Essential workers have continued to turn up to work throughout the pandemic. Already there have been over 700 public servants and disability workers infected with COVID-19 at work with disability workers also infected. Already we have seen PSA members in Disability group homes, Juvenile Justice, NSW Prisons, Private Prisons, transport, and now we are experiencing 100s of school closures and exposures. From the start of the pandemic there has been presumptive legislation to support essential workers when they get COVID with workers compensation, without the impossible task of having to prove you got it at work. This protects the following workers: -public health employees, -disability facilities, -educational institutions, including pre-schools, schools and tertiary institutions -police and emergency services -transport services, -libraries, -courts and tribunals, -correctional centres and detention centres, -places of public entertainment or instruction (including, museums, galleries, cultural institutions and casinos), The government has introduced a Bill to repeal these laws, which will mean that if you get COVID at work, you have to prove that you got it at work. The NSW Government has said that this change may take over $600 million out of the hands of injured workers and cut 75% of these claims. These cuts passed the lower house in November with all the Government members. The Bill has been referred to the Upper House Committee where it is likely to be voted on in February.

Our Mallee and Mildura retail, hospitality, accommodation and events industries are the main employers in our rural economies and desperately need an inflow of people as both consumers and workers. This dire economic situation completely alters the previous exclusive mantra that freight and products must be prioritised to the exclusion of a direct and affordable public transport of people. People have suddenly become the most pressing commodity for the survival of many businesses. People also need the affordable family connectivity that in turn would attract tree-changers.

Logan is an amazing community filled with people from various walks of life. We are all family, and Christmas is a time for bringing family together - and every family deserves a dazzling Christmas!

Our elected representatives need to have the ability to represent us, the members, free of harassment and the threat of disciplinary hanging over their heads like the hangman's noose. The actions displayed from Sydney Trains set a terrible precedent and will impede the movement's ability to bargain into the future due to workplace delegates being in fear of the employment.

Safety on the rail network is of paramount importance, and by trying to erode our conditions the NSW Government is lowering those safety standards and putting us all in danger. They are also trying to remove guards from trains - we believe this is an unacceptable risk. Australia has some of the best employment protections in the world thanks to unions fighting for generations to ensure a fair go for all Aussies. But it's a constant battle to maintain these conditions, and the NSW Government is trying to water down our rights and protections. We are fighting to save these for ourselves, for all other public service workers and for the wider community as a whole. The NSW Government imposed a wage freeze on all public servants last year, which amounted to a pay cut in real terms, even for those sectors who had already negotiated higher increases. This is despite a number of senior bureaucrats receiving huge pay rises, sending a clear message to essential workers that they do not matter. All workers deserve a fair pay rise in the current economic environment, and we're fighting to prevent the government from using the pandemic as an excuse to sell us all short.

My life would be very different if I could hop on a bus or a train or a tram whenever I wanted. Right now going anywhere takes a lot of planning and is not affordable for me, because Public Transport is inaccessible. For over forty years people with disabilities have been campaigning for the same access to transport as everyone else, to have the same access to jobs, work and community, but for many of us lockdown life is normal life. Previous governments have not kept their promises. The Disability Discrimination Act (1992) requires that all infrastructure is fully compliant with the Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (DSAPT) by 31 December 2022. That’s 500 days away. And we are woefully behind. Only 15% of Melbourne’s Tram Network is accessible, and buses, trains and taxis across regional Victoria fail daily to meet the needs of residents with disabilities. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE ANDREWS GOVERNMENT CAN DEAL WITH THE SOLUTION ONCE AND FOR ALL We want to see a commitment from the state government to deliver universal access in the next term of government. This would contribute to our economic recovery and deliver a more comfortable, efficient Public Transport system for all Victorians. It would also help Victoria meet its commitment to halve emissions by 2030. And it’s not just the disability community that will benefit from universal access. Parents with prams, older Victorians and people wishing to avoid increasing traffic congestion will all reap the rewards of these upgrades. TAKE ACTION: SEND AN EMAIL TO MINISTER CARROLL HERE Support our community of disability activists by reaching out to the Minister for Public Transport, Ben Carroll, and call on him and the Victorian government to take action for universally accessible Public Transport. Jess and the DRC Campaigns Team

Many people are surprised to discover that public transport workers, who have worked throughout this lockdown in an essential and public-facing role, are not eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. We come into contact with many members of the public throughout our day, eat and perform standby duties in packed lunchrooms with fellow workers. There is a lot of potential for the virus to spread throughout our workplace and be carried across sydney by our trains. The risk of serious transmission on the railways not only puts rail workers in danger, it threatens to shut down essential rail services which transport other essential workers across the city. We are concerned that no serious measures have been put in place to address these dangers in our work, and that vaccinating our essential workforce should not be the individual responsibility of workers, but the collective responsibility of the government and management.

The Covid-19 situation in NSW is extremely concerning. Once again, the failure to build proper, dedicated quarantine facilities has resulted in a serious local outbreak, this time of the incredibly contagious Delta strain. Vaccination rates remain woefully low. The NSW Government has acted far too slowly and half-heartedly in relation to the current outbreak. Nobody enjoys lockdowns, but the failure to enact a serious lockdown soon enough has let this outbreak grow, and now means that the lockdown must be extended and strengthened. Allowing the virus to spread would be a health disaster, not just for NSW but for all Australia.

The Newport Workshops played a significant role in the industrial development of Victoria and of the Union movement. During it's history the Workshops employed upwards of 5,000 workers at any point in time. These workers built and fabricated anything and every thing needed for the running of rail in Victoria. At present the Workshops house three heritage rail operations that employ workers on a voluntary and directly employed basis, including apprentices. The Government through it's agency Victrack is seeking to remove these heritage operators from the workshops and the future of those workers and the Heritage listed Workshops is uncertain. We have to urgently act to save our industrial and union heritage. The Government must unequivocally commit to preserving our Heritage and the operators that keep it functional.

Rail companies already have an extensive amount of data available (data Logger/Event recorders, Driver Advice Systems, radio voice recordings, and forward-facing camera) for investigation, compliance and assessments. Adding surveillance inside the cabin of locomotives will not prevent an incident from happening. Better training, support and a “no blame” culture will. We believe that the extended use of in-cab recording devices will have little if any impact on the efficacy of rail safety investigations and will have a significant detrimental effect on the mental health of Traincrew.

Public transport workers in Australia deal with millions of Australians getting them to work, school and play. This puts them at a heightened risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19. For many Governments, public transport workers are an afterthought. However, with this crisis, we need Governments of all levels to prioritise providing free and easy access to the new Covid-19 vaccine before big business and greedy CEOs get their hands on it. Public transport workers keep Australia moving and we can't let them be left at the back of the queue. #DontForgetPTWorkers #Covid19 #FrontlineHeros

The Blood Brothers building on the corner of Bedford and Warrandyte Roads is a local landmark. It was built in 1914 and is significant as an example of Edwardian corner shop architecture. Maroondah council wants to knock it down to build a multistorey carpark. Commuters want more carparking, but a significant heritage building should not be bulldozed to provide it. Council should be building this on current carpark sites at Ringwood Station.