question of priorities: if the government can find money for politicians like councillors whose wages have gone up by over 10%, they can find the money for the people who pick up the rubbish,” Wark said.
In a log of claims first tabled in December, union members are seeking a single agreement to cover workers at all eight councils. Currently, staff at each council are employed under a separate collective agreement.
Unions are seeking a four-year agreement, with a 10% “recovery” pay increase in the first year to catch up wiht the cost of living.
In the subsequent years of the proposed agreement, union members are seeking whichever is the larger of either 4% or the rate of inflation each year.
They want the pay rise to be back paid to July last year.
The union says the wage claim is modest and reasonable in an environemnt when council workers are experiencing high workloads, stress and unsafe work practices because of inadequate staffing, a failure to invest in equipment and resources, and outsourcing of services.
Other claims include an incremental annual progression up the pay scale, a new dispute resolution mechanism, better delegates’ rights, more transparency about disciplinary action, improvemetns to occupational health & safety, and industry best practice for parental leave and reproduction and gender affirmation leave.
According to information published on the union website, at a bargaining meeting on March 24 the councils did not respond to the pay claim other than to say they were constrained by the state government’s rate cap policy.
Councils did not agree to back pay and rejected a number of other union claims.
The action on Tuesday also included pauses on parking enforcement across the cities of Yarra, Maribyrnong and Melbourne.
Union members are also seeking to enlist public support for their campaign through an online petition directed at Premier Jacinta Allan.
This story was first published on Tuesday, April 7 and was updated on April 8 with new details about the impact of the industrial action on household rubbish collections.
Disclaimer: The author is a member of the ASU.
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Tuesday is my bin collection day, so I’m directly impacted by the stoppage. Yes, it’s inconvenient but I support the workers in taking industrial action. Solidarity!