Maintenance workers at Taronga Zoo will keep their so-called poo allowance after the NSW Industrial Relations Commission agreed to uphold bonuses for doing dirty work. Last July, zoo management stopped paying a daily bonus of $4.66 to workers who had to handle animal faeces, arguing the standing agreement related only to human excrement.

Maintenance workers responded by putting bans on animal waste removal while the Australian Workers Union (AWU) took up the fight in the industrial courts. Deputy President Peter Sams today forced the zoo to pay workers the allowance whenever they had to handle animal or human waste.

AWU state secretary Russ Collison claimed the decision was a precedent for all public sector workers who handled animal waste. "This is not pleasant work and it is appropriate that it is recognised as duties beyond the general," Mr Collison said.