Traffic and trams in Melbourne’s CBD have been stopped by groups of tradies lunching on the road in protest of new restrictions placed on construction workers.
Construction workers across Melbourne have stopped traffic and trams in the city as they took lunch on the streets in protest of new COVID-19 restrictions.
On Friday workers gathered on plastic chairs in the middle of a host of busy city streets including Lonsdale Street, Swanston Street and Sydney Road.
Tradies were forced onto the street during breaks as Victoria’s COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar banned tearooms to minimise the risk of transmission.
“When you have people across the industry in the construction industry and they’re in a small cabin or hut enjoying food and drink together, that’s a significant risk of transmission,” he said on Friday.
“The weather is getting better and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to partake in those activities outside, preferably not on tram tracks.”
Under the new restrictions announced on Thursday construction workers will need to have had their first vaccine by September 23 or show proof of booking.
Tradies will not be able to travel from Melbourne to regional Victoria, however, the delivery of materials will be allowed.
Mr Weimar said the travel ban on construction workers was a response to three tradies who took the virus to regional areas leading to an outbreak that began in Ballarat.
“I appreciate that’s inconvenient and it’s a further constraint but we’re trying to minimise particularly seeding of further infections into regional Victoria who was working in the Ballarat area,” he said.
Anyone who refuses to follow the restrictions and misses out on work will be able to apply for federal government COVID-19 assistance through Services Australia with contractors likely to be able to access business support.
Premier Daniel Andrews said while the restrictions were not a preference for many they provided a safer workplace.
“This is what’s required to keep them operating at 25 per cent,” he said.
“These first doses, they are an investment, a down payment on getting to 50 per cent and 75 per cent in weeks and months to come.”
The state’s COVID-19 commander said the restriction on tearooms was a small price to pay while many have been forced to completely stop work.
“So many of us would love to be working almost normally and actually, people are bending over backwards to keep the construction industry going and keep important sites going for important reasons,” Mr Weimar said.
“If you can’t sit next to your mates having a sandwich, that doesn’t seem a huge burden to bear.”
Mr Andrews addressed the media on Friday to announce Victoria had recorded 510 locally acquired cases on Friday as the state’s first dose vaccination rate reached 70 per cent.
