500 signatures reached
To: Minister Sharpe
Fair deal for Timber Workers
*Great news* thanks to the support of people like you, the government has increased their offer to me and my workmates to 4 weeks per each year of service, capped at $150 000. We are now asking the government to provide extra support to my workmates who are over 45 because of the increased difficulties they face in finding new work.
In Vic, the government provided up to $50 000 in extra support for older workers, NSW needs to do the same thing.
We are calling on Minister Sharpe and the NSW government to offer older timber workers extra support like they got in Victoria. Please sign on to show you have our back.
Her decision to create a massive Great Koala National Park means there is no more timber being delivered to my work.
When the Victorian government decided to stop supplying timber to mills, workers were eligible for up to $200,000 in additional redundancy pay. The NSW government offer is a lot less with up to $20,000 all that is available for workers my age.
In a town like Herons Creek, there aren't a lot of other jobs and $20 000 will not go far. I worry about my family. Honestly, I worry about all our families. 85 jobs at risk in a town of a couple of hundred is a huge deal.
The government has to do the right thing by me and my workmates.
We are calling on Minister Sharpe and the NSW government to offer us a package like timber workers got in Victoria, not the scraps available now.
Why is this important?
On Father's Day this year, the NSW Government announced the creation of the Great Koala National Park by locking up 176000ha of working forest.
The next day, me and my workmates (and people at 5 other mills and harvesters) were told that our jobs could be in danger.
For many of us, this support package is the only lifeline we have, the government can't scrimp on it.