Construction union demands job security after 400 traffic management workers were stood down
The state government is confident around 400 traffic management workers who were stood down this week after their employer was forced into liquidation, will be able to be re-deployed. But the construction union says the government should do more to guarantee job security.
Transcript
00:00 Work on these projects keeps on rolling.
00:05 And with big money being spent on infrastructure and road projects across WA, the Transport
00:12 Ministry is adamant there are plenty of jobs to go around.
00:15 Workers have expressed shock at the way they found out they'd lost their jobs.
00:19 Advanced Traffic Management stood down its 400-strong workforce via text messages when
00:25 the company was placed into liquidation earlier this week.
00:28 People deserve the right to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace.
00:32 To dismiss someone simply by sending them a text message is not appropriate.
00:37 It's not on.
00:38 The union representing many of the workers met Main Roads and the State Government today
00:42 to discuss its concerns, which go beyond finding new work for ATM employees.
00:48 The majority of employees in traffic control are employed casually on a daily basis.
00:53 It's not uncommon for those workers to receive text messages for when their shift starts
00:58 and finishes.
00:59 He says the union has written to the government over the past two years highlighting the problem.
01:03 We're in the process now of working together to come up with a method to ensure that these
01:10 traffic controllers receive industry rates of pay and conditions with permanent job security
01:18 on these jobs moving forward.
01:21 The union says with many of the projects, like this one slated to run for several years,
01:26 it should come with permanent jobs for workers, something the government says it will investigate.
01:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]