Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In August last year I stood in this place to raise the stop-work meeting that was occurring for Dorevitch workers supported by the HWU in Victoria. Last week we heard that they have had a serious win. The Fair Work Commission draft determination has now said that those workers will get a pay rise of up to 20 per cent. These workers have not had a change in their EBA for a decade. When they sat down in August last year, the managing director of the company told them that they could get a zero per cent increase. It is a big win for the HWU and for those workers who have been working for 10 years on $21 an hour. They're also going to have an increase of up to 30 per cent in allowances and—the best news—will be back-paid to July 2017. Those on this side of the chamber will remember Dorevitch Pathology as the company that, after 500 members did a 24-hour protected stop-work meeting, locked out 89 union members. This is a huge win for the HWU. I congratulate all of those involved in fighting for these workers' rights and am proud to say that we on this side of the chamber understand collectivism and we understand equity.