AUGUST MONTHLY WHEEL
A MESSAGE FROM TIM DAWSON TWU WA BRANCH STATE SECRETARY
BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR THE 2026 FIGHT! August has been a busy month for the TWU, with world first uber minimum standards granted for gig workers across the country, an application made in the FairWork Commission for supermarket and retail giants to be made accountable for sham contracting, and an announcement from WA Labor that we will have a new driver training program operate out of Hazelmere. This is on top of all the extraordinary work your Union, the TWU, does year in and year out. But silently, in the background, TWU organisers and delegates have been sitting in on negotiations, fighting for the rates and conditions you asked for in your log of claims. The time is drawing near, for every transport worker and TWU member to stand together and walk off the job for a better transport industry. It didn’t have to come to this, but as you have seen, more than 20 protected action ballots (PABs) across hundreds of yards have been filed across the supply chain, with companies refusing to agree to TWU claims, walking workers backwards in a cost-of-living crisis. Clients at the top of the supply chain are continuing to drive rates down leaving you behind, but when TWU members stand together, we are relentless in the fight for a sustainable, safer, and fairer transport industry at the end of the day. These companies had their chance to negotiate fairly, and they have for too long, had the power to either lift standards or cut standards. We cannot let them drive transport companies into the ground. 2026 is about changing that trajectory.
Fed-Up with FedEx: We are now starting to see the 2026 fight come Together. Last week, FedEx workers walked off the job, fearless against FedEx tactics to lock them out for simply practicing their right to strike. FedEx is shifting work to contracted drivers on gig-style piece rates, forcing drivers to deliver a parcel up to every 4 minutes. That’s an accident waiting to happen. Wealthy Clients Fold to Union Claims: With more than 20 PAB’s lodged since negotiations began in early June, Toll, TGE, Linfox and Bevchain, have all come to an in-principal agreement, securing workers with pay rises in-line with inflation and CPI, and dignity in retirement, with a fair superannuation at 15%, along with specific claims unique to particular sites. Some clients are quivering at the relentless black and orange TWU wave coming their way, but others like FedEx, are determined to lock workers out and put out an agreement to vote. FedEx has done this for a second time, despite the first being strongly voted down. Now, more than ever, we cannot shy away from standing strong together. Because when transport stops, Australia stops. Supply chains stop, and the economy stops. This year, we are going to show the more than 200 EA’s we are negotiating, that the TWU IS relentless and WILL not stop until transport workers are given the respect, safety, and dignity they deserve. We had our Delegates Conference in August, and it was great to see and hear from so many delegates who are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to fight for a transport industry that is sustainable, safe, and fair.
A MESSAGE FROM TIM DAWSON TWU WA BRANCH STATE SECRETARY
We had The WA Premier, Deputy Premier, WA Labor Ministers, politicians, national TWU officials in the room, and most importantly, the delegates. Then, delegates flooded Southlands shopping centre to protest Aldi’s unsafe supply chain and for refusing to sign the same safety charter Coles and Woolworths signed. Wesfarmers are now in meaningful discussions with the TWU about a safe supply chain, and finally Aldi have engaged in conversation. Make no mistake, it wasn’t because Aldi decided they wanted to play nice. It was because of the commitment and the strength of the TWU members turning out to apply pressure to Aldi at every junction, relentlessly taking the fight to them for a more sustainable, safer and fairer supply chain. Now, let’s see if they negotiate meaningfully. As we head into the final months of 2026, we hit a defining moment in the TWU‘s over 150-year history. We need every single TWU member on the ground, recruiting, educating, and working alongside your delegates. Now is the time to join the union, now is the time to fight for stronger standards and conditions across the transport industry for a fairer transport industry. Now is the time to show the clients we mean business and what we are made of.
Our Thoughts are with Everyone Affected by the Recent Flash Floods in Nepal. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the recent flash floods in Nepal. We know many of our members have friends, family, and loved ones who have been impacted by this devastating event, and we stand in solidarity with those communities during this difficult time. We are also hoping for the safe return of the 42 Australians currently reported missing and are keeping them, their families, and all those waiting for news in our thoughts. If you or someone close to you has been affected and you need support, please don't hesitate to access your company's Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which can provide confidential support and counselling during challenging times.
FIRST WAVE OF TRANSPORT AGREEMENTS REACHED! our roads, our skies, our future
After taking steps towards protected industrial action, a first wave of workers at major transport companies Team Global Express, Toll, Linfox and Bevchain have averted strike action after reaching in-principle agreements that provide job security and future of work protections. Following the TWU’s warnings from last year that it would shut down transport without significant improvements in Australia’s deadliest industry, the union has also reached landmark deals on safe supply chains with massive transport clients under the Wesfarmers umbrella, with Kmart
and Target having already signed and Bunnings, Officeworks and API to come.
The fight for thousands of other transport workers is far from over, with the TWU calling on remaining wealthy transport clients like Aldi and Amazon to step in and fund decent standards as negotiations break down. Industry-wide industrial action continues to loom in the coming weeks with significant parts of road transport languishing at rates 10 to 30% under industry standards and with little to no job security.
Both workers and Australian transport companies are at breaking point, with huge transport clients like Amazon undercutting the industry and putting them out of business. With companies like Team Global Express and Linfox and transport clients under the Wesfarmers banner taking the high road to provide good, secure jobs, the TWU calls on outliers like Amazon to stop dragging the industry down!
TRANSPORT INDUSTRY APPLIES TO MAKE SUPERMARKETS AND RETAIL GIANTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL SHAM CONTRACTS IN THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS The TWU and ARTIO will apply in the Fair Work Commission to hold transport clients accountable for the first time for workers who are engaged on illegal sham contracts within their supply chains. Sham contracting is an illegal practice that involves falsely classifying employees as contractors in order to strip them of rights including superannuation, a minimum wage and workers’ compensation. The practice results in perpetrators gaining an illegal competitive advantage in the market of up to 30%, inducing a downward spiral of wages and conditions and putting
lives at risk. Road transport is the deadliest industry in Australia by a huge margin, with 122 killed in truck crashes this year, 31 of them truck drivers. The joint industry application aims to eradicate this illegal practice altogether by requiring road transport clients to take enforceable proactive contracting, auditing and recordkeeping steps to ensure workers aren’t engaged on sham contracts within their supply chains. Following a transport industry roundtable held by Senator Glenn
Sterle this year, sham contracting has been in the ATO spotlight, but transport clients have so far evaded taking responsibility for practices deep in their supply chains. Major supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles, and retailers under the Wesfarmers umbrella, are working with the TWU on addressing fairness in their supply chains. Many others, including third largest national retailer, Aldi, have refused to engage in talks with the TWU on safe supply chains, and contracts companies within its supply chain which have been known to use illegal sham contracting.
Last month, TWU WA delegates from across the transport industry came together for our 2026 Delegates Conference. We’re in the midst of a massive 2026 campaign, negotiating with transport companies across Australia and fighting for better pay, safer workplaces, stronger conditions and respect for transport workers. At the heart of every one of those fights are our delegates. Our delegates are the
backbone of our union — the workers who step up, organise their workplaces, stand with their colleagues and make sure workers have a voice on the job.
what make our union stronger. The fights ahead are big. But with strong delegates, organised workplaces and workers standing together, we’re ready for them.
A huge thank you to every delegate who attended, Thank you to our delegates. contributed and shared their Let’s keep building the fight in experiences. A special thank 2026. you to everyone who took part in our Majors Panel, Retail Panel, Aviation Panel, Road to Respect (Bus) Panel, and Industry Panel — your stories, experiences and leadership are
FedEx Workers are FedUp: Walking off the Job Across the Country Thousands of FedEx workers across the country walked off the job for 2 hours as the company refuses to guarantee protections against AI and automation, and continues to shift good, secure jobs to contractors on dangerously low piece rates. After months of negotiations, workers have been left with no option but to take protected industrial action to secure jobs, with FedEx shifting work to contracted drivers on gig-style piece rates, forced to deliver a parcel up to every 4 minutes. Workers united will never be defeated!
"The only thing FedEx knows, is how to bully their workforce" FedEx repeatedly claimed that industrial action costs the company money and risks delays for clients and customers. Yet when workers exercise their legal right to take protected action, FedEx chooses to escalate the dispute by engaging in industrial action of its own.
This is not about protecting customers. This is about punishing workers for standing up for themselves. Locking workers out for 24 hours in response to a two-hour stoppage is a heavy-handed attempt to intimidate and bully the workforce into backing down. FedEx workers will not be bullied for fighting for job security and fair conditions.
VOTE NO TO FEDEX'S DISRESPECTFUL OFFER!
FedEx is putting the same disrespectful offer back out for a vote AGAIN, expecting you to accept the very deal you already voted NO to. This Friday, vote NO again and send FedEx a clear message: you will not be bullied into accepting a dud deal. SOUTH LIA U A STRA
-
QUEENS LAND
Road 2 Respect
Bus Drivers Are Pledging Their Support for the 2027 fight!
Bus driver Log of claims pledge cards are being distributed across your depots to prepare for EA negotiations in 2027
TWU WIN! This week the PTA notified bus drivers that, following a meeting with the Transport Minister with TWU bus delegates, engine hatch locks on the outside of buses will be fitted with a lock to stop passengers disably the bus
click here to read more or scan the QR code
OUR PARTNERS Reducing the impacts of financial stress: Financial worries affect most Australians at some point and with the increasing cost of living, many people are feeling the pinch.
Click here to read more or scan the QR code