I would like to pass on the best wishes of the AMWU National Council for the holiday period, and make a few comments to thank all members for their part in the achievements made by our union this year.
This year, despite a tumultuous political climate, our union was able to secure several key wins for all workers and manufacturing workers in particular.
In the new year, we will see the introduction of 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave for all working families. We will continue to push this issue until we have fully funded leave, including superannuation, but nonetheless we should celebrate a significant and hard fought achievement by the union movement.
The biggest win our union can celebrate is the ‘Fair Entitlements Guarantee’ to better protect employee entitlements.
I would like to particularly mention workers from DSI, ACL, Forgecast and Paragon Printing Ltd who last year and this year finally brought the plight of workers losing their entitlements to national attention. They suffered at the hands of their employers, but by standing up for their rights, they helped deliver government support for our proposal to fix the old GEERS system which so often left workers thousands of dollars out of pocket.
In 2011, we face a major bargaining round and we also face several major debates on free trade agreements and government purchasing policies with the potential to create thousands of jobs.
Campaigning for quality, sustainable, well-paid jobs will continue to be a key focus for the AMWU in 2011.
We all have a role to play in these campaigns.
We must fight for fair trade and a fair go or we will soon find that we have allowed free-trade theory to export our jobs, export our national interest, export our standard of living and export our future.
This year we have delivered some big achievements and next year we already have our work cut out for us.
We will need every AMWU member to be involved in our campaigns to continue our success.
I wish you and your family a safe and well-earned rest.
In Unity,
Dave Oliver
NATIONAL SECRETARY