The United Services Union is seeking expressions of interest from our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members in seeking to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee.

Following the creation of the USU, with the merger of the MEU and the FCU back in 2003, the Union reviewed its Branch Structures, Committees and Vocational Groups and established a new Women’s Committee as well as a Youth Committee known as the New Gen Committee.

We did this in a pro-active manner to encourage increased participation by women and young people within the Union, as our Branch Structures in most cases only had one or two female participants and, in many cases, had no one under 30 to 35 years of age participating.

This decision has led to increased female representation on our Branches, with many who were initially elected onto their Branch as a Women’s Representative moving into general non-gender based Branch Delegate’s roles with some even filling roles on their Branch Front Bench through their increased participation and activism. Note: Positions on the Branches Front Bench are not selected on either gender or age.

Numerous Vocational Groups have also been established such as Administration and Clerical, Early Educators, Community Services, Customer Service, Emergency Services, Finance/Health, Libraries, Pools and Lifeguards, Not for Profit, Parks and Reserves, Rangers/Compliance Officers, Road Construction/Maintenance, USU Professionals, Waste, Water/Sewer, Wholesale Distribution, Warehousing, Road Transport and Retail as well as a Retired Members Club.

The Union currently has one member who represents the USU at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples forums, but we would now like to create an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee to increase members’ participation just as we have with the creation in the past of the Women’s and Youth Committees.

We had intended to do this just prior to the time that Covid hit but the pandemic delayed our plans.

ARE YOU INTERESTED?
If you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander member of the USU and are interested in participating, please contact the USU Manager North Stephen Hughes on 4962 1444 or e mail shughes@usu.org.au