Interclean Amsterdam was, again, a fantastic show for the Industry. This year was the biggest ever with some 600 exhibitors including a new Chinese pavilion. There were some great new products with the the potential to save $$$ in labour for contractors (ie the Twister pad and others) and a superb seminar program.

There were large numbers of suppliers and contractors present from Europe, Russia, Africa, South Africa, the US, Canada and Asia. It's a shame that, as usual, Australian contractors (with the exception of Consolidated Property Services, Cleanevent, John laws and one or two others) are noticeable by their absence.

It was not the first time that I have had someone say to me that it was rare to see an Australian contractor in their booth. Maybe we know it all already? After all, aren't we the most efficient cleaners in the world? - we clean faster and FAR CHEAPER than anyone.

Why doesn’t the contract cleaning cleaning industry understand the risk of not sanitising waste bins? Our small business has been supplying pricing to a number cleaning contractors but has had no success in winning work .

The risk of not cleaning the waste bin in the appropriate, hygienic, way that has been OK’d by the EPA and water authorities is not worth taking. Both contractors and their clients face large fines as well as not doing the right thing from a public health point of view.

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

It is well and good for the Union to raise the profile of the cleaner and
try to find ways to improve their lot but where are the employers in this?
Neither the contractors themselves nor the organizations they represent are
making any noise at all. I certainly haven't heard a peep from BSCAA and
only a few small rumblings from ACCA. If the building owners are to be
made aware of what they are doing to their buildings, their prestige and to
those who are supposed to maintain their buildings, then this needs to be in
the public domain. Sitting on hands and hoping the concerns will go away,
resolves nothing. It needs some activism and that means, in this case,
supporting the Union action. The contractors have an obligation to do just
that - to take on the building owners and to make public the attitude of
building owners to the whole question of building maintenance. Even to shame
the building owners if necessary.

It is true that competition and a free market place ultimately determine
price and that if the price is pushed too low by market forces then that
will mean that the least effective contractors will drop out of the
business, contractor competition will reduce and prices will rise. However,
the current truth is that (a) it is too easy to become a contractor so as
one drops out another dope takes their place (b) too many of those entering
the contracting business have absolutely no idea of what it actually takes
to make a profit and so they don't recognise that their pricing is
hopelessly too low and (c) before a more stable contracting market can be
reached, the building owners are and will continue to have a field day,
playing one contractor off against the other.

With no idea of how to combat this and, desperate to maintain contracts and
a perceived income, those contractors will look for any way to survive, even
at the expense of their employees.

Looking for compassion from a building owner in the face of these realities
is like looking for a Saddam Hussein to love the Kurds. It ain't going to
happen. So the only possible answer is to make public the building owners'
reign of terror and to offer a combined front against the building owners.
There is no question that many building owners will take absolutely no
notice of any action , however bad the publicity ,but there will certainly
be a percentage, particularly those with a higher public profile, who will,
even if begrugingly, take notice of an outcry.

Finally, there is a problem in that many contractors would be afraid that,
if they are known to support any action against buidling owners, they might
lose contracts. Consequently they would say nothing. In addition, total
adherence to a push to improve pricing will always be undermined by those
who see an opportunity to obtain a contract. There will alway be breaking
of ranks where there is an industry as large and as diverse as cleaning.
This undermines group action. Nevertheless this should not stop those
organizations representing contractors acting vocally and acting often to
protect the interests of their members and, as a consequence, the interests
of their members' employees. By using the organizations to which they
belong as the vehicle for any action, the risk of an individual member being
tarred with any brush by building owners is reduced.

The industry has received a great amount of media coverage over the past 10-days or so regarding the Union's Clean Start campaign. This body is on the front foot and seems to tackling our industry's problems at the right level, that is, getting property manager/owners to do the right thing by contractors in paying appropriate rates for a quality job. It's therefore disappointing that the BSCAA's chief executive Rick MacKenzie is quoted in The Weekend Australian, when asked about his Association's response to Clean Start, "We haven't actually developed a policy on it just yet. We do need to do a release for the media but we haven't done it yet". Let's see more unity in our industry.

My congratulations to Alan for his recent work in standing up for our industry. I was listening to his interview with Virginia Trioli on ABC 2BL, conducted last week, and felt proud to be associated (even in a distant way) with him and his voice and views.

Kate McClymont looks back at the three-month-long murder trial of Gordon Wood.

Gordon Wood faces life in jail after a jury today found him guilty of the murder of Caroline Byrne.

Sydney girl not told the man who sexually abused her was moving back next door.

A NSW P-plater has been caught driving almost 100kmh over the speed limit.

Rape charges against New Zealand Warriors' Michael Crockett dismissed by Sydney court.