A SWAN Hill dry cleaning business is blowing off steam after losing a Country Fire Authority (CFA) contract to clean uniforms.
“We have always been able to clean operational staff uniforms — pants, shirts and jackets — but an email I received from the CFA said once they merged the CFA with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and became Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) the budget was taken away from local offices,” Mallee Dry Cleaners owner Alison Murley said.
“There was no longer a budget to take clothes locally — it all has to be sent to Melbourne to be cleaned … this arrangement is now Victoria-wide.
“Just their work pants and shirts we have always cleaned — they would drop them off in the morning and have them back in the afternoon if that’s what they wanted.
“We would even sometimes deliver if they were under the pump.
“Now there is going to be a turnaround of however long that takes to send them down, clean and then return.
“No dry cleaners in the state were given the opportunity to tender for the contract, it was just taken away from us.
“Didn’t even know it was going to happen.”
Ms Murley said the decision was disappointing, especially during the coronavirus pandemic when the business was already suffering.
“We weren’t going to go broke if we lost the CFA or Ambulance Victoria work, but I thought there would be a little more consideration given that we have come off challenging times,” she said.
“I know, for example, in Bendigo the CFA has a lot more staff so for the dry cleaners down there that’s the sort of thing that kept them afloat.”
“We have been smashed pretty hard, as have a lot of industries, but when no one is going anywhere … everyone is working from home in their tracksuits.
“No one has needed dry cleaning — there have been no weddings, deb balls, races, nothing like that for us to generate any business.
“It just feels like just another thing … really.”
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said it was an issue around the centralisation of government policy for procurement.
“The action I seek from the (emergency services) minister is for her review that with the intent of actually reversing it so that the business is kept local,” he told State Parliament last week.
“We see too often services being stripped out of regional Victoria by the State Government, and this is just another example of the centralisation of buying power that is actually disadvantaging regional communities.
“As it has been explained to me, the CFA staff will need additional uniforms to allow for the turnaround time of their uniforms being sent away somewhere out of town and having them returned, whereas before they could just take them down the street to the local drycleaners.”
Ms Murley said operational staff were also critical of the decision.
“They have championed our cause, saying ‘This is crazy, we are going to have to have more uniforms because the turnaround times could be a week’,” she said.
A Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson said from January 1, 2021 all personal protective clothing (PPC) used in FRV’s firefighting operations that contained fire-rated materials had been laundered through a certified provider.
“This ensures the protective capabilities of the garments are properly maintained, and that all contaminants FRV firefighters may be exposed to during emergency response are removed safely,” they said.
“A centralised and certified service will ensure consistency, and provide the highest level of safety for the community who handle PPC, and our firefighters who rely on these garments to keep them safe.”*secondary story*
CLEANING clothing and uniforms for essential businesses during COVID-19 lockdowns has kept Mallee Dry Cleaners hanging onto hope.
“It has been very challenging and only been working three days a week, with reduced hours, for about 18 months.
“We are lucky in that we clean overalls for the workshop workers at Pickering Transport, Sunrise Ag and The Truck Specialists.
“If we hadn’t had that work we would have been closed.”
Owner Alison Murley questioned what else would have generated business when no one was going anywhere or doing anything.
“No one needed to have anything dry cleaned.
“We had the occasional suits for a funeral of 10 people, but that’s not sustainable.
“There were no footy club balls, presentation nights.
“We were down at some stage 80 per cent of business and we are still only open three days a week.”
Ms Murley has dusted off the machines as the region reopened.
“Now things are opening up again, we need those functions like the Christmas parties,” she said.
“To generate a bit of business for us we need to have unlimited numbers at weddings.
“It’s been a pretty tough gig but having that essential work has helped along the way.”
