A message from Tash Wark, Branch Secretary – July 2024

01 July 2024

As winter sets in, we are continuing to fight for our members’ rights in Victoria and Tasmania.

The ASU has worked tirelessly to improve the rights of delegates to represent their colleagues in the workplace. We welcome added protections as part of the Fair Work Act and note that from July 1 the Act specifies the mandatory inclusion of a ‘delegates’ rights’ term within awards and into new enterprise agreements.

In Tasmania, the ASU applauds the passage of the Industrial Manslaughter Bill through the assembly. Its passage means a business which recklessly or negligently fails to ensure the safety of workers, or others impacted by their business or undertaking, leading to a death, can be prosecuted – an outcome which is years overdue. Our members and organisers in Tasmania have been instrumental in ensuring the new IM laws came into the parliament.

We also welcome new members to the ASU, especially in workplaces like the City of Ballarat where our numbers have increased as we took on a recalcitrant management over inadequate wages and won significant improvements. Well done to the amazing delegates at Ballarat for their fight, am very proud to stand with you all!

And finally – a reminder it’s tax time and you union dues are tax-deductible. You don’t have to do anything to access your tax statement, we’ll email it directly to you in the second week of July.

I look forward to seeing you all out and about as I settle into the new role, in the meantime stay safe.