Cleaners Kick Up A Stink Over Rubbish Centre Revamps

The Cleaning Workers Union says government efforts to spruce up the SAR's rubbish collection centres have failed to deliver improvements for the people who work at them.

The union on Wednesday said it spoke to 200 outsourced cleaners at public facilities in the past two months and 80 percent complained of having nowhere to eat or take a break.

It said revamps have improved the appearance of the centres, but not the working conditions.

“There are some new facilities inside, but they're not very related to the workers. For example, the workers say they want to have changing rooms, some place for them to rest or have lunch,” said Leung Tsz-yan, an organiser with the union.

One cleaner, Kuen, said the quality of the drinking water where she works is so worrying that she brings bottles of water with her each day.

“The water machine is full of mould and [spider] webs... How can I drink it? Even the flushing water is cleaner,” she said.

Another cleaner, Yuk, told reporters that the lack of lockers is a problem for her, as her belongings get stolen.

“I once lost three of these [wide-brimmed straw hats] in a month... Each cost around thirty dollars back then... I lost so many work boots too, each pair costs me over a hundred dollars,” Yuk said.

The union urged the government to be people-oriented in future when designing and revamping the rubbish collection centres.