Today’s announcements that Catholic Schools in Wollongong, Macquarie University, Southern Cross University, Woolworths and Telstra will support their casual employees impacted by COVID-19 has been welcomed by the Australian Council of Trade unions.
These announcements come while some state governments are in discussions with their unions to support workers and expose the lack of national leadership the Morrison government has shown for the 3.3 million workers without guaranteed paid leave.
Yesterday the Australian Council of Trade Unions Executive called on the Morrison government to provide support for all workers by guaranteeing up to two weeks of paid special leave for workers impacted by COVID-19 through isolation or business downturn.
While more and more large businesses and organisations are stepping up to fill the gap left by the Morrison government, the question of what happens to small businesses and their casual employees remains up in the air.
As stated by Sally McManus
“With Catholic schools in Wollongong, Macquarie University, Woolworths, Telstra, and others clearly, publicly and proudly supporting their workers, including their casual workers, the pressure is on the Morrison Government to step up and provide support for the 3.3 million workers in Australia without access to paid leave.
“We know that many small businesses won’t be able to support their casual and contract workers if they have to isolate or there is a downturn in business. The Morrison government needs to support them and their workers with two weeks paid special leave.
“We are encouraging people to contact us about employers who do the right thing and we congratulate the catholic school system, Telstra, Macquarie university and all businesses that are supporting their workers. To Scott Morrison we say; Time to step up.”
