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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-03-25 Daily Xml
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Australian Services Union

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:39): I rise to acknowledge the 115th anniversary of the Australian Services Union and amalgamation of the FCU, MOA and MEU. Over a century of advocating for workers' rights and the union is going strong under the current great leadership team of Joseph Scales and Abbie Spencer. The Australian Services Union provides industrial support for workers in many industries, including clerical and administrative positions, within the private and public sector, airlines, call centres, community service, local government, finance, legal and energy.

Joseph and Abbie are focused on creating a truly democratic member-led union. They have worked hard to establish more meaningful communication with members and modern, professional, accessible and engaging updates and resources. Representatives from the ASU team have just completed three months of visits to work places, including the Northern Territory, the Iron Triangle, the South-East, the Mid Murray, the Riverland, and the Fleurieu Peninsula, to talk with as many members as possible about their draft three-year strategic plan.

This year Joseph and Abbie have spoken with hundreds of members about the future direction of the union, about how the union can modernise and stay relevant to a new generation of workers, how they will build power in work places and the community and how they can create a strong and financially sustainable union. This draft strategic plan will go out for final endorsement to all members this week. The ASU leadership team will then regularly report against this strategic plan to the branch council.

In October last year, they conducted an electronic member survey requesting feedback about how union staff and elected leaders could improve their service and support of members. The ASU received thousands of responses, with the results published in the December 2014 State of the Union magazine.

Joseph and Abbie have created a series of industry round tables for ASU members, where workplace representatives and members from across South Australia can come together to discuss the major issues facing their sector and to develop the union's response to these issues. This concept was awarded the South Australian union's 2014 award for innovation in trade unionism.

The first round table was held in October last year for local government members. The round table was launched by the Premier and included a Q&A session with the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, the Hon. Bruce Lander QC, and the then president of the Australian Local Government Association, Felicity-ann Lewis. It was hugely successful, with delegates from almost every council in this state attending. The next local government round table will take place on 1 May.

In February this year the ASU held its first round table for social and community services members. In a time when the sector is facing substantial challenges, it was crucial to bring ASU members together to build the union's response to these challenges. Members resolved to begin a major campaign to lobby both state and federal governments to:

stop the cuts to community services and Aboriginal services;

end competitive tendering in the social and community services sector;

provide secure funding for five years with indexation;

support independent women-led services in domestic violence;

keep community services not-for-profit only;

fully fund workers' wages and conditions in the NDIS to protect high-quality services; and finally

to ensure members continue to have fair pay, secure jobs and entitlements for community sector workers.

In July this year the ASU will hold its first energy round table. Members will come together to discuss important issues, such as nuclear energy and the union's submission to the state government's royal commission and how the union can support members during the transition to more sustainable, renewable energy streams. The ASU has the benefit of covering industries that are strong and growing. Community service is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia.

The ASU SA&NT branch membership is growing for the first time in a decade. The new leadership team perfectly reflects the new generation of workers and potential members of the ASU. It is timely to have such a fresh, modern and enthusiastic leadership team. Joseph and Abbie have built a great new team. There is a genuine buzz in the movement about the ASU. People want to join the new team and staff are excited to work for a modern, dynamic union.

The ASU is seen as a union that generally focuses on members. Members are at the heart of every decision, as they should be. Joseph and Abbie have prioritised professional development and training of staff. Morale in the office is at an all-time high. Joseph and Abbie have worked exceptionally hard to rein in expenditure, build membership and ensure that the union's finances are in a much healthier position to ensure that the ASU can continue to fund and resource campaigns into the future. I am an always proud and sometimes loud ASU member, and I wish the ASU well for at least the next 100 years.

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