Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise as a proud ETU member and qualified electrician. I know what it means to work long hours in tough conditions away from family, building the infrastructure that powers our economy. I know the pride in that work and the frustration when the cost of living keeps rising but the wages don't. Across Western Australia, workers are doing it tough. Rent, groceries and fuel are all up while too many employers still treat fair pay and safe conditions as optional. That's why Labor's same job, same pay reforms matter. They have restored balance, ensuring employers can no longer ignore their workforce.

But sometimes, even with fair laws, workers must stand together and use every lawful tool available, including protected industrial action, to make their voices heard. That's what ETU members are doing at Bechtel's Pluto Train 2 near Karratha. They're building a project worth billions, yet too often people who build our prosperity are the last to share in it. They're only asking for fairness, safety and respect, to be paid for every hour worked, for super to reflect real hours and for rosters that let them get home safely to their families. Those are modest, reasonable claims grounded in dignity, not excess.

Industrial action is never taken lightly, but sometimes standing still costs more. ETU members are united. They are strong, and they have my full support in their fight for a fair and safe modern agreement, because a strong economy depends on workers who are safe, respected and fairly paid.