ACTU launches election campaign
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 2, 11 March 2022, page no.11
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) have launched a new “Secure Jobs. Worth Fighting For” campaign in the lead up this year’s federal election.
The campaign aims to highlight examples of the increasing insecurity that many workers face across the economy. There is a focus on those members of the community employed via third party labour hire companies, who often work side by side with permanent employees but with less favorable working conditions and a lower salary.
Many QTU members would know someone who is currently in insecure work. Permanent and secure work not only provides economic security, it also provides dignity. These are the main reasons your Union has continued to campaign to maximise permanent employment across the public education system. This includes ensuring school leaders remain protected by permanent appointment and are not subject to short, fixed-term contracts.
Some QTU members start their career in insecure employment on a contract. Across a number of enterprise bargaining agreements, the QTU has sought to improve the conditions of these members, particularly through improved access to salary across the summer vacation period and the tenure review process, which can result in conversion to permanent employment. Your Union continues to campaign to minimise the number of teachers in Queensland working in contract employment. It is the collective strength of our membership that has enabled these successes and seen Queensland achieve one of the highest rates of permanent teacher employment in Australia.
However, not everyone in the economy has the collective strength and protection provided by a union with the size and capacity of your QTU. With the industrial relations landscape continuing to shift in favour of employer interests, the ACTU and QCU campaigns are timely. We do not want to be the first generation of adult Australians to leave the next generation with less job security than was passed onto us.
The QCU is focusing the “Secure Jobs. Worth Fighting For” campaign on three electorates: Flynn, Leichhardt and Longman. The campaign will focus on telling the stories of local workers and the impact insecure employment has had on them and their families. If you would like to get involved directly, please make contact with your local QTU Organiser.
For more information, you can also check out the campaign website: https://securejobs.australianunions.org.au
The QTU will support these campaigns in line with the 2021 QTU Conference Statement (see below), with a focus on the education and industrial relations commitments of candidates and parties.
“The QTU involvement in state and federal elections is directly connected to our strategic objectives. QTU Conference confirms the need to continue to seek, through political campaigning and lobbying, influence over state and federal education and training policy.
“These government policies and the related decisions of governments have a direct impact on the working lives of members in schools and TAFE and on the resources allocated to support our students. The QTU is not affiliated with any political party but will continue to be involved in election campaigns. QTU campaigns will seek to elect governments and support candidates who support teachers, school leaders, TAFE, public schools, and workers’ rights.”