Following a mammoth 2024, when our union showed strength and determination once again by standing up to powerful corporations and securing historic victories, we’re continuing our momentum.
The year started with a bang, when right from the get-go we were standing proudly with our members at dnata ground as they took protected industrial action before the Australia Day weekend. Following this action – the first national stoppage in aviation since covid – the company caved and our members achieved an historic outcome. My congratulations to our delegates who led this terrific fight that serves as inspiration for the rest of the aviation industry of what can be achieved when you stand together.
Off the back of last year’s landmark court cases against Qantas, we’ve continued to be rack up union wins in 2025, working to secure an $8000 pay increase for cabin crew workers at Team Jetstar and Altara by leveraging the new “Same Job Same Pay” laws enacted by the federal government. And just last week, our Same Job Same Pay applications for Whymap and Programmed labour hire workers also succeeded.
IMPORTANT WINS
These important wins reflect just a fraction of the ongoing fights we have going on in aviation, and are possible thanks to the federal Industrial Relations reforms we’ve fought so hard to achieve.
Our efforts in reform are not just limited to Canberra, with the NSW Branch of the TWU spearheading historic reforms to Chapter 6 of the NSW IR Act, which passed the State Parliament just last month.
The changes to Chapter 6 will close loopholes that led to archaic exclusions for huge amounts of drivers, hold the supply chain to account, support small businesses and owner drivers, and finally acknowledge gig workers in NSW law, modernising a chapter of the act that had otherwise calcified through 30 years of inaction. We have more to say about the importance of the Chapter 6 reforms – and the journey this union has been on over a decade to finally make them law – later in this journal.
VERY PROUD
Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of the TWU officials, members and delegates who fought so relentlessly to make these changes happen, and it was a privilege to join many of our members at Macquarie St to see our bill pass, just like it was to see our long fought-for waste reforms come to fruition.
The new waste tendering regulations are continuing to be put to work this year, and they are seeing waste workers’ wages and conditions retained during tendering processes such as in Wollongong and Shellharbour, where Remondis employees are benefitting from the new legislation while the combined residential waste tender gets underway.
Above: Dnata workers stand their ground
While we have much to be proud of, there are still big fights ahead. Your union will remain active this year, and as we look to the work we have cut out for us in 2026, it’s imperative that we stand firm, protect the rights we’ve fought so hard for, and continue to show the strength and determination that defines our movement.
Nick McIntosh • TWU Assistant Secretary