Working conditions for the thousands of cleaners in Canberra's public service offices look set to be highlighted as a worker takes his fight against his former employer to the Federal Magistrates Court.
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Cleaner Christofel Ayamiseba is going to court against his former bosses, contracting giant Broadlex Services, alleging he was ''thrown on the trash heap'' by the company without any entitlements.
The cleaner's union, United Voice, says the case ''is a wake-up call'' for Canberra's cleaning industry.
Documents lodged with the court allege Mr Ayamiseba was thrown out of his job when the contract he was working on, cleaning offices in Alinga Street, Civic, came to an end.
According to the documents, Mr Ayamiseba had been working for Broadlex, which holds many public service cleaning contracts across Canberra, for four years, earning less than $19 per hour.
The West Papuan migrant had spent three years cleaning the Alinga Street offices but in March this year, it is alleged, he was sacked from his job after being told that it was ''finished at 11 Alinga Street''.
The worker's firm of lawyers, Maurice Blackburn, says Mr Ayamiseba was made redundant by Broadlex but that he was paid none of the entitlements retrenched employees are normally given and had not even been provided with a pay slip.
Giri Sivaraman, of Maurice Blackburn, said that Mr Ayamiseba had been thrown out of his job with none of his legal entitlements.
''He just got discarded and thrown on to the trash heap,'' he said.
Despite the fact that Mr Ayamiseba's claim against Broadlex only ran to several thousand dollars, Mr Sivaraman said it was a lot of money to a low-paid cleaner.
''Although we're not certain [of the amount] until we can access the employers' records and find out how much annual leave he had accrued,'' he said.
A spokesman for Broadlex declined to comment on the case.
Lyndal Ryan, from United Voice, called on the cleaning industry to improve its industrial relations record.
''This is a wake-up call to a whole industry that has got a fairly poor record in relation to industrial relations,'' Ms Ryan said.
''People are entitled to fair treatment at work, there is a legal entitlement to a pay slip.
''Not only is it a legal requirement to terminate people in accordance with the law, but it's disrespectful not to.''
Ms Ryan said there were number of factors that made cleaners vulnerable to exploitation by employers.
''Cleaning is done by an invisible workforce, people go home at night and then next morning, as if it happens by magic, bins are cleaned, the toilets are cleaned,'' she said.
''That in combination with the fact that people who do cleaning work are often from non-English speaking backgrounds, often very new arrivals in Australia.''
This reporter is on Twitter: @noeltowell