| Last weekend, Australians went to the polls in an election that defined the federal government’s approach to industrial relations moving forward. Although it may not seem like it now given the result, make no mistake -there was a lot at risk on May 3rd. Peter Dutton and the Coalition, including Jane Hume, Michaela Cash and more, could not have been more direct in saying that they would roll back our hard-earned wins from the last three years. It would have undone a decade of relentless advocacy and set workers back to square one. |
I’ve been involved in trade unionism for long enough to know that protections can be fragile. Over the years, I’ve seen reforms passed, stripped away, and fought for again.
The overwhelming Labor majority, including multiple TWU members, does not mean that this union will be resting on its laurels. On the contrary, we will fight harder for the next three years to not only protect, but further strengthen, protections for our industry.
The Albanese Labor government has received its mandate. The TWU stands ready to continue building on our wins.
A WEEK OF MEMBER ACTION, TRAINING AND STRATEGY
The first week of May has been very active one within the union. On Monday, members at Mondiale Erskine Park took protected industrial action. They’re asking for management to come to the table, and stop persisting with their unfair offer which will leave workers on average more than 10% below the industry hourly rates. Delegates and the TWU will continue to fight for better pay and conditions.
The TWU welcomed members from aviation to the union this week to undertake Aviation Delegate 1 training with. This is off the back of additional HSR safety training conducted last week. Training continues to be a core component of the work the TWU does with members, and the union is proud to work with members to make the transport industry more accountable.
We also had multiple delegates meetings this week, with Linfox, BevChain and FedEx. We discussed strategy, planning for the months ahead, and with our BevChain and Linfox delegates we also discussed the productivity training which has unlocked a 1% pay increase.
With FedEx delegates, we were proud to award our State President Tony Matthews with an award honouring his 40+ years of service to the industry. Tony recently finished-up as an owner-driver in Enfield last month, but will continue on as the TWU’s State President.
NSW Branch Secretary Richard Olsen says, “This week is yet another example of how busy our union has been. The TWU is proud to support members taking action for better pay and conditions, as we are also proud to conduct training with members to strengthen workplace safety.”
“It was a privilege to join our FedEx State Delegates in honouring Tony Matthews. I had much to say in Enfield about Tony’s relentless commitment to the union movement, but it was good to give him an award on our own terms, with our delegates present. I look forward to seeing more of Tony in the months ahead as our State President.”
