Updated: 4.49pm
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Pools from Helensburgh to Dapto were closed today as about 500 Wollongong City Council workers walked off the job in a snap strike over "cultural changes" in the organisation.
Swimming squads were cancelled as all council-run pools except for Beaton Park were closed.
Council general manager Greg Doyle said parking officers remained on duty, but their union said they were off work.
The strike, by members of the United Services Union (USU), was called after staff members grew fed up with what they said was a culture of pressure and discipline of ordinary workers, while managers weren't held accountable.
The union's members left a meeting in the middle of Wednesday having voted to strike in support of a colleague who was dismissed, the USU says unfairly, for the remainder of the day.
Some beaches were likely to be closed, some open as lifeguards made their decision about whether to walk off.
The council's front desk was operating, and the Whyte's Gully tip was open for commercial operators only.
The Wollongong Botanic Garden was closing about 3pm, and while most libraries appeared to remain open with a skeleton staff, Unanderra and Dapto closed.
United Services Union organiser Rudi Oppitz said staff resentment had been growing over several months, and members decided their concerns had not been addressed.
"The issue at hand for our members is that there is a change in the culture there in which our members are asserting that there is continual harassment and bullying taking place," he said.
"That's culminated in the termination of one of our members who we say was just doing his job.
"From what our members are telling us, it's been slowly going down for 12 to 18 months. There appears to be one set of rules that applies to our ... members who are out there helping the community, and there's another set for certain managers, and certain management lines, that are completely different from what our members have to comply with.
"When they make an error, our members get disciplined and quite often they lose their jobs. If a manager does something wrong, gets caught out harassing and bullying an employee, we've got examples where they either are moved sideways or sometimes even promoted.
"It's also when certain managers are making mistakes - there's no accountability."
Mr Oppitz said parking compliance officers were USU members and were on strike, so parking tickets would not be issued. But Mr Doyle said parking officers "remain on duty". It was not clear which statement was correct.
In a statement on the council's website, Mr Doyle talked up the council's workplace procedures.
"Council has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and inappropriate conduct for all our people and we take such allegations seriously - just as our community would expect," he said.
"We have been in ongoing conversations with the United Services Union about two, stand alone, serious and significant matters.
"These matters relate to disciplinary actions undertaken in accordance with our Code of Conduct and have been managed in accordance with agreed procedures.
"We have robust plans in place that support staff to confidentially raise matters that they view may fall outside our Code of Conduct and organisational values.
"We are disappointed by today's unauthorised action that has affected some staff and services. We would like to assure our community that council is working to minimise any impact from these actions."
Mr Oppitz said the USU was filing an unfair dismissal claim in support of the staff member who was fired.
Workers are expected to go back on the job on Thursday morning and union members will report back on Friday.
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