Hunter Workers Protesting Harvey Norman CEO

BY GIORGIA WILSON 

Hunter Workers are protesting outside of Harvey Norman Kotara at 12pm today in response to the submissions opposing a minimum wage increase. 

Gerry Harvey, CEO of Harvey Norman, has been a vocal opponent of a minimum wage rise despite his company's profits more than doubled during 2020. 

The Fair Work Commission is expected to make a decision concerning the annual minimum wage review in early to mid-June. 

Hunter Workers supports the Australian Council of Trades Union urging the Fair Work Commission to increase minimum wage by 3.5% for Australian workers. This increase would offer a much-needed boost from the record low wage growth over the last 8 years. 

"Wages have been stagnant for some time now," says Hunter Workers Secretary, Leigh Shears. "There's a significant gap between the increase in the cost of living and peoples pay bracket."

Hunter Workers have campaigned to improve the lives, wage, working conditions and social services for all workers and their families within these communities. 

A significant minimum wage rise would come as a great relief to Hunter Workers who have been impacted by increased cost of living fueled by housing and rental market shortages. 

"It's going to be a domestic recovery," says Shear. "The economy cannot recover if our workers do not have money to spend."

Since JobKeeper was cut it is estimated there has been a 70% increase of Hunter people living in housing stress. Hunter Workers will continue to campaign for the things that matter for all workers across the region.

Union Wins Landmark Workplace Agreement After Three-Year BHP Battle

BY DAKOTA TAIT

A three-year workplace negotiations dispute between BHP and the union Professionals Australia has finally ended after the Fair Work Commission ruled in favour of workers to establish a new deal.

The new enterprise agreement, the first to cover mine supervisors, locks in key conditions such as redundancy provisions for workers at BHP's Mount Arthur coal mine at Muswellbrook.

Workers had been repeatedly shut down by BHP while attempting to secure protections for the conditions over the past three years.

The mine was also recently put up for sale by the company, raising concern about possible job losses.

The union's Collieries’ Staff Division Director Catherine Bolger says the decision meant "certainty and security" for around 75 families.

"The agreement has been a long time in the making," Ms Bolger said. "Initially BHP were reluctant to have an agreement for their supervisors." 

"It's also a landmark for other supervisors in the Hunter Valley who now concede that their colleagues at Mount Arthur have won an agreement and it provides them the benchmark that they can also pursue."

The Fair Work Commission found that BHP's conduct was unfair and that they had used delay tactics in breach of the Fair Work Act.

Ms Bolger says the union is looking forward to working with the company to implement the new agreement.

Image credit: https://www.bhp.com/

Fair Work Commission to Assess Pay Rise for Aged Care Workers

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Health Services Union will bring a landmark work value case before the Fair Work Commission on Thursday, hoping to lift wages for aged care workers by 25 percent.

If the case is successful, more than 200,000 staff in the aged care sector would see their pay increase by at least five dollars an hour - a qualified personal carer would see their base hourly rate jump from $23.09 to $28.86.

The union is also attempting have specialist carers in areas such as dementia or palliative care recognised.

HSU President Gerard Hayes said aged care workers have suffered from underpayment and insecure work for too long and deserved to be "recognised and paid for their skills."

"4 in 10 people plan on leaving aged care within the next two to three years, because it's just not sustainable," Mr Hayes said. "People are working two or three jobs to be able to make ends meet because they can't just work in one facility." 

"There's a whole of these issues that have been exemplified in real time, throughout the Royal Commission, and if we're not doing something immediately, then I think it's an indictment on the society that we have."

Recent modelling by the HSU has claimed a 0.65 percent rise in the Medicare levy would raise $20.4 billion and provide the necessary funds to accommodate both the pay rise and an additional 59,000 jobs in the aged care sector.

"The Federal Government cannot keep hiding behind the Aged Care Royal Commission," Mr Hayes said. "We need action immediately."