A mayoral candidate has vowed to ditch WFH in Melbourne and drag council workers back into the office to try and revitalise the city.
Arron Wood revealed if he wins the October election he will order the 1,700 City of Melbourne government workers back into the office at least four days a week.
The drastic measure is part of his wider plan to ‘revitalise Melbourne’s economy by getting more people to come into the city safely and on time’.
Mr Wood also announced a $25 million package to ensure Melbourne is re-instated as an international city, the Herald Sun reported.
His plan comes a month after the NSW government demanded its 450,000-strong workforce return to the office with the move sparking outrage.
Mr Wood said he was being driven by the needs of small businesses, revealing that he was a small business owner for 20 years.
Mr Wood said businesses are at ‘crisis point’ due to the cost-of-living crisis and noted a survey found 45 per cent had considered closing down over the last year.
‘When you’re at a point of crisis, the City of Melbourne needs to be pulling every lever within its power to make sure it stops that loss of small businesses,’ he said.
His proposal comes just weeks after another Melbourne mayoral candidate, former AFL player Anthony Koutoufides, announced he would not just force council workers back into the office – but also all government and corporate employees.
In August, the candidate said abolishing working from home for all workers would be his ‘first priority’.
‘We will work with the state government to introduce new laws that government and corporate workers must work at least four days a week in their office to enliven the city,’ he said.
Mr Koutoufides recently tried to sweeten the deal for employees by announcing he would buy city workers a morning coffee each Monday for at least a month to entice them out of the suburbs.
But his plan garnered a huge push-back, and Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said the position of lord mayor does not come with the ‘right or ability’ to intervene in any working arrangements between workers and employees.
Mr Hilakari also said that since the lock-downs, employees have found new ways of working that ‘better serve the needs of their families, increase productivity’, as well as alleviate stress.
‘Workers decide how we spend our money. Ideas to force people back to the CBD to subsidise unsuccessful city businesses will only come at the expense of local small businesses in the suburbs,’ he said.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra has said that businesses need more people in the city, but only employers can make the decision to force them back into the office – not a council mayor.
In early August, premier Jacinta Allen’s office said that WFH provides more flexibility that ‘helps more women stay in work’ and the amount of people in Melbourne’s CBD is already back to pre pandemic levels and the city is ‘pumping’.
Daily Mail contacted Mr Wood for comment.