16 hours ago
Unions call for halt to government contracts with multinational tech giants
A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon.
The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers.
"These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states.
Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services.
SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia.
"It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said.
"We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with."
Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities.
"We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said.
READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution'
The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining.
The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal.
Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first.
"The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock.
Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate.
"The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said.
READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia
Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with.
"It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'"
Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law".
"The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement.
"We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar."
Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing.
Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually.
A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon.
The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers.
"These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states.
Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services.
SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia.
"It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said.
"We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with."
Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities.
"We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said.
READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution'
The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining.
The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal.
Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first.
"The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock.
Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate.
"The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said.
READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia
Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with.
"It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'"
Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law".
"The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement.
"We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar."
Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing.
Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually.
A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon.
The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers.
"These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states.
Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services.
SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia.
"It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said.
"We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with."
Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities.
"We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said.
READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution'
The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining.
The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal.
Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first.
"The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock.
Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate.
"The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said.
READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia
Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with.
"It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'"
Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law".
"The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement.
"We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar."
Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing.
Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually.
A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon.
The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers.
"These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states.
Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services.
SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia.
"It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said.
"We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with."
Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities.
"We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said.
READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution'
The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining.
The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal.
Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first.
"The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock.
Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate.
"The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said.
READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia
Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with.
"It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'"
Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law".
"The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement.
"We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar."
Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing.
Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually.
