The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union is the union that represents the interests of workers in the meat industry including butchers, slaughterers, boners, smallgoods makers, wrapper packers, workers in abattoirs, boning rooms, slaughter houses, retail shops, supermarkets, smallgoods factories, wholesalers, caterers, by-products and rendering plants, meat markets, pre-packing areas, runner processors and various others sectors of the meat and by-product industry such as drivers and salespeople, etc.
The AMIEU is part of the Australian union movement that serves to protect and represent the interests of workers in a number of ways – through its representative group, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and on an individual union basis, the union movement lobbies government to pass laws to protect workers rights in regard to industrial relations, occupational health and safety, workers compensation etc.
The union movement appears in courts and other tribunals including the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to maintain what has become known as the workers ‘Safety Net’ of conditions (the awards) and upgrade workers conditions whenever possible.
The award ‘Safety Net’ increases in wages which occur from time to time (and which some people think are given by the government) are actually fought and argued for in the Industrial Commission by the ACTU for the people it represents, the Australian Union Movement.
In fact, all of the award conditions enjoyed by workers were the result of the union movement fighting for those conditions in the workplace and/or the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, or successful representations to government through the union’s political allies.
As you can see, the more members the union movement has, the greater its power to represent members’ interests using political and industrial avenues.
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