Union News

Fatality in Melbourne's western suburbs

It is with great sadness that we report that another Victorian worker was killed on last Friday afternoon after being struck by a metal pole in Altona North. According to police and WorkSafe, the 56 year old transport worker was crushed while unloading steel light tower segments from a semi-trailer shortly before 4.30pm. Worksafe Victoria is investigating. 
Read more: WorkSafe media release

The VTHC sends its sincerest condolences to the family, friends and work colleagues of the worker. According to our tally, this worker's death brings the number of Victorians killed in workplace incidents this year to 27. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update  

As of this morning, there had been 7267 cases of coronavirus disease diagnosed in Australia. 102 people have died - this means that there have been no deaths in over a week, with only two new infections picked up across the country overnight.   

The pandemic is far from reaching its peak around the world however, with the number of people infected now at 7,318,12,4  - last week it was just over 6.45 million, so that's almost a million more new infections. The latest controversy is Brazil, where the government sought to stop publishing data on its COVID-19 status, amid accusations it was trying to suppress the scale of the crisis. A Brazilian supreme court judge earlier this week ordered Jair Bolsonaro’s administration to resume publishing complete COVID-19 statistics. On Saturday the government purged the health ministry website of historical data relating to the pandemic and announced it would stop publishing the cumulative death toll or number of infections. 
Read more: The Guardian. For more information on Coronavirus and COVID-19, go to this page on our site. 

The commute to work: masks or no masks?

UK unions have finally had a win regarding masks on public transport (see below).

In Victoria, the Rail Bus and Tram Union (RTBU) has voiced concern about the lack of clear policy and substantive measures to address social distancing on public transport. Luba Grigorovitch, the union’s Victorian Branch Secretary said, “With passenger numbers rapidly increasing, advice from medical experts is that more needs to be done to protect the public moving through congested spaces.” After consideration of the available information, she said the RTBU supports calls for clear benchmarks for cleaning and social distancing, as well as measures such as the wearing of masks to be mandatory for commuters using public transport."

Ms Grigorovitch said, “In lieu of leadership from the Government, commuters and staff are right to be concerned for their safety. We have written to the Minister for Public Transport regarding numerous key concerns but are yet to receive a response. With RTBU members working on the front line of service delivery, ensuring that essential travel is possible, the increased risks due to unmanaged passenger numbers and additional mitigation strategies begs an urgent response from the Department or Minister.”

According to the union, the government has a responsibility to ensure that all citizens feel safe around public transport. Clear measures like those implemented in NSW are required if Victorians are to be able to continue moving safely. The RTBU is calling on the government, department of transport and major operators to engage in immediate consultation to ensure the safety and reliability of public transport into the coming weeks.

While the Department of Health is said to be ‘meeting daily’ with public transport agencies, developing plans to ‘safely’ move millions of commuters, Dr Annaliese van Diemen, Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, has said that the current medical advice from ‘the nation’s top infection control experts’ was that masks were not needed by public transport users, but that the final position was not yet finalised.  The ABC’s health journalist and physician, Dr Norman Swan, however is of the view that all public transport users should wear masks.  
Read more: OHS Matters in the latest edition of the Workers Solidarity Bulletin  

QLD: Casuals testing positive for COVID-19 to get paid sick leave

Casual workers who do not have access to sick leave will be given a $1,500 lump sum payment from the Queensland Government if they test positive for coronavirus. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there are many casually employed Queenslanders whose jobs are vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In announcing the 'Hardship Payment' the Premier said, “If a casually employed Queenslander who is not eligible for the Federal Government’s JobKeeper payment contracts COVID-19, they will have no access to an income during their time away from work. This will also be available to any employee who has exhausted their sick leave or pandemic leave entitlements and tests positive to COVID-19."

While this may seem to be an 'industrial' issue, it is also a clear occupational health and safety issue, as recognized by Ms Palaszczuk: “This initiative is all about keeping Queenslanders safe and healthy – ensuring workers are supported to stay home when required and keep their customers and work colleagues safe and healthy." The Premier said the cash injection would ease pressure on Queenslanders who felt they needed to attend work while sick or while in quarantine. "Hopefully it won't have to be used," Ms Palaszczuk said. "But the last thing we want is someone who tests positive feeling they have to go to work because they have no income to support themselves.”
Read more: ABC online

Ask Renata  

Hi Renata 

I work for a large company and the DWG I represent has about 60 members. Years ago my DWG only had one HSR and found that it wasn't enough given the size and the work we do. It was then decided that we should have two HSRs to properly represent the work group. Management is now suggesting that we should only have one HSR and one deputy. They are comparing my DWG with others at my workplace as examples because they all only have one HSR. However these DWGs are all smaller than mine.

I have had a look around and can't find anything that says you can or can't have more than one HSR per DWG. Would you have any advice on this as I would like to be better prepared for when this gets brought up officially, which I fully expect. 

SA: Company fined $56k for unsafe asbestos 

A skip bin and demolition company has been fined more than $56,000 for the illegal processing of building waste, including asbestos. Destiny Contracting Pty Ltd and DeJay Contracting Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in the Environment, Resources and Development Court to jointly undertaking a “prescribed activity of environmental significance” without a licence in September and November 2017. The $56,361 fine is a record for that offence, according to the Environment Protection Authority.

The EPA’s investigations manager Stephen Barry said the site was used to sort commercial quantities of building waste, including storing asbestos, without regulation or authorisation. While investigators were inspecting a shed, they found several bags, some unsealed, of varying amounts of asbestos-containing materials. Mr Barry said though the operators had since improved operations to meet regulation requirements, and had been granted a licence for the site, the previous risks to the local community were unacceptable. Source: Adelaide Advertiser

More information on Asbestos: In the workplace and In the Home. 

International Union news

UK: Transport workers win on mandatory masks on public transport

After weeks of demanding that the government go beyond 'recommending' that public transport users wear masks, and make it mandatory, the UK's transport workers' unions have had a win - though it's a case of 'better late than never'. The UK government has announced that face coverings on public transport will be compulsory from 15 June in England to help stop the transmission of coronavirus as more people go back to work.  The government will require people to wear face coverings on buses, trains, tubes and other modes of public transport from that date, when non-essential shops will probably reopen. However, it will not apply to people entering shops, despite the current guidance saying face coverings should be worn in enclosed public places.

Unite, which represents over 80,000 bus workers, welcomed last week's announcement. Unite first called for it to become compulsory for passengers to wear face coverings last month and has been actively lobbying the government on this matter. The union is also calling for the maximum capacity of buses to be reduced to protect drivers and passengers from becoming infected, a measure that has already been introduced in most of Yorkshire and London.
Read more: Unite media release, The Guardian 

Global: Health and safety ‘paramount’ for return to work

Ensuring health and safety in workplaces must be the highest priority as people return to work in many countries emerging from Covid-19 restrictions and closures, the global union confederation ITUC has said. “Re-opening workplaces is much more complicated than closing them, and it is crucial that occupational health and safety regulations, procedures and systems provide the basis for return to work, as well as in situations where work has continued,” said Sharan Burrow, ITUC general secretary. “Arrangements which are simply imposed on workers without consultation and union involvement pose a much higher risk, both to working people and to the public in general. All the evidence shows that workplaces, whether health and care facilities, transport systems, public venues and other places where workers come into contact with the public, or processing facilities, offices and other places where significant numbers of workers are together, are major vectors for the spread of the virus. Good occupational health and safety protects workers, members of their households and the public.”

Ms Burrow said it was critical to harness the skills and knowledge of trade unions, citing agreements reached by UK unions with major companies that allow union health and safety representatives to provide advice and guidance through their supply chains. She said the new Scottish union roving reps’ system was another positive example. The ITUC is also calling for COVID-19 to be classified as an occupational disease under national regulatory frameworks with an official occupational disease reporting and recording requirement, both for preventive reasons and for workers’ compensation. 
Read more: ITUC news release. Source: Risks 950

USA: Senators call for review of workplace COVID enforcement

A group of US senators has asked the inspector general of the Labor Department to review the actions of its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal health and safety regulator has been criticised for not doing enough to protect workers. Last month, the national union federation AFL-CIO filed a lawsuit attempting to compel the agency to enact a temporary emergency standard in order to protect frontline workers. According to the letter from Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Tim Kaine, Tammy Baldwin and Robert Casey and Tammy Duckworth and independent senator Bernie Sanders, OSHA citations have dropped 70 per cent since the national emergency was declared on 13 March; that the inspection rate has dropped, and that not a single citation related to the virus has occurred. While OSHA has revised its enforcement policies as of 26 May, saying it would increase inspections and enforce record-keeping requirements, the senators believe guidance would benefit from an audit. During the pandemic, OSHA has maintained the lowest number of inspectors since 1975, according to a recent report from the National Employment Law Project. Derek Martin, spokesperson for the watchdog Accountable.US, also said OSHA is doing too little. “The Department of Labor’s job is straightforward: keep workers safe,” he told Government Executive. “Instead of rising to the challenge, Secretary [Eugene] Scalia has thrown up his arms and done next to nothing. Federal workers and the American people deserve better.”
Read more: Government Executive. Source Risks 950