Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
30 April 2021
India: Bangalore sanitation workers protest for personal protective equipment
Sanitation workers in Bangalore, the Karnataka state capital, protested on Tuesday to demand personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, whilst at work. The sanitation workers, popularly known as pourakarmikas, are frontline employees, daily exposed to possible infection from COVID-19 and its variants.
Workers said they were forced to handle dangerous and hazardous medical waste with their bare hands and that many households did not separate their waste. The highly exploited, mainly female employees complained that they do not have access to toilets, sanitisers or canteens during working hours.
City of Newcastle
A dedicated program aimed at supporting veterans to pursue a career in local government has been launched by the City of Newcastle.
The City of Newcastle Veterans Employment Program, developed in collaboration with the NSW Office for Veterans Affairs and United Services Union, provides dedicated advice and guidance to both veterans and employing managers about matching skill sets, supporting veterans throughout the entire recruitment process, as well as providing tailored feedback to ex-service personnel.
Lillian Tiddy Executive Manager, Member Services at LGNSW, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Craig Delaney from the Office for Veterans Affairs and Stephen Hughes, Northern Region Manager, United Services Union.
Unions NSW, the National Tertiary Education Union, the Electrical Trade Union, Public Service Association, the NSW Nurses, the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union, theFlight Attendants Association of Australia, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, the Hair Stylists Australia and the United Services Union attended. The Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends and Asian Women at Work were also present.
Speakers included Beverly Baker from the Older Women’s Network, Trish Doyle from the Australian Labor Party, Greens MP Jenny Leong and world-record holding marathon swimmer and domestic violence survivor Chloe McCardel.
Leong talked about the need for sexual consent education following a petition launched by 22-year-old Chanel Contos who shared her story of sexual violence at school. It has encouraged thousands of others to share their stories on Teach Us Consent. The petition has received more than 30,000 signatures and more than 2800 testimonies.