CPSU Federal Office

The superannuation guarantee is set to increase in July this year from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent for Australian workers however the federal government is exploring alternatives to alter or further delay the legislated increases.  The original timetable has already been delayed since July 2014 when former prime minister Tony Abbott promised at the time a freeze would produce stronger wages, but wage growth immediately slowed.  Increasing the super guarantee to 12 per cent was a Coalition and Labor election commitment in 2019 with the 9.5 per cent guarantee scheduled to rise to 12 per cent

The COVID-19 pandemic has brutally exposed the weaknesses in our current model of globalisation and neoliberal economics.  In countries across the world, people have been left asking: how could we have been so exposed and unprepared?  How is it possible that after years of booming stock markets and technological advances, many wealthy countries have struggled to keep their older members of society safe, their economies running, and their health services from collapsing?

The audited financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2020 include a review of principal activities during the last financial year.

Here’s how.  Public Services International has produced an eight-part briefing series on tax. These briefs help ensure unions and workers have all the facts and arguments they need to win a fairer tax system.

The Federal Government is drafting workplace reforms after COVID-19 has affected business and the economy and the ACTU is raising concerns that the Government focus will be to withdraw worker protections and listen to employer groups who want to cut pay and conditions.  Sally McManus has said there are “concerning signs” the government is poised to side with employer groups calling for industrial relations reforms that would cut take-home pay.  The ACTU is now urging the industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, not to jeopardise Australia’s recovery from the Covid-19 recession by ha

The Federal Government have delivered a budget which will leave workers behind and fails the jobs test by not saving existing jobs or creating secure new jobs nor ensuring the recovery is fairly shared. The budget projects high unemployment and stagnant wages for the foreseeable future despite 1 million Australians out of work now and another 1.5 million looking for more work. The Government has centred this budget around tax cuts which benefit wealthier Australians as well as tax handouts to corporations with cash to spare.

Striking new polling data from seven leading countries shows overwhelming public support for policymakers to crack down on companies using tax havens. The polling, conducted in the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and the UK, shows unmatched levels of support ranging from 87 per cent to 95 per cent. Participants were asked their views on measures to tie public funds used to bail out companies during the coronavirus pandemic to their record on paying tax, and ending the use of tax havens.

CPSU is happy to announce the winner of the CPSU (SPSF) National Child Protection Delegate Award 2020 is Sue Flatters from Rural After Hours in Victoria. The Child Protection Delegate Awards are held to recognise the contribution of Child Protection Delegates to their field and their union. Members are asked to nominate delegates who are working to make child protection better for their colleagues and the children they protect. Sue was nominated for her tireless work representing Rural After Hours and Division staff during a very stressful period over the past year.

Congratulations to the SASS Team at Shoalhaven High School NSW who are our winners of the CPSU (SPSF) School Support Staff Awards for 2020. CPSU's school support staff awards were created to recognise the contribution of our school support staff members to their school community. The award is for a school support team that best demonstrates the union values of fairness, equality, and opportunity in the community. The SASS team at Shoalhaven High School was nominated for their continued work supporting and providing stability for their school community.

It has been a year like no other.  Nobody could have predicted that in just a few months what we all thought was normal would be thrown on its head and we would see governments deliberately shutting down business, closing our borders and curtailing our movements.  As a state we can be proud of what we have achieved together in Tasmania during this pandemic. We had the outbreak in the North-West but that was jumped on very quickly and avoided the catastrophic situation we have witnessed elsewhere.