"The main issues here at the City Hall site are wages and conditions, and safety," Peter Ong, Electrical Trades Union organiser, told ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Weekly on November 17.
He spoke at a picket of 500 construction workers outside City Hall, which is undergoing a $215 million renovation.
"The main contractors, Abigroup, are using a labour hire workforce, at pay rates at least $6 per hour less than other city sites. Last week, the workers attended a meeting out the front, and were arbitrarily sacked by the company.β
Ong told the November 18 Courier-Mail that workers had concerns about asbestos. βIn the safety audit we did a couple of days ago we've identified pieces of asbestos lying around on the floor, asbestos tiles, asbestos dust lying around."
Geoff Lovett, a Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union member at the picket, told GLW: "This is a question of solidarity. This company is ignoring safety rules, and paying the guys at a much lower rate than other jobs, and rolling all other benefits in, meaning no sick pay, no holiday pay and so on.β