NECA Members are you paying into PROTECT?
Where is your money going?
“The Protect workers benefit fund transferred, in two years, $45 million to the ETU, $10.4 million of which went to NECA”
– Attorney General Christian Porter
Electrical industry employers
Legislation currently before the Federal Senate will make it illegal for NECA and the ETU to siphon off money from your contributions to Protect.
But did you know that they gave themselves $45 million of your money out of the fund over two years? Here’s what the Attorney-General told Parliament this month:
Very disturbingly, over the last few days NECA, as they are known, have been asked, and indeed their chief executive officer has been asked, to explain the use of that money—that’s $10.4 million, by the way. They have declined to respond to the journalist’s inquiries. I would very warmly encourage some kind of proper response. When you look at NECA’s accounts, you will see they note in their last financial report that the $10.4 million profit share from Protect ‘helped to turn around’ a $600,000 operating loss for the employer group and create a $9.7 million profit. 10 million will tend to do that. It tends to turn around your financial accounts. But how is that money being spent to benefit workers?
– House of Representatives Hansard, August 1
(Image sourced – Illawarra Mercury)
What can you do?
- Contact Senators here and tell them that they should pass the Fair Work Laws Amendment (Proper Use of Worker Benefits) Bill 2019, so your money goes to workers, instead of into the pockets of the ETU and NECA.
- Tell your NECA Board and managers to refund the $10.4 million kickback they have taken from employers and workers.
Master Electricians Australia supports the Fair Work Laws Amendment (Proper Use of Worker Benefits) Bill 2019 in the interests of fairness to employers and workers.