Following the TWU’s warnings from last year that it would shut down transport without significant improvements in Australia’s deadliest industry, the union has also reached landmark deals on safe supply chains with massive transport clients under the Wesfarmers umbrella, with Kmart and Target having already signed and Bunnings, Officeworks and API to come.
The fight for thousands of other transport workers is far from over, with the TWU calling on remaining wealthy transport clients like Aldi and Amazon to step in and fund decent standards as negotiations break down.
Industry-wide industrial action continues to loom in the coming weeks with significant parts of road transport languishing at rates 10 to 30% under industry standards and with little to no job security.
Both workers and Australian transport companies are at breaking point, with huge transport clients like Amazon undercutting the industry and putting them out of business.
With companies like Team Global Express and Linfox and transport clients under the Wesfarmers banner taking the high road to provide good, secure jobs, the TWU calls on outliers like Amazon to stop dragging the industry down.
TWU NSW Secretary Richard Olsen said:
“These two industry behemoths coming to the table is further proof that our claims have always been completely fair, because when we say that we want to set better sector standards and ensure transport workers have job security, fairness is at the heart of that.
“The Transport Workers’ Union, along with our membership, have long said that the transport industry is in crisis, and it’s incumbent on the major clients to play a role in implementing better standards. Agreements like this are a welcome step to ending that fragmentation, and we call on all of the other companies watching to come to the table and be part of the solution.”
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said:
“Workers at Team Global Express and Linfox have now won strong agreements that gives certainty to thousands of workers that their jobs are secure into the future.
“We have been extraordinarily clear that we are prepared to shut down transport if we don’t see an end to rampant undercutting and trashing of jobs that has made this industry Australia’s deadliest.
“That pressure from tens of thousands of workers fighting simultaneously for decent jobs is working.
“We’ve just seen mammoth transport clients like Kmart, Bunnings and Officeworks agree to make sure their entire supply chains are safe and fair.
“We commend these companies and huge transport clients for taking the high road and working with us towards a sustainable industry. But the conditions won by these workers cannot be the exception – safe, decent jobs in transport must be the industry norm.
“The fight for a decent road transport industry is far from over. Thousands of transport workers are voting on industrial action that will hit in the coming weeks without fair agreements on pay, job security and the future trajectory of their industries.
“It’s time for the outliers in this industry like Amazon to step up, properly fund the companies in their supply chains, and ensure good transport jobs lie at the heart of this industry right into the future.”