Latest news with #MichaelKaine
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Australian unions present demands amidst recent strike activity
A trade union leader has vowed to inflict the most disruptive strikes in history on Australia, collapsing freight and passenger transport networks and choking supermarket food supplies. In an explosive speech, Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine threatened the widespread pain as 200 enterprise agreements between Australian workers and companies expire next year. The agreements affect airlines Qantas and Virgin Australia, logistics companies Linfox and Toll, Amazon, supermarket chain Aldi, construction materials company Boral, waste disposal chain Cleanaway and airport ground handling firm Swissport. 'Make no mistake – this will be the largest co-ordinated industrial campaign in Australian transport history,' Mr Kaine (pictured) told the TWU's national conference in Brisbane on Wednesday. 'This alignment of agreements isn't accidental. It's been carefully orchestrated to maximise our collective bargaining power.' Mr Kaine vowed the TWU, a trade union affiliated with Anthony Albanese 's Labor Party, was prepared to shut down Australia's transport logistics networks unless employers met union demands. 'We are prepared to shut down Australian transport,' he said. 'There will be disruption. It will be significant. It will be coordinated. And it will be effective.' Mr Kaine also boasted the Labor Party would be in power for at least another six years, given the size of its landslide majority. 'We're now looking at the potential of six more years of Labor government, six more years of progress for working people,' he said. 'We are in the best position we have ever been in to create change.' He argued the co-ordinated strikes - legally allowed during enterprise negotiations - would be designed to address workplace safety. 'This disruption isn't our goal - it's a means to an end,' Mr Kaine said. 'We must have an industry where workers stop dying, where they receive fair pay, in short, where standards aren't constantly undermined by ruthless, profiteering cost-cutting. From airports to highways, from distribution centres to city streets – whatever it takes to stop this client pressure killing workers, community members and good businesses.' The Opposition's employment and workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Labor's multi-employer bargaining laws had encouraged unions to be more militant. 'This type of widespread and co-ordinated industrial action is exactly what I warned about at the time the multi-employer bargaining laws went through the previous Parliament,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'The unions have been emboldened by an Albanese Government hellbent on handing them the sort power they desire and now they are threatening to "shut down Australian transport". 'This is a test for the new Workplace Relations Minister, Amanda Rishworth. She needs to ensure that these strikes do not go ahead. The Albanese Government needs to bring this militant union under control.' Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said workers had a right to take protected industrial action. 'While we support the rights of workers to take protected action, the general rate of industrial disputes remains low compared to historical trends,' she told Daily Mail Australia Workers are allowed to strike during enterprise bargaining negotiations thanks to the Fair Work Act of 2009, introduced by a Labor government. The TWU's vow to shut down Australia's transport network is an extreme position compared with past blockades. In 1979, it declined to join 3,000 owner truck drivers in blockading highways in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia in protest at state government road taxes. The TWU counts Labor MPs and senators among its members including Tony Sheldon and new Ageing and Seniors Minister Sam Rae. Since coming to power in 2022, the Albanese Government has also revived multi-employer bargaining where pay rises in a workplace can be replicated across an industry. 'When workers across the transport industry negotiate together, when they stand together, they can achieve outcomes that would be impossible in isolation,' Mr Kaine said.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Australia on the brink of a total shutdown: Biggest strike in history set to cripple the nation as union boss drops bombshell demands in explosive speech
A trade union leader has vowed to inflict the most disruptive strikes in Australia's history that would collapse freight and passenger transport networks and choke supermarket food supplies. In an explosive speech, Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine has vowed to inflict widespread pain when 200 enterprise agreements between Australian workers and companies expire next year. The agreements affect airlines Qantas and Virgin Australia, logistics companies Linfox and Toll, Amazon, supermarket chain Aldi, construction materials company Boral, waste disposal chain Cleanaway and airport ground handling firm Swissport. 'Make no mistake – this will be the largest co-ordinated industrial campaign in Australian transport history,' Mr Kaine told the TWU's national conference in Brisbane on Wednesday. 'This alignment of agreements isn't accidental. It's been carefully orchestrated to maximise our collective bargaining power.' Mr Kaine vowed the TWU, a trade union affiliated with Anthony Albanese 's Labor Party, was prepared to shut down Australia's transport logistics networks. 'We are prepared to shut down Australian transport,' he said. 'There will be disruption. It will be significant. It will be coordinated. And it will be effective.' Mr Kaine also boasted the Labor Party would be in power for at least another six years, given the size of its landslide majority. 'We're now looking at the potential of six more years of Labor government, six more years of progress for working people,' he said. 'We are in the best position we have ever been in to create change.' He argued the co-ordinated strikes - legally allowed during enterprise negotiations - would be designed to address workplace safety. 'This disruption isn't our goal - it's a means to an end,' Mr Kaine said. 'We must have an industry where workers stop dying, where they receive fair pay, in short, where standards aren't constantly undermined by ruthless, profiteering cost-cutting. 'From airports to highways, from distribution centres to city streets – whatever it takes to stop this client pressure killing workers, community members and good businesses.' Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said workers had a right to take protected industrial action. 'While we support the rights of workers to take protected action, the general rate of industrial disputes remains low compared to historical trends,' she told Daily Mail Australia The union boss has vowed to inflict the biggest strike in Australia's history that would cause chaos across the country Workers are allowed to strike during enterprise bargaining negotiations thanks to the Fair Work Act of 2009, introduced by a Labor government. The TWU's vow to shut down Australia's transport network is an extreme position compared with past blockades. In 1979, it declined to join 3,000 owner truck drivers in blockading highways in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia in protest at state government road taxes. The TWU counts Labor MPs and senators among its members including Tony Sheldon and new Ageing and Seniors Minister Sam Rae. Since coming to power in 2022, the Albanese Government has also revived multi-employer bargaining where pay rises in a workplace can be replicated across an industry. 'When workers across the transport industry negotiate together, when they stand together, they can achieve outcomes that would be impossible in isolation,' Mr Kaine said. Mr Kaine told union members in Brisbane unions had waited years to be able to flex its industrial muscle. 'That system, that legal right to take protected industrial action, has afforded workers in Australia so many of the protections we now take for granted,' he said. 'Our alignment preparation to legally deploy our system to awesome positive effect has taken years. 'Now the time has arrived to significantly shift that dial yet again.'
West Australian
21-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
‘Crisis conditions': Workers march on Brisbane Airport over raft of airline safety concerns
Union-affiliated workers have marched at Brisbane Airport demanding 'decent standards' in aviation – calling on airlines, governments and regulators to put fair working conditions in place. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) on Wednesday said dozens of workers would protest outside Brisbane International Airport after raising issues about 'crisis conditions', sparked by what they claimed was 'over a decade' of cost-cutting and outsourcing by airlines. 'Poor pay and conditions are driving skilled workers out of the industry and impacting on safety for both workers and the travelling public,' the union said in a statement. Major issues have also been flagged with companies like Swissport – with the union claiming the Swiss aviation company is dragging the industry down with an 'appalling' safety record. In December last year, a Swissport worker at Brisbane Airport almost lost his leg in a machinery accident. TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said workers could not function in an industry where clients were 'ruthlessly cutting costs in their supply chain'. A union-led survey of 300 workers – 10 per cent of Swissport's workforce – claimed 39 per cent had been injured while on the job. Another 73 per cent claimed they had been 'pressured' to work unsafely while 60 per cent said they were left with outdated equipment. The survey found 1 in 2 participants said their safety concerns had not been resolved. 'It is an appalling indictment on the state of this industry that almost half of Swissport workers are injured on the job, three quarters are pressured to work unsafely just to get planes out on time, and their concerns are routinely ignored,' Mr Kaine claimed. 'This must end.' Mr Kaine said the crisis in aviation would not go away by itself unless there was 'significant action' at all levels. The union has demanded airports prioritise workers and customers over profits. They also want airlines to ensure workers have 'safe, secure, and fairly paid jobs' and governments establish a commission to keep the industry sustainable. 'Aviation members today are standing up for decent jobs, for decent standards in aviation and an industry that serves the community rather than CEOs and their pay packets,' Mr Kaine said. In a statement, a Brisbane Airport spokesman reiterated safety and care were at the core of the airport's culture. 'We take a strong and proactive stance on safety, not just as a regulatory requirement, but as a fundamental value that guides how we design, build, and manage our airport environment,' the spokesman said. 'This commitment extends beyond our own staff to include the hundreds of people employed by airlines and their contracted service providers who work across our precinct every day, and that includes Swissport. 'We believe that a safe airport is only possible through collaboration, transparency, and shared commitment to safety by all who operate here.' Swissport has been contacted for comment.
News.com.au
21-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Crisis conditions': Workers march on Brisbane Airport over raft of airline safety concerns
Union-affiliated workers have marched at Brisbane Airport demanding 'decent standards' in aviation – calling on airlines, governments and regulators to put fair working conditions in place. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) on Wednesday said dozens of workers would protest outside Brisbane International Airport after raising issues about 'crisis conditions', sparked by what they claimed was 'over a decade' of cost-cutting and outsourcing by airlines. 'Poor pay and conditions are driving skilled workers out of the industry and impacting on safety for both workers and the travelling public,' the union said in a statement. Major issues have also been flagged with companies like Swissport – with the union claiming the Swiss aviation company is dragging the industry down with an 'appalling' safety record. In December last year, a Swissport worker at Brisbane Airport almost lost his leg in a machinery accident. TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said workers could not function in an industry where clients were 'ruthlessly cutting costs in their supply chain'. A union-led survey of 300 workers – 10 per cent of Swissport's workforce – claimed 39 per cent had been injured while on the job. Another 73 per cent claimed they had been 'pressured' to work unsafely while 60 per cent said they were left with outdated equipment. The survey found 1 in 2 participants said their safety concerns had not been resolved. 'It is an appalling indictment on the state of this industry that almost half of Swissport workers are injured on the job, three quarters are pressured to work unsafely just to get planes out on time, and their concerns are routinely ignored,' Mr Kaine claimed. 'This must end.' Mr Kaine said the crisis in aviation would not go away by itself unless there was 'significant action' at all levels. The union has demanded airports prioritise workers and customers over profits. They also want airlines to ensure workers have 'safe, secure, and fairly paid jobs' and governments establish a commission to keep the industry sustainable. 'Aviation members today are standing up for decent jobs, for decent standards in aviation and an industry that serves the community rather than CEOs and their pay packets,' Mr Kaine said. In a statement, a Brisbane Airport spokesman reiterated safety and care were at the core of the airport's culture. 'We take a strong and proactive stance on safety, not just as a regulatory requirement, but as a fundamental value that guides how we design, build, and manage our airport environment,' the spokesman said. 'This commitment extends beyond our own staff to include the hundreds of people employed by airlines and their contracted service providers who work across our precinct every day, and that includes Swissport. 'We believe that a safe airport is only possible through collaboration, transparency, and shared commitment to safety by all who operate here.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Airport rocked over ‘crisis conditions' claim
Union-affiliated workers have marched at Brisbane Airport demanding 'decent standards' in aviation – calling on airlines, governments and regulators to put fair working conditions in place. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) on Wednesday said dozens of workers would protest outside Brisbane International Airport after raising issues about 'crisis conditions', sparked by what they claimed was 'over a decade' of cost-cutting and outsourcing by airlines. 'Poor pay and conditions are driving skilled workers out of the industry and impacting on safety for both workers and the travelling public,' the union said in a statement. Major issues have also been flagged with companies like Swissport – with the union claiming the Swiss aviation company is dragging the industry down with an 'appalling' safety record. In December last year, a Swissport worker at Brisbane Airport almost lost his leg in a machinery accident. TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said workers could not function in an industry where clients were 'ruthlessly cutting costs in their supply chain'. A union-led survey of 300 workers – 10 per cent of Swissport's workforce – claimed 39 per cent had been injured while on the job. Another 73 per cent claimed they had been 'pressured' to work unsafely while 60 per cent said they were left with outdated equipment. The survey found 1 in 2 participants said their safety concerns had not been resolved. 'It is an appalling indictment on the state of this industry that almost half of Swissport workers are injured on the job, three quarters are pressured to work unsafely just to get planes out on time, and their concerns are routinely ignored,' Mr Kaine claimed. 'This must end.' Mr Kaine said the crisis in aviation would not go away by itself unless there was 'significant action' at all levels. The union has demanded airports prioritise workers and customers over profits. They also want airlines to ensure workers have 'safe, secure, and fairly paid jobs' and governments establish a commission to keep the industry sustainable. 'Aviation members today are standing up for decent jobs, for decent standards in aviation and an industry that serves the community rather than CEOs and their pay packets,' Mr Kaine said. In a statement, a Brisbane Airport spokesman reiterated safety and care were at the core of the airport's culture. 'We take a strong and proactive stance on safety, not just as a regulatory requirement, but as a fundamental value that guides how we design, build, and manage our airport environment,' the spokesman said. 'This commitment extends beyond our own staff to include the hundreds of people employed by airlines and their contracted service providers who work across our precinct every day, and that includes Swissport. 'We believe that a safe airport is only possible through collaboration, transparency, and shared commitment to safety by all who operate here.' Swissport has been contacted for comment. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
