TWU LEADERSHIP GATHERS IN CANBERRA DURING ITS LARGEST INDUSTRIAL CAMPAIGN IN HISTORY

This week, transport workers and union leaders will gather in Canberra for the annual Transport Workers’ Union National Council, in the middle of its largest co-ordinated industrial campaign in history, as tens of thousands of workers have the potential to take protected industrial action from July.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine alongside National President Richard Olsen will lead the four-day event, where TWU’s rank and file council along with elected leadership will speak on the critical year to lift standards in road transport and aviation, where conditions have reached crisis levels as wealthy clients put deadly pressure on workers to maximise short-term profits.

This year’s National Council will have a particular focus on future of work involving automation, AI and net zero in the transport industry, and the critical need to bring the voice of workers and community back into the equation.

Over the next four days, the union will be joined by guest speakers from Federal Parliament and our universities.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will deliver a keynote address, followed by an address from National Secretary Michael Kaine and a protest at Amazon with the company continuing its relentless degradation of Australian jobs through exploitative practices.

On Wednesday, workers will protest at Canberra Airport, putting a claim on ground handling company Swissport, as well as airlines and airports across the industry, to lift abysmal pay and working conditions and horrific safety standards.

The final day of National Council will see an address from Transport and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King and Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth, and will close with a speech from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Other attendees include TWU members and delegates, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Senators Tony Sheldon and Glenn Sterle, NSW Labor MP’s Dr Andrew Charlton and Simon Earle, ACTU President Michele O’Neil, UTS Professor Emmanuel Josserand, USYD Associate Professor Martjin Boersma, and Woolworths Group Managing Director Chris Brooks.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine says this year’s National Council will come at a pivotal moment for the union.

“This is perhaps the most important National Council in the union’s history. We have a plan that’s been decades in the making to take back our roads, our skies, and our future to create industries that work for the entire community instead of just wealthy clients and CEOs, and this is the time we put it into action.”

“So far this year, there have been 69 truck-related deaths on our roads and 673 businesses have gone insolvent. This is also the year that tens of thousands of workers will have the right to take potential protected industrial action in July, and if we have to strike to put a stop to the deadly pressures in road transport and aviation, we will.

“We cannot allow corporations making billions to call the shots while workers and the wider public are left to deal with the consequences. There are massive changes coming to the transport industry, but whether it’s AI, automation, net zero or any other challenge, we need wealthy clients to fund fair, safe jobs instead of continuing to put deadly pressure on workers.”