By Mary Franklyn
General Secretary

It is my belief that the fight against the state government’s salary cap is the biggest campaign the SSTUWA has been involved in for decades. It is one we need to win.

We face a long and difficult campaign ahead but there is an inspiring element that will help us get what we want, even it takes time – solidarity.

These have been difficult times for unions. The federal government has made it harder and harder for workers to stand up for their rights.

Industrial action is made more and more difficult by new laws. Day-to-day, unions have to go through bureaucratic hoops that no business ever faces.

It is a constant effort to attempt to make running unions as hard as possible, yet through it all we start to see union solidarity not only maintained but improved.

When the federal government was resisting support for workers during the emergence of COVID-19 it was unions that got it implemented. Many people only survived by accessing that financial support.

Many more could still be being helped if the system had not been rorted for millions of dollars by companies with no ethics or morals.

Locally the Public Sector Alliance will work together to bring down the state government’s salary cap. It will not be easy. It will demand patience, unity and determination.

It should not be lost on any Labor MP that a salary cap is being imposed on teachers, nurses, education assistants, child protection staff, border quarantine officers, firefighters, tracing teams, hospital support staff, school cleaners and a host of other essential workers.

That this cap is from a Labor government – a party founded to represent working people – should shame every MP elected under that banner and they should speak up against it.

Unity is such a key to winning campaigns. This is why the SSTUWA has been out supporting other unions when they take industrial action.

The photos on this page shows our members supporting Toll workers, taking action against their working conditions constantly being eroded and their safety jeopardised.

We have also stood previously with unions such as the Electrical Trades Union and United Workers Union.

We are proud to do so. If unions stand together all members benefit in the end.