Our marker, as seen at the top of this page, and at the front of this journal, is “relentless,” and as we look back at the last few months, and the year ahead of us, I can safely say that our membership proves time and time again that it has the guts and dedication to prove it’s true: we are relentless.
These last few months we’ve been in yards, in courthouses, on the road and in Parliament, fighting for causes across the transport industry.
Whether we’re facing down Transport for NSW to demand safer conditions for bus drivers, fighting with Jetstar to achieve better agreements for cabin crew, or helping members receive a pay rise through union-unlocked productivity training, we’re at the coalface of the industry and working in solidarity with our members to achieve fair outcomes.
We’ve worked to keep politicians accountable, by holding the NSW Minns Labor government and Federal Albanese government to their election promises and achieving two significant wins in the first few months of this year. The first of which was finally unlocking a site for a heavy vehicle rest area in Western Sydney.
The rest area will give Truckies a place to shower, have a meal or recharge, and could not come more urgently, as rest areas are crucial to driver safety, particularly with so many incidents occurring in the Sydney basin. The respective Governments will each contribute $40 Million to create the purpose-built rest stop.
Secondly, after achieving a huge win in transport reform in Canberra last year, TWU members rallied at NSW Parliament last month to see long-fought for changes to Chapter 6 of the NSW Industrial Relations Act pass into law. These laws will see an atrophied and out-of-date Chapter 6 brought into the 21st century, protecting small businesses, removing archaic exclusions which unfairly targeted owner drivers, will finally acknowledge gig workers in New South Wales law – and will hold the supply chain accountable.
In the FairWork Commission, we’re working hand-in-hand with Armaguard delegates for the same reason – to hold the supply chain accountable and ensure that the clients are accountable to the reality of the industry.
The protections we’ve won so far this year, and others we continue to fight for, are only possible because of years, sometimes decades, of relentless advocacy by our members. It is because of you that we move towards a safer, fairer industry.
With the federal election looming this weekend, it is timely to remember how fragile our protections can be, and how rapidly the wins our blood, sweat and tears have fought for can be undone.
We’re pleased that the Albanese government has passed significant new rights into law over the last three years. However, we want to keep up that momentum and ensure that the rights we’ve fought for stay enforced. Peter Dutton has said point blank that the coalition will wind back Industrial Relations reforms that the union movement has achieved if they win power on Saturday. We can’t let that happen.
The current federal government has been one of the most pro-union and pro-transport worker governments that we have seen in a generation. This weekend, it’s important that we re-elect them, not just to preserve our rights at work, but to strengthen them even further.
Richard Olsen • TWU Secretary