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21 June 2010 |
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Premier John Brumby has announced that the State Labor Government will support the Union’s equal pay case in Fair Work Australia (FWA) and to funding the outcome if re-elected at the November State Election.
This is a great win for all HACSU members working in Non Government Disability Services and Mental Health PDRSS and a major breakthrough in our campaign for Equal Pay.
Last week thousands of Community and Disability workers took the campaign to the streets of Melbourne urging the Government to support equal pay; pleasingly the Brumby government has listened and made a huge commitment to the NGO workforce.
Not only is Premier Brumby committing to support our case and funding the outcome, the Premier has promised that the Government “will factor in any wage increase to our service agreements with community organisations and ensure those wage increases are passed onto workers”.
For too long many NGO employers have held onto funding and not passed on wage increase in full, it is fantastic that the government is committing to put an end to that practice.
In his speech, Premier Brumby said of community and disability workers “This emotionally taxing labour – often performed by women - is critical to the fabric of our community. And the value of this labour is not always reflected in the pay they receive”
HACSU and other Unions have been campaigning for 10 years for Equal Pay with the public sector and work value recognition; this announcement by Premier Brumby is a quantum leap forward.
It is a thrilling announcement, but our work and campaign is not over.
We still have many hurdles to overcome; we have to win our case in Fair Work Australia and the Brumby Government has to be re-elected to implement its promise.
We must keep building HACSU’s presence in your workplace so that we can maintain the value of this win through direct bargaining in future campaigns. We also need to ensure that the current funding for the 3.25% increases are passed on now while we are simultaneously working on the equal pay case.
The only way to do that is to keep campaigning for there to be high union membership in each and every NGO PDRSS and Disability service provider.
Congratulations to all HACSU members on a great step forward – Keep campaigning with us. If you are not a HACU member join now - join your workmates in making equal pay an exciting reality. |
