As reported yesterday, Swan Services was placed into voluntary administration by its directors on Wednesday 22 May. INCLEAN approached the Building Service Contractors Association of Australia (BSCAA) and the cleaner’s union, United Voice, to make comment…

“Bob Swan has been a colourful identity in the cleaning industry for more than 40 years, and his company operated in most states of Australia,” stated BSCAA national president Terry Corby. “Over the years Swan has held many prestigious contracts – Sydney University, Sydney Airport and Macquarie Bank to name a few. On a personal note it is sad to see the demise of a company that has had such a high profile over many years.”

From an industry point of view the BSCAA assures it is working with United Voice to try and minimise the effect of the fallout for the employees and other creditors. “While this is disturbing for the industry, it should be kept in mind that there many strong cleaning companies, large and small, delivering an excellent service for clients every day,” said Corby.

United Voice’s national president Michael Crosby is concerned about employee entitlements. “At the moment the Union is talking to owners to make sure that everybody who was working for Swan is offered a job with the new contractor,” he stated. “We also want the new owners to make up the pay that was lost when employees were working for Swan.”

While the government now offers the Fair Entitlements Guarantee for employees who are owed entitlements because their employer went bankrupt or into liquidation, it is not extended to those non-Australian resident workers, of who make up a large percentage of cleaners employed by contractors – including Swan Services.

“We’re going in to fight for those cleaners who are ineligible for their entitlements as they deserve to be paid for the work they’ve done just like everybody else,” commented Crosby.

www.bscaa.com
www.unitedvoice.org.au