June 11, 2005.

ACT LHMU Cleaners Union members held a breakfast meeting this morning with the Acting Chief Minister, Ted Quinlan and the ACT House Speaker, Wayne Berry, tomorrow morning to discuss the successful ACT Code of Cleaning Practice.

Contract Cleaning Code sets new standards for Canberra buildings The breakfast commemorates the 15th anniversary of International Cleaners Day, which commemorates the successful strike in 1990 by mainly immigrant cleaners in Los Angeles, USA. Striking cleaners held a peaceful protest against the firm that employed them when they were savagely beaten by police. The incident provoked a public outcry in the U.S. and abroad. Ethics code now basis of ACT Government procurement policy The Code of Cleaning Practice has been used by ACT LHMU Cleaners Union members to end the shonky practices of some cleaning contractors who not only do not pay their workers the legal minimum but often pay cash-in-hand to avoid tax.

The ACT Cleaning Industry Code of Best Employment Practice Support for the Code, first adopted two years ago, is spreading through not just the ACT but is being used as a model across the globe for decent workplace practices. The Acting Chief Minister, Ted Quinlan, has recently announced plans to centralise the ACT Government's procurement policy, including the prequalification of contract cleaning firms in order to obtain government work. The Code will be part of the way in which companies can demonstrate that they can meet their obligations under the ACT Government's Ethical Suppliers Principle.

Join the LHMU Cleaners Union today Request an LHMU application form here House of Commons called on to adopt ACT Code of Practice The ACT House of Assembly Speaker, Wayne Berry, is pushing this Code as a model for the UK Parliament. After lobbying from the LHMU Cleaners Union, he has written to the Speaker of the House of Commons to support the union cleaners who are today protesting over the poor working conditions they are forced to work under by their contract cleaner.