Unions back equality reforms

Public sector union bosses have called on the Howard Government to fulfil its promise to fix superannuation schemes that discriminate against same-sex partners.
Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) national secretary Stephen Jones and Superannuated Commonwealth Officers Association (SCOA) federal president Ewan Hazzell wrote to the Prime Minister expressing concern no efforts had been made more than three years after the guarantee.
Both associations had made submissions to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry, and urged the Government to implement the recommendations as a priority.
Marriage equality also received some union backing recently with the Bus and Tram Division of the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union voting to support CAAH’s Repeal the Marriage Ban campaign.
Union support for equality reforms is not universal, with Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary Joe de Bruyn aggressively arguing against same-sex relationships at the Labor National Conference earlier this year.