Transport Workers Union
John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (09:41): Last week I had the honour of joining my former colleagues from the Transport Workers Union at the South Melbourne Aldi to demand Aldi Australia stop the race to the bottom. The reality is supermarkets like Coles and Woolies have been good-faith partners with the TWU, but so far Aldi has refused to sign a charter with the TWU. They have even unsuccessfully tried to take drivers to court and have failed twice. When big multinational companies squeeze transport contracts, corners are cut. That means workers are put in danger. Transport operators and drivers are struggling while wealthy companies are reaping record profits. The pressures drivers face every day are building, and companies like Aldi need to step up and take ownership of their behaviour. Aldi Australia made a massive $900 million in taxable income in the 2020–21 fiscal year. That is from $10 billion in revenue, and the majority of that goes offshore with no benefit to the hardworking taxpayers of Victoria. Aldi needs to come to the table.
The TWU also took their fight for workers to the Victorian state Labor conference, and over the weekend I was proud to be a member of the delegation to the state conference fighting for transport workers. I commend the branch assistant secretary Mem Suleyman for successfully sponsoring a motion calling for a level playing field. I look forward to working with them and to getting safe rates for safe roads.