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📰 LOCAL HEADLINES

How are workers in Melbourne’s east fighting for better working conditions during heatwaves?

As the temperature warms up, it can be easy for people working in air-conditioned offices to forget about the negative impacts of heat.

However, for a number of workers across industries like hospitality, cleaning and health services, exposure to extreme heat and the risk of heat-related illnesses is continuing to increase and become more intense.

Workers are often held solely responsible for remaining safe at work during periods of extreme heat, but a number of unions have recently been calling for more national standards.

The United Workers Union (UWU) is a national organisation, advocating for better workplace rights for more than 150,000 blue-collar employees across more than 45 industries.

UWU allied industries executive director, Godfrey Moase, said the union has some recent wins under its belt, such as mandating paid breaks during periods of extreme heat and plans to minimise heat impacts on workers.

“There is a huge amount of work to be done in certain industries to implement these kinds of solutions and address the very real impacts of climate change on our members,” Moase told the Eastern Melburnian.

“School cleaning, security and anywhere where a significant number of work hours are spent outside or in un-airconditioned work sites are other areas where we believe significant improvements can be made.

Other advocacy efforts for the UWU include more clauses related to when workers could stop work due to high temperatures, paid breaks during periods of extreme heat and universal paid disaster leave.

Read the full story here.

Parking pain: Veneto Club says North East Link road works have halved its revenue

Pulling into Bulleen’s Veneto Club on a Sunday evening, you may see soccer games, elderly Italians grabbing their weekly bistro meal or people playing a friendly game of bocce.

However, you will also see parking spaces at a premium – an impact of the North East Link Project (NELP) works, with general manager Kon Monos saying disruptions and land acquisitions have cut the club’s revenue by about 50 percent compared to pre-Covid levels.

Officially opening its doors in December 1973, the Italian social club on Bulleen Road currently services 1,600 financial members, 800 junior soccer players and about 200 foundation members.

Works are currently underway to construct two 6.5km tunnels between Watsonia and Bulleen and widen parts of the Eastern Freeway to up to 20 lanes, including off and on ramps, with works slated for completion in 2028.

Veneto Club general manager Kon Monos said the business has not operated at normal levels since before Covid, with NELP’s land acquisitions cutting their car parking by a third.

“We’ve lost about 50 percent of our gross revenue,” Monos told the Eastern Melburnian. “We're losing money – that's just the simple fact, and the government is not compensating us for that loss.”

A spokesperson for Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) Roads said it was “always working closely with local communities to support them through construction”.

“This includes working closely with local stakeholders and councils on issues such as parking, and have built a number of dedicated worker car parks within our work sites to help accommodate our large workforce,” said the spokesperson.

The Eastern Melburnian understands VIDA Roads is continuing talks with the Veneto Club on a long-term parking solution and further measures.

Read the full story here.

How warmer and wetter weather is worsening the eastern suburbs' blackberry weed problems

Anyone who drives through the east may have seen large, white “blackberry removal” signs along the roadside.

The grassroots advertising campaign was the brainchild of 82-year-old Mevyn Whittaker, who runs Bayswater business Blackberry Removal. The business specialises in removing and eradicating the weed across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, including Camberwell, Eltham, Warrandyte and Mount Evelyn.

At the local government level, Yarra Ranges Council receives funding for weed control projects from the State Government’s Peri-urban Weed Management Partnerships program.

According to the Invasive Species Council, weeds including blackberry cost Australia over $5 billion a year in agricultural and environmental damage. Roughly 60% of bushland in Victoria is prone to blackberry invasion.

“Individual communities have different issues,” said Lyn Coulston, the chairperson of the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce, which detected issues around the capabilities of ageing populations in tackling the weed 20 years.

Mevyn Whittaker from Blackberry Removal in Bayswater said elderly customers – some with serious health conditions – are worst affected, including one of his customers with dementia, who had blackberry growth as high as her two-storey house.

“She couldn’t get to the garage, couldn’t get her tools,” Whittaker told the Eastern Melburnian. “We were able to clear it in a couple of days.”

Higher annual rainfall conditions in Melbourne’s outer east have created a perfect storm for blackberries to thrive, with annual records from Melbourne Water and the Bureau of Meteorology ranging from 700mm to more than 1,200mm.

Being a Weed of Significance, blackberry control lies in the hands of affected residential or business owners.

But Whittaker said his business could only help get rid of the bulk of the growth, not follow up.

“I feel duty-bound to advise them that that’s not the end of it – you’re in a war,” said Whittaker. “I leave people with an eradication kit consisting of a litre of poison from Bunnings, pump and spray, and some dye that they can use on plants that they’ve sprayed.”

The Victorian Blackberry Taskforce’s current recommendations for blackberry removal are by physical and biological means as well as the use of herbicides, but Coulston said the team is now looking at drone technology for spraying.

Read the full story here.

SEEN THIS WEEK 🤓

Fire danger periods set to begin

The Country Fire Authority recently announced the Fire Danger Period dates for a number of areas across the eastern suburbs, including Knox, Manningham and Maroondah — December 29 to May 1.

CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said large grassfires have already started in areas across the north-west and north-east of Victoria.

“Bushfires and rural grassfires do impact built up areas, so it really is everyone’s responsibility to be fire ready,” said Heffernan. “Recent growth across pastures, woodlands and roadside reserves has created unbroken stretches of dried grass along many roadsides, increasing the chance of roadside fires.”