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February 22, 2023
The decision by the former Morrison Government to cancel construction of 12 French Attack-class submarines and announce the acquisition of nuclear submarines through the AUKUS alliance has left Australia vulnerable to a submarine capability gap. This report looks at the enduring workforce and industry development benefit of an Australian marine engineering build.
August 31, 2022
Australia’s defence manufacturing capability needs to be strengthened. Renewed geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific and Europe, accelerating climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the fault lines of fragile global supply chains. These crises have demonstrated the urgent need for Australia to build and maintain sovereign capability in defence and in our manufacturing industries more broadly.
June 28, 2022
We need the government to use its powers of procurement to invest in Australian jobs and industries and rebuild our domestic supply chains. Most of all, we need a government with the vision and commitment to make that happen. This paper is designed to give you the opportunity to see the manufacturing sector through workers' eyes, to understand what it means to the workers it employs and the communities it supports. They believe, and AMWU believes, that with the right policy leadership, Australia can enjoy a manufacturing-led recovery that creates secure, high-skilled jobs; promotes economic development in our regions; increases our sovereign capabilities; and diversifies the nation’s economy.
June 27, 2022
Around the world today, the governments of most major countries are making significant investments in developing highly skilled manufacturing workforces to bolster their sovereign capabilities. These governments recognise the economic opportunities represented by rapid changes in production technologies and are positioning themselves to take full advantage. Without a significant rethink of skill development and recognition, Australia risks being left behind.
June 27, 2022
For too long, environmental sustainability and creating more jobs in the manufacturing and energy production sectors have been seen as incompatible with one another. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) rejects this framing. Our union — which organises and represents almost 70,000 members from every city and region of Australia — believes that the international shift to renewable energy represents an unprecedented opportunity to revive our nation’s battered but resilient manufacturing sector.
October 01, 2021
At present, the Australian manufacturing sector is battered but resilient. Despite decades of policy negligence —and, at times, deliberate governmental sabotage — manufacturing remains a major employer in this country. But that neglect has left Australia as one of the world’s least self-sufficient industrialised nations when it comes to manufactured goods.
February 08, 2021
To the Secretary, Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) represents over 70,000 workers who create, make and maintain in cities, suburbs and regions across Australia. Our members rely on the industrial relations system to defend and deliver improvements to their wages and conditions through workplace bargaining. The AMWU has a proud history as a leader in worker involvement in workplace bargaining, leading to better wages and conditions in some of our nation’s most important industries. We believe that the changes proposed in the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 (the Bill) will not achieve better outcomes for workers. We support and endorse the detailed submission by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to this inquiry. In our view, the Bill will lead to a reduction in workers’ rights, employment conditions and further suppression of wages. This will hurt the workers whose sacrifices and hard work ensured that we were kept safe and healthy through the COVID-19 crisis.
October 20, 2020
Submission to the JobMaker Hiring Credit Inquiry AMWU Recommendations Recommendation 1: That the Program be amended to ensure that employers are not punished for offering eligible workers full-time hours. Recommendation 2: That the Program be amended to reward employers that offer full-time or part-time employment, over casual or contract employment. Recommendation 3: That the Program be amended to reward employers that engage a new employee for the full year.
May 28, 2020
The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) represents over 70,000 workers who create, make and maintain in every city and region across Australia. Our members have been working hard around the country to provide the Australian made goods and services that we need, know and trust in times of crisis. Our members are proud of their work that kept our country safe and our economy running during these unprecedented times. Manufacturing industry has an important role to play in the national response to COVID-19 and its aftermath. It is in our national interest that we develop a sustainable and productive manufacturing industry that delivers world class products and services for Australia and the world. The AMWU supports the submission by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to this committee.
March 06, 2020
Senate Inquiry into the Treasury Laws Amendment (Research and Development Tax Incentive) Bill 2019 The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) represents over 70,000 workers who create, make and maintain in every city and region across Australia. The workers we represent are employed by companies that engaged in Research and Development (R&D) to improve their products and services so that they can improve productivity, grow their market and export Australian-made goods to the rest of the world. Reduction in support for R&D sends the wrong message The Treasury Laws Amendment (Research and Development Tax Incentive) Bill 2019 (the Bill) will discourage investment in R&D in Australia, leading to some companies shifting these highly skilled, highly paid positions overseas, or abandoning them entirely. This will lead to lower productivity growth, a less a competitive Australian manufacturing industry, less investment in new and upgraded capital and, in the long run, fewer jobs and poorer wages for Australian workers.
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