RAFFWU has exposed massive privacy breaches affecting hundreds of thousands of workers across retail and fast food. We know that when an employer provides SDA with the name of a worker they are breaching the Privacy Act. This is because a famous case in 2019 showed that when Spotless gave AWU the names of workers without their express consent, it broke the law – and those workers were compensated between $3000 and $6000 for the breach. We believe the breaches on retail and fast food workers are far worse because they involved many thousands of children and the names were used to then confront and pressure those workers, often in their first hours of work, to join the SDA. We believe the employers should pay $12,000 compensation to PRIVACY BREACHED BY BOSSES WITH THEIR SDA each affected worker and the SDA should also pay compensation to workers for soliciting, holding and using the private information. We are now pursuing privacy complaints against those involved and will keep members informed. Coles and Woolworths have both alleged they no longer do this but the evidence is stark – emails demanding names on the basis of special secret agreements between SDA and the bosses. We even have Store Managers and Head Office admitting it was done. SDA whistleblowers have also come forward. If you have information about the breaches of privacy of workers you can let us know by emailing contact@raffwu.org.au. We will pursue compensation for our members and keep members informed. In 2023, RAFFWU consulted with members over a possible fee increase in the future. Since we launched in November 2016, membership fees have increased once — in 2021. When we increased them we promised to apply the full value of that increase (10%) to our Defence & Strategic Litigation Fund used for critical support of members engaged in strike action and on strategic litigation in defence of member rights. Our foresight means that fund is growing and will help protect members in the years to come because 10% of all our fees is being built up. We now need to meet the growing costs of running your union. While all our costs go up, the vast majority of our spending is on the union organisers, admin workers, legal team and other workers who are employed by your union. They are the team that supports members across Australia to build their action and win unprecedented outcomes. They are paid in a similar way to many members – their wages are tied to the relevant Awards. When minimum Award wages increase, so do their wages. In just the last two years, minimum Award wages have increased by 10.6%. Since we launched, they have risen by 27%. We have sustained much of this through growth and strategic resource deployment, but it is time for us to discuss how we continue our current resourcing in light of these growing costs. All unions have to grapple with a process for occasionally or regularly increasing membership fees to meet the ongoing costs of building a successful union. Our fees are tax deductible to members and include GST. Following our consultation, the Annual General Meeting decided the appropriate step was to increase our membership fees by 10% in July 2024. The increase — 10% of fees ranging from 26c to $1 per week for each member — would be used to maintain the resources of the Union. The fees would continue to be among the lowest union fees in Australia. MEMBER FEES INCREASE IN JULY 2024 Fee Until June 2024 July 2024 Fee with 10% Membership Monthly Weekly Monthly Weekly Contracted 20 or more hours/week $42.90 $9.90 $47.20 $10.90 Contracted less than 20 hours/week $28.60 $6.60 $31.50 $7.30 Casual 18 or Older $17.60 $4.06 $19.10 $4.40 Under 18 $11.00 $2.54 $12.10 $2.80 25
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