In 2021 transport workers are pushing for the respect and organising for the change that the industry needs. At your workplace we stand for fair pay and conditions, job security, respect and safety for all workers.
Those at the top of the supply chain in the transport industry have a duty of care. The voice of the transport worker must be heard. Those at the top of the industry who choose to ignore that voice or find ways of suppressing are not taking on their share of the responsibility for a safer and fairer transport industry.
The TWU has no problems with business doing business that creates jobs and that means that transport workers are on the road and families have a future, however members will not stand idly by whilst company actions create inequities because those at the top seem to have forgotten the value of the transport workers who drive their business forward.
We sometimes go on strike because we have tried everything else to get an arrogant or disdainful management to come to the negotiating table. Every day, TWU members stand up and question the actions of companies that refuse to consult before they take action. We have trained Health and Safety Reps that have the power in yards to have the conversations that mean people get safely home.
We form negotiation committees to ensure workers have a voice at the enterprise agreement negotiations. Workers should not be going backwards in wages and conditions, yet there are plenty who are living the Rolls Royce lifestyle and avoiding their responsibility towards the people who build their business profit line.
Workers are taking steps towards utilising collective power and rejecting insultingly substandard agreements and deals. The pandemic has seen the business of moving freight grow, there is no denying that. Where a company chooses to put that income only into the bottom profit line, then members will say no.
The TWU continues to walk beside transport workers. Working together means that we can organise for change to deal with the problems drivers face every day. Our collective voice exists because you have joined the fight; we have a stronger voice.
We have the ability to hold companies and governments to account over the financial squeeze that results in poor vehicle maintenance, safety issues in yards, drivers pushed to work long hours and speed, drivers ripped off their wages and super, fatigue management, and deaths and injuries.
A safer and fairer industry, you can’t argue with that. Join the fight, contact your TWU delegate or TWU Branch to find out how you can get involved today.