Today is a critical day for the future of TasTAFE with the Legislative Council continuing debate on the Gutwein Governments TasTAFE privatisation legislation.
The Gutwein Government has failed to make a case for its drastic and damaging plan to privatise TasTAFE, which continues to deliver high quality, nationally accredited industry training to Tasmanians.
Instead of supporting TAFE teachers and staff, the Gutwein Government wants to shunt workers in this vital public service into the private sector jurisdiction where the Fair Work Act allows insecure work to thrive.
Insecure work is a national crisis, and Tasmania is sadly leading the nation, with around one in three employed people in Tasmania on nonstandard work arrangements including casual, independent contractor or fixed term contracts. This TasTAFE Bill will only make insecure work a bigger problem in Tasmania and threaten access to training for Tasmanians.
Comments attributable to Jessica Munday:
This is an attack on TasTAFE, an attack on learning, and an attack on teachers and TasTAFE staff.
It will also threaten the job security of every single person working at TAFE at a time when we can least afford to lose more secure jobs.
Tasmania already has the highest level at 26.6% of casual work in the country. The growth in insecure work didnt happen by accident. It happened by design.
Against the backdrop of the pandemic, which exposed how insecure work destroys lives and transfers all the risk of unexpected consequences from employer to workers, this year the Morrison Government changed the Fair Work Act to make it easier to casualise workers jobs.
We know the damage that privatisation does to our jobs, to our livelihoods, and to our entire community. It leads to less access particularly in regional areas and higher costs. There is no excuse today for pursuing an agenda to turn TasTAFE into a business. Some services are just too important to privatise and TasTAFE is one of those.
Unions Tasmania and all our affiliated unions are united. In the strongest possible terms, we oppose this legislation, and we urge the Legislative Councillors to stand up for TasTAFE and oppose this Bill.
For further information contact Jessica Munday on 0417 454 809
