Latest news with #CommunityandPublicSectorUnion
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The newly elected militants leading the public sector union
Militant unionists elected by a disengaged workforce now face twin battles to activate Victoria's public servants while taking on a government preparing to slash jobs. For the first time in 32 years Victoria's Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has a new leadership, with newly elected state secretary Jiselle Hanna and her ticket swept to power by the base it has vowed to grow. The rare successful challenge that replaces Karen Batt, whose tenure stretched back to the start of the Kennett years, with a more hardline leadership will be a fresh pain for the Allan government heading into an election year. Labor is poised to announce widespread job cuts and a reshaping of public entities as part of the Silver review to ease pressure on the state's finances. But Hanna and the new leadership from A Voice for Members are not about to organise a strike. She accepts that low membership rates will limit the CPSU's ability to fight. Only 15,000 public sector workers signed up to the union, between 15 and 25 per cent of all the possible workers the CPSU could cover, which is a point of contention. The grouping set a target to increase membership to 20,000, including by cutting fees, by the next union elections in 2028. 'But it's not density alone. You can have high density, but a de-politicised, demotivated, disengaged membership,' Hanna told The Age on Friday as she prepared to finish her job at Corrections Victoria. Some workplaces within the public services could have high density. 'There is a lot of rebuilding of this union required,' the 45-year-old said. 'One of the smears that was run against us was that we're going to organise strikes tomorrow. We're not idiots.' The ticket's campaign statement said members should lead union decisions but promised to 'stand ready to take strong industrial action, including strikes, to secure meaningful wins for members'.
The Age
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
The newly elected militants leading the public sector union
Militant unionists elected by a disengaged workforce now face twin battles to activate Victoria's public servants while taking on a government preparing to slash jobs. For the first time in 32 years Victoria's Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has a new leadership, with newly elected state secretary Jiselle Hanna and her ticket swept to power by the base it has vowed to grow. The rare successful challenge that replaces Karen Batt, whose tenure stretched back to the start of the Kennett years, with a more hardline leadership will be a fresh pain for the Allan government heading into an election year. Labor is poised to announce widespread job cuts and a reshaping of public entities as part of the Silver review to ease pressure on the state's finances. But Hanna and the new leadership from A Voice for Members are not about to organise a strike. She accepts that low membership rates will limit the CPSU's ability to fight. Only 15,000 public sector workers signed up to the union, between 15 and 25 per cent of all the possible workers the CPSU could cover, which is a point of contention. The grouping set a target to increase membership to 20,000, including by cutting fees, by the next union elections in 2028. 'But it's not density alone. You can have high density, but a de-politicised, demotivated, disengaged membership,' Hanna told The Age on Friday as she prepared to finish her job at Corrections Victoria. Some workplaces within the public services could have high density. 'There is a lot of rebuilding of this union required,' the 45-year-old said. 'One of the smears that was run against us was that we're going to organise strikes tomorrow. We're not idiots.' The ticket's campaign statement said members should lead union decisions but promised to 'stand ready to take strong industrial action, including strikes, to secure meaningful wins for members'.
The Age
06-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
An ice axe and a ‘gangland identity' spice up public-sector union fight
An anonymous email landed in Victorian prison officers' personal inboxes last month with a cryptic Gmail username: iceaxeforleon. Only those with a keen interest in 20th century Russian history might have grasped the reference. Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died when the assassin Ramon Mercader plunged an ice axe into his head. Just like Mercader's pickaxe, the email was pointed. Its target was Jiselle Hanna, a Corrections Victoria project officer and socialist activist who has nominated to be secretary of the Victorian branch of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which has 15,000 members spanning the breadth of the state's public service. The email, headlined 'A troubling campaign for union leadership' and addressed 'Dear member', raised 'serious concerns' about Hanna's campaign. It had received 'hostile endorsements', both from the Victorian Socialists' former Senate candidate Jordan Van Den Lamb, who had 'described law enforcement officers as militarised pigs', and to 'known underworld identity' Mick Gatto, claiming her campaign had accepted a $1000 donation from him. Loading 'Members deserve to know what kind of deal was struck in exchange for his financial support,' the letter said. Hanna was seeking to portray herself as the head of a grassroots movement, but was in truth part of a calculated hard-left political campaign to infiltrate the public sector union, the email claimed. Though the email was anonymous, its author left digital tracks. Supporters of Hanna used two-factor authentication to trace the Gmail account back to the staff email account of an employee of the Victorian branch of the CPSU.
Sydney Morning Herald
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
An ice axe and a ‘gangland identity' spice up public-sector union fight
An anonymous email landed in Victorian prison officers' personal inboxes last month with a cryptic Gmail username: iceaxeforleon. Only those with a keen interest in 20th century Russian history might have grasped the reference. Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died when the assassin Ramon Mercader plunged an ice axe into his head. Just like Mercader's pickaxe, the email was pointed. Its target was Jiselle Hanna, a Corrections Victoria project officer and socialist activist who has nominated to be secretary of the Victorian branch of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which has 15,000 members spanning the breadth of the state's public service. The email, headlined 'A troubling campaign for union leadership' and addressed 'Dear member', raised 'serious concerns' about Hanna's campaign. It had received 'hostile endorsements', both from the Victorian Socialists' former Senate candidate Jordan Van Den Lamb, who had 'described law enforcement officers as militarised pigs', and to 'known underworld identity' Mick Gatto, claiming her campaign had accepted a $1000 donation from him. Loading 'Members deserve to know what kind of deal was struck in exchange for his financial support,' the letter said. Hanna was seeking to portray herself as the head of a grassroots movement, but was in truth part of a calculated hard-left political campaign to infiltrate the public sector union, the email claimed. Though the email was anonymous, its author left digital tracks. Supporters of Hanna used two-factor authentication to trace the Gmail account back to the staff email account of an employee of the Victorian branch of the CPSU.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Museum boss ‘disappointed' at media leaks as union questions Titanic hires
The union representing Museums Victoria workers has demanded answers about hiring processes as the institution's chief executive expressed disappointment at leaks to The Age about links between new hires and senior personnel. The Age on Monday revealed that Museums Victoria had revised its hiring policies after anti-corruption agencies investigated whistleblower allegations it skirted public sector rules when it appointed staff who had personal connections with senior executives as part of a hiring surge during the Titanic exhibition. In response, the Community and Public Sector Union wrote to Museums Victoria on Monday, demanding it explain its hiring processes, and whether staff were disadvantaged by it. The union, which is negotiating a new pay deal, also demanded to see 'the criteria or processes used to identify, assess and appoint candidates' during the Titanic exhibition held at Melbourne Museum, and asked whether any of the positions filled at this time 'were later extended or converted to ongoing roles'. The appointments were part of a recruitment drive during the blockbuster Titanic exhibition, which ran from December 2023 to April 2024 and was the museum's most popular touring show since 2016. Loading The success of the exhibition prompted senior management to extend exhibition hours and argue that existing staff were too stretched – necessitating the urgent hiring of extra visitor engagement officers and retail assistants. The roles were not publicly advertised, and no formal interviews were conducted. One former employee said retail and visitor officer jobs at the museum were highly sought after and often attracted hundreds of applications. The hiring round recruited nine people in all – eight of whom had personal connections to senior staff, including some with links to the family of chief operating officer Sean Royal, who already had two daughters working at the museum.
