Over the course of 5 years, hundreds of housekeepers and cleaners, predominantly migrant women workers, forced Crown to end its outsourcing scam and provide direct, permanent employment. Their victory won secure jobs with vastly improved conditions, proving outsourced workers can fight their way into permanent work.
A concerted battle against dodgy outsourcing ended in victory across Crown in Victoria, NSW and WA after housekeepers and cleaners won direct, permanent jobs. These workers, mostly women from migrant backgrounds, had copped low pay and insecure conditions under contractor Silk Hospitality and ISS. But instead of accepting second-class treatment, they got organised.
Their sustained campaign forced Crown to bring all housekeeping in-house, winning workers permanent contracts, better conditions, and at Crown Melbourne and Perth they achieved full coverage under Crown’s enterprise agreement including health and safety protections. The win created strong workplace leaders among the newly permanent workforce, with more contracted cleaners set to transition in 2025.
In 2023 at Crown Sydney around 200 cleaners that were working for multi-billion facilities giant ISS were also insourced to direct Crown employment.