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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-07 Daily Xml
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SA Unions

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. R.B. Martin:

That this council—

1. Recognises that 2024 marks the 140th anniversary of SA Unions, formerly the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia;

2. Acknowledges the significant impact that unions have had on shaping our economy, our society and the life of our state; and

3. Commends SA Unions on all that it has achieved on behalf of working South Australians over its 140 years of dedicated service to the people of our state.

(Continued from 21 February 2024.)

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:33): I rise briefly as one of, I believe, two Greens speakers to support this motion. I thank the Hon. Reggie Martin for drawing the attention of this council and this parliament to the fact that 2024 marks the 140th anniversary of SA Unions, formerly known as the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia. I also acknowledge the significant impact that unions have had on shaping our economy, our society and the life of our state. I commend SA Unions and all that they have achieved on behalf of working South Australians over their 140 years of dedicated service.

As a member of this place and of the Greens, it would come as little surprise, I believe, to our membership that we would support such a motion. Indeed, the Greens were formed in part in Australia out of the green bans of the 1970s. I know that many of our members respect the work of the green bans, and when Jack Mundey passed on I believe he was an active Greens member by that stage. The work done there to preserve our heritage, to preserve our green space and to defend and protect workers' rights is inherent in the Greens' holistic and intersectional approach when it comes to ensuring not just democracy in our workplaces but equal rights and advancement of working people.

I want to touch on an event that I attended recently which to me proves just how relevant unions are right to this day, 140 years on. That was just two weeks ago, the United Workers Union event Bread and Roses that was held at the Semaphore Workers Club. It was an event held to support and fundraise for 12 incredibly brave women who are taking on Perfection Fresh through the Federal Court of Australia on a case of sexual harassment.

That event celebrated the Vanuatu workers, 12 women particularly, who have experienced horrific treatment, horrific sexual harassment in that workplace, who were there picking the fruit that goes to our tables to feed our families and who deserve better at work than they have received so far. It was called Bread and Roses, which is a reprise well-known to those of the union movement. Also, Bread and Roses brought to my mind the wonderful work particularly of Michelle Hogan. I want to reflect that it will be a year tomorrow since we lost Michelle Hogan.

I know the union movement and the women's movement are intent on establishing and continuing her legacy, so I look forward to those programs, but I want to also reflect not just on the fine work that Michelle Hogan did but that she was part of an Art and Working Life resurgence back in the eighties and nineties and to remind the Malinauskas government just what great value that Art and Working Life federal project was for working people so as to, in this month of Mad March when we enjoy our festivals and fringes, ensure that the arts is not only enjoyed by working people but reflects the lives, the struggles and the ambitions of working people. So I urge the Malinauskas government to take a look and work with their federal colleagues to bring back the Art and Working Life program for a new generation.

That new generation, certainly down at Semaphore Workers Club two weeks ago, enjoyed a night of song, dance, performance, struggle and solidarity, and it was incredibly inspiring. I am sure it will take those particularly brave women and lift their spirits through the struggle they have ahead of them in the Federal Court as well as raise a bit of money so that they can seek the justice they deserve. With that, I commend the motion.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:38): I rise to speak in support of this motion. I think it reflects the support the Greens have for the union movement and the principles of unionism that both of our members of parliament want to speak on this, because we recognise just how vital it has been to the progress of our state. I want to commend the Hon. Reggie Martin for putting this on the council's agenda.

As he has stated, this motion recognises the 140th anniversary of SA Unions, formerly the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia. Workers' rights have been fought for as early as 1791 in Australia, when early convicts took strike action to demand that their rations be distributed on a weekly basis. In the 1830s, workers started to form their own societies and associations. South Australian industrial action was being taken as early as 1836, when people were threatening to strike for extra wages, and South Australia became the first territory of the British Empire outside of Britain to legalise trade unions.

On 31 January 1884, at the Bristol Tavern, a group of trade and labour societies met to come together and form the United Trades and Labor Council, the peak body for trade unions. It represents more than 160,000 members of unions, and SA Unions coordinates political, social, economic and industrial campaigns between its affiliate members.

As my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks has recognised, the Greens have a long association with the union movement. Indeed, the formation of the Greens as a political party came off the back of the green ban movement, which was led by the Builders Labourers Federation. It was from the green ban, where workers boycotted the destruction of key heritage projects and environmental projects, that the Greens political party takes its name, so the union movement is important to us.

I might remark a little bit on my own personal journey with unionism. I have always been a member of a union during my working life. I became very actively involved with the student union movement during my time at university, and I recognise the good work of the student movement in terms of driving social and political change. More recently, I was proud to be a member of the NTEU during my time working in the university sector and, of course, the ASU during my time in the community sector as well.

I really take my hat off to the union movement for the great work they do and have continued to do over many years. Fundamental to their work, in terms of advocating for the rights of individual workers who are in trouble, is also advocating for the social changes and progress that benefit us all as part of the collective.

Indeed, I recognise the important role they played in the campaign for yes here in South Australia recently in the referendum and also the leadership of the union movement—many in that movement—in advocating for marriage equality and being out there on the streets campaigning for that and also campaigning against apartheid. They take up a range of really important social issues, recognising that in order for us to progress as a society we need to work together collectively. It is through that collective process that the rights of workers have been won and, indeed, the rights of all groups that are often excluded from political power. It is through working together that we are able to advance the change that we need.

I join with my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks in congratulating the union movement on this significant achievement. It was a real pleasure to get along to the event at The Franklin Hotel recently, hosted by Dale Beasley of SA Unions. It was a great event and a really good way to celebrate this milestone. I look forward to seeing the union movement in our state continue to grow and celebrate further milestones in the years ahead.

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (16:43): I would like to start by thanking the Hon. Tammy Franks and the Hon. Robert Simms for their contributions today and, more than that, their long-term contribution to the workers of South Australia, the policies which go towards making their lives that little bit easier, and the trade union movement. I very much hope that it is not a surprise to you both that I personally know that the trade union movement holds you both in very high regard and esteem, so thank you for everything that you have done.

One hundred and forty years is a significant anniversary for the trade union movement in South Australia. Looking back at its history, there have been so many achievements. I did mention some of them in my opening speech, but I think a lot of people who are starting their first-ever job today would probably take for granted some of the things that were hard fought for by the union movement, such as the four weeks of annual leave that we all enjoy today. It only started as one week of annual leave and it took a long fight to get it to two weeks of annual leave, and we are very fortunate now to have four weeks of annual leave here, something that is not enjoyed by many other countries in the world.

Then there are penalty rates. If you are working unsocial hours, then you deserve your penalty rates to be compensated for those unsocial hours that you are working. There is also maternity leave. It took us a long time to get there and even longer to get paid maternity leave but they are some pretty significant achievements of the union movement that many now take for granted.

Superannuation is another enormous change to Australian society and one of the best systems in the world for ensuring people do not live in poverty in their retirement. With International Women's Day tomorrow, there is the fight for equal pay for women. In World War II, men went off to war, women took over the jobs that men did and they started getting paid the same rates as the men did. Then the men came back and there was an opportunity to leave that parity in place but, of course, society did not do that, and women's pays dropped back down again. It has taken us a long, long time to start closing that gap and we are still not there yet, as we have seen in some of the reports in recent weeks.

The other ones I will leave with are sick leave and long service leave, two other really important changes introduced by the trade union movement in its long and proud history. It is a very important role that the trade unions have played in weaving this fabric that we all enjoy in the South Australian community today. I commend the motion to the chamber.

Motion carried.

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