User:Cartman02au/Reboot/Australian Unions threaten to strike over Omicron safety concerns

January 18, 2022

Australian Union leaders held an emergency meeting in Melbourne on Monday to discuss what they describe as "the ongoing health and economic crisis caused by the rapid spread of Omicron." Unions threatened that if employers didn't do more to keep their workers safe from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 they could stop work.

Australian Unions have been critical of the government's handling of Australia's Omicron outbreak and say it has caused supply chain issues due to the number of workers in isolation. Unions have also highlighted shortages of Rapid Antigen Test kits in the country.

Unions are calling for the government to provide Rapid Antigen Tests for free and for them to be prioritised for frontline workers until supply chain issues are resolved. They also want for close contacts to be expanded to again include workplaces, paid pandemic leave for workers forced to isolate, workplace mask standards to be improved and for support payments to be increased and broadened for workers, those out of work and businesses.

Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions told The Australian that Unions will do "whatever action is necessary to keep workers safe," including stopping work.

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Wilcox said employers were “being asked to fight a battle without bullets" and said "Until we get many millions of more tests into circulation, we need to look at reducing the testing requirements.”

“The idea that employers should bear the costs for potentially limitless test kits is unworkable and demonstrates the lack of understanding of the pressures businesses are under,” he said.

The impact of Omicron on the Australian workforce is expected to be large. The federal government was told last week that up to ten percent of the workforce could be affected by isolation rules, however modelling released by Deloitte Access Economics on Sunday suggested the effect could be much larger. Deloitte estimates that 6.5 million workers or half the workforce could miss a week of work due to Omicron. Deloitte predicts that industries that require workers to work onsite (such as transport and logistics as well as supermarkets and other retail) would be most affected with those which allow for remote work expected to perform better.

Deloitte partner Chris Richardson said “2022 may well avoid large and lengthy lockdowns, but Omicron’s rise will keep our sectoral landscape one of low touch, low trust and low density compared with pre-pandemic norms,” Mr Richardson wrote.