Read this article in:
25 July, 2001Members of the AMWU are on strike to protect workers' entitlements.
AUSTRALIA: The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union has sent an open letter to request solidarity with their 210 members employed at Maintrain, in Sydney. The workers, who are responsible for the maintenance of the New South Wales State Rail trains, are in the third week of a strike in which Manusafe -- a trust fund established by the AMWU and other industry unions to protect workers' entitlements -- is a central issue.
According to the AMWU, Maintrain workers, along with hundreds of thousands of others, are concerned at the recent spate of company collapses in Australia that have seen many millions of dollars of workers' entitlements disappear overnight. The Manusafe scheme requires the employer to pay these entitlements as they accrue into a jointly managed trust fund, and the AMWU argues that the entitlements should be "protected from incompetent or unscrupulous employers, and from the workings of the boom-bust cycle."
The workers at Maintrain say they are determined to win their claim. A rally was staged in front of headquarters of the employers' organisation -- the Australian Industry Group -- which has been vigorously campaigning to prevent employers from agreeing to join Manusafe, and a steady escalation in disputes around the Manusafe scheme is expected in the coming weeks.
Go to the associated AMWU website link to see how you can help.
According to the AMWU, Maintrain workers, along with hundreds of thousands of others, are concerned at the recent spate of company collapses in Australia that have seen many millions of dollars of workers' entitlements disappear overnight. The Manusafe scheme requires the employer to pay these entitlements as they accrue into a jointly managed trust fund, and the AMWU argues that the entitlements should be "protected from incompetent or unscrupulous employers, and from the workings of the boom-bust cycle."
The workers at Maintrain say they are determined to win their claim. A rally was staged in front of headquarters of the employers' organisation -- the Australian Industry Group -- which has been vigorously campaigning to prevent employers from agreeing to join Manusafe, and a steady escalation in disputes around the Manusafe scheme is expected in the coming weeks.
Go to the associated AMWU website link to see how you can help.