A mayoral candidate has vowed to ditch home working in Melbourne and drag council workers back into the office in a bid to revitalise the city.
Arron Wood has revealed that if he wins the October election he will order Melbourne’s 1,700 city government workers to return to the office at least four days a week.
The drastic measure is part of its broader plan to “revitalise Melbourne’s economy by getting more people into the city safely and on time”.
Mr Wood also announced a $25 million package to ensure Melbourne returns to its international status. Herald of the Sun reported.
The plan comes a month after the New South Wales government ordered its 450,000 employees to return to the office, a move that sparked outrage.
Mr Wood said he was driven by the needs of small businesses and revealed he had been a small business owner for 20 years.
Mr Wood said businesses were at “crisis point” because of the cost of living crisis, noting that a survey found 45 per cent had considered closing over the past year.
Melbourne mayoral candidate Arron Wood (pictured) has announced a $25 million package to turn Melbourne into an international city once again.
A mayoral candidate has vowed to ditch home working in Melbourne and get council workers back into the office in a bid to revitalise the city.
“When you’re at a crisis point, the City of Melbourne needs to use every resource at its disposal to make sure that we stop 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 only force council workers back into the office, but all government and corporate employees as well.
In August, the candidate said that abolishing working from home for all workers would be his “first priority.”
“We will work with the state government to introduce new laws that will make it mandatory for government and corporate workers to work at least four days a week in their offices to liven up the city,” he said.
Mr Koutoufides recently tried to sweeten the deal for employees by announcing he would treat municipal workers to a coffee morning every Monday for at least a month to entice them out of the suburbs.
Mr Wood said he was driven by the needs of small businesses and revealed he had been a small business owner for 20 years.
But his plan has sparked widespread backlash, with Trades Council of Victoria secretary Luke Hilakari saying the role of mayor does not come with the “right or ability” to intervene in any employment arrangements between workers and employees.
Mr. Hilakari also said that since the lockdowns, employees have found new ways of working that “better serve the needs of their families, increase productivity” and relieve stress.
“Working people decide how we spend our money. Ideas to force people back into the city centre to subsidise failing urban businesses will only come at the expense of small local businesses in the suburbs,” he said.
Victoria Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra has said businesses need more people in the city, but only employers can make the decision to force them back into the office, not a mayor.
In early August, Premier Jacinta Allen’s office said working from home provides more flexibility, which “helps more women stay in work” and that the number of people in Melbourne’s CBD has already returned to pre-pandemic levels and the city is “booming”.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Wood for comment.
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