Published: 14 Oct 2012
For the first time in its proud history the Maritime Union of Australia has secured a Domestic Violence clause in an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
The agreement, which was negotiated with Geraldton Port Authority in Perth, WA, contains a clause which recognises that employees sometimes face situation of violence or abuse in their personal life that may affect their attendance or performance in work.
Particularly detailed, it covers a range of domestic violence abuses including physical, sexual, financial, verbal or emotional by any immediate family member.
WA Branch Secretary Chris Cain said that MUA members in Geraldton, a regional town on the middle of Western Australia’s vast coast line, should be proud to be supporting members and their community as a whole by achieving the MUA’s first domestic violence support clause for workers in their collective agreement.
“The MUA leads the way in tackling issues in our workplaces and communities that our politicians promise to fix but never deliver.
"They do the talking, we just get it done,” Mr Cain Said.
The MUA is also a big supporter of the White Ribbon campaign, which is an organisation that is working to prevent one of the most common and pervasive forms of male violence, that towards women.
MUA Deputy National Secretary and White Ribbon Ambassador of the Year, Mick Doleman said that the clause in the EBA was a credit to the working men and women of the maritime industry.
“This clause is a direct outcome of the maturity which has developed in the maritime industry and particularly amongst the working men and women that domestic violence is a real issue and that workers, women in particular, need to have time no different to sick leave or compassionate leave to deal with this terrible problem in their personal and working lives.”
