Our fellow members in Victoria have been abandoned. They need our help.

Our fellow members in Victoria have been abandoned. They need our help.

We can only imagine what the people of Victoria are going through at the moment. It is what we all feared – a second wave that is hitting much harder than the first.

What is shocking is that our fellow local government workers in Victoria are NOT eligible for JobKeeper. Many have been left devastated as the city goes into a six-week lockdown.

In NSW the USU was able to successfully negotiate a Splinter Award that provided our members with financial security at the height of the restrictions. Our counterparts in Victoria were not so fortunate. They need our help in urging the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to immediately extend JobKeeper to all Victorian local government workers.

Please send an email to Mr Frydenberg here: https://www.asuvictas.com.au/please-extend-jobkeeper-to-all-victorian-local-government-workers/  ***** If you require some suggested text for your email a message is included below.****

Being union does not stop at state borders. We are all members of our National union – the Australian Services Union – and we stand side by side with our Victorian comrades.

Please support our Victorian members today.

Here are the main issues at stake which you may wish to include in your email to Mr Frydenberg:

“I write to you as a concerned NSW local government worker, and a member of the United Services Union.

With the recent decision that metropolitan Melbourne will enter stage 4 restrictions and that regional Victoria will enter stage 3 restriction, I am deeply concerned about the future for my colleagues in Victoria who, as local government workers, are not included in the JobKeeper scheme.

Like local government workers across Australia, Victorian council workers have been at the forefront of providing essential support and securing the well-being of local communities during difficult times. These vital services include home and community care, libraries, parks and community maintenance, building and environmental health and school crossing supervisors, all of which foster strong communities and support our most vulnerable.

As this crisis has unfolded what has not changed is the commitment that local government workers have towards supporting their communities.

The support provided by local government is also critical in regional communities, where the council is the largest employer. Post-pandemic, Victorians will not be able to return to business as usual without the support of the services and benefits provided by local government.

This support cannot be provided post-pandemic if Victorian council workers are not supported now. What they need now is immediate action by the federal government to ensure that local government workers are not left behind.

I urge you to extend JobKeeper to include Victorian local government workers. To stop the spread of COVID-19, Victorian workers are urged to stay home, yet there is no support for local government workers in Victoria to do so.

All Australians benefit from the work of local government workers. If local government workers are stood down with no income support, tens of thousands of Victorians will be left unable to pay their bills or put food on the table, and communities will struggle to rebuild post-pandemic.

Mr Frydenberg, you can help support Victorians during this time. Please extend JobKeeper to all Victorian local government workers.”