Welcome to 2018, the Year of the Delegate!
Delegates are the Union's frontline and critical to our work.
Delegates have a special place in our Union, they have specialised knowledge of your rights at work and, most importantly, they have an intimate understanding of the issues facing your Department, and often your team. Delegates know the relationships, the complications and the concerns and that knowledge is invaluable for members who are trying to navigate working in the public sector.
Delegates are there to help, to motivate and to facilitate positive change in the workplace. You can use their knowledge, talk to them about issues and engage them for support. CPSU/CSA delegates also lead public campaigns about permanency, job security and keeping the public sector in public hands.
If you think that sounds like something you might be interested in and have ever thought about stepping up to be a Delegate… this is the year to do it!
I can say from personal experience, it’s a very rewarding and worthwhile role. And this year we’ll need Delegates more than ever…
In 2017, the McGowan government announced more cuts to the public sector. The first Labor budget cut 3000 jobs with its Voluntary Targeted Separation Scheme and as many predicted, achieving this is a massive struggle – after ten years of successive rounds of jobs cuts there is nothing left to give.
I have openly expressed the outrage I feel about these cuts. We understand WA has budget issues, but we also know how important the work is that public sector workers do.
Bigger thinking is needed; new revenue streams, stopping waste on privatisation and getting a fair share of GST will all contribute to budget repair. Cutting more jobs, putting more WA families at risk and cancelling critical services, won’t repair the state’s finances; in the longer term it will make matters worse.