Change the Rules and We Won’t Wait Campaigns
The ACTU’s Campaign to Change the Rules for working people was the theme for the May Day marches around the country this year. SA had a modest but enthusiastic group of representatives from our Unions. The IEU was amongst them with flags flying boldly. Unfortunately we could not match the numbers who rallied in Melbourne’s CBD which was estimated to be around 100,000 but we still marched in solidarity from Victoria Square to Light square where there were more speeches, food and entertainment.
The Change the Rules campaign is aimed at giving working people more control over their working lives with secure work and better pay. This can be achieved by increases to the minimum wage and unemployment benefits for those seeking work, employers negotiating Enterprise Agreements with employees when requested and working people having a guarantee to be able to negotiate flexible arrangements to accommodate family commitments. It also calls for equal remuneration and up to ten days paid family violence leave.
So far, this year the We Won’t Wait campaign claims a small but positive benefit for working women, when the Government announced that they would legislate for five days unpaid domestic violence leave. This is still not good enough but is a step in the right direction. If the plight of largely women and children experiencing domestic violence is taken seriously, it should be 10 days paid leave as the minimum.
The ACTU is coordinating a ‘high-vis action’ and delegation to Canberra to lobby the Federal Government and Cross Benchers on the need for paid family and domestic violence leave. The high visibility action will bring some “wiggley” fun to the campaign with some flash mob style dancing. The focus of the lobbying will be ensuring that federal parliamentarians understand exactly what it takes to leave a violent situation and why paid leave is essential.
This is happening in Canberra on 20 – 21 June. If you happen to be going to Canberra at or around that time you could join the delegation from the IEU branches in ACT and other states.
If you want to know more call you can contact us via email or call us on 8410 0122 and we will give you the details.
