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Home >News >HACSU News April

HACSU News April

2019-04-29

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Welcome new members who have joined us over the past month! You’re a part of something bigger and are helping to contribute to improving our health and community services sectors!

We’re into activism in April! This month, HACSU activists joined to together with other trade unions to Change the Rules! We’re joining forces to change the rules for all workers across Australia, by campaigning for better pay and secure jobs.

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Right now, big business has too much power; a third of them aren’t paying any tax! Too many of them are in a race to increase profits by decreasing the rights of workers and expecting higher productivity and outputs, for the same or lower wages.

Wages in Australia have flat-lined and 40% of Australians right now are in insecure work.

We need wage increases and security so we can care for our families and plan for the future! The only way we can do this is by changing the government to change the rules! We hope all members will join us on this journey! You can read more about it by clicking here or going to: https://changetherules.org.au/

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We’re also continuing our campaign to put the heart back into the NDIS! This month we’ve held three metropolitan and regional events in collaboration with local MPs and Labor members. At these successful events, we’ve provided a space for Q&A for members with HACSU leadership and government officials to voice opinions, issues and ask questions about what we can do to better support disability support workers.

We have one remaining event coming up in Frankston on 1st of May for local members! Click here to register to attend or for more information go to: https://bit.ly/2I6vBhS

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HACSU’s next round of Delegate training is coming up! The training will take place on 18-19th of June 2019. As a HACSU Delegate, you can become a voice for the people in your workplace and provide a direct line of support to the union for your colleagues. You may be eligible for paid union training leave from your workplace to attend this training. If you’re interested in becoming a HACSU workplace Delegate, or you have any further questions, please get in touch with us to register today! hacsu@hacsu.asn.au

Don’t forget we’re offering members a range of FREE training throughout the year! For more information, click here.

 

On the calendar this month, we’re celebrating the start of Ramadan on May 5th along with our members who celebrate it. We’ll be observing National Sorry Day is recognised on the 26th of May; it is an important part of healing for indigenous Australians and a time to acknowledge and recognise members of the stolen generations. This past Sunday, 28th of April, we also recognised International Workers Memorial Day, a day which calls for safer workplaces and remembers workers who have lost their lives at work this past year. 

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On May 12th, we recognise all the mums out there across the HACSU networks! Haven’t organised a present for your mum yet? Why not pay her union dues for the year!

 

Don’t forget – the Australian Federal election will be taking place on Saturday May 18th. We need every member to recognise the importance of workers rights during this crucial time – together we can Change the Rules but in order to do so, we must change the government. Both the Labor party and The Greens have signed up to the national Change the Rules campaign and we’re hoping with your support that we can see some impactful change to the NDIS, Mental Health and AOD sectors in the years to come, under a Labor Government.

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Good news!


We have two lovely stories to share with you this month!

Firstly, we have three members working in mental health who have been underpaid for several years as they had been working as PEN 1, but should have been paid for PEN 2 and 3, respectively. Working with dedicated Organiser Angela Carter, these HACSU members have managed to receive backpay from 2013! Congratulations - we’re always ecstatic to see fantastic outcomes like these for our members!


The second story comes from HACSU President Deb Gunn about some colleagues of hers who are out of scope for DHHS transfer.

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This is a photo of a farewell at PRS only a few volunteers for the photo.

Michelle Hansen, Anna Ciavarella, Sue McKinnon and Marina Edmonds have been part of the DHHS for many years and have been key players in the successful running of PRS (& other locations) and the supports for staff to ensure our services keep running. As PRS began the transfer process to LWB a bit of get together for staff and residents was held to celebrate the old and welcome the new.

 The 4 lovely ladies previously mentioned were largely excluded (forgotten) from those celebrations as they are not transferring (their positions are out of scope for transfer). To celebrate, a members meeting was arranged, snacks and gifts were purchased and a lovely get together was arranged! Once we had our discussion about the secondment process so far, the ladies were asked to join us and we celebrated their years of contribution to all of us. There were speeches, stories, laughs, tears and a huge thank-you from both sides!

A huge thank you again to Anna, Sue, Michelle and Marina for all of their hard work and support over the years. From the bottom of my heart, you have helped make working at DHHS a pleasure and we have loved working with you all over many years.

 A huge thank you to the local delegates and staff for a great get together and celebration inclusive of all!