Our FSU has won UNI Global Union’s 2021 ‘Breaking Through’ award for pandemic organising.
Award hosts ‘UNI Global Union’ announced on Thursday evening that the Finance Sector Union (FSU) were the winners of the 2021 ‘Breaking Through’ Award because of our exceptional efforts to ensure the health and safety of banking and insurance workers during the pandemic.
UNI Global Union said “In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, FSU used online and on-the-ground tactics to promote vaccination and protection of these essential finance workers. The result was the successful negotiation of paid vaccination leave for more than 220,000 finance sector workers.”
FSU National Secretary, Julia Angrisano praised employers who offered paid vaccination leave.
“Our members have told us that the time it takes to receive the vaccine and the potential requirement to take sick leave to manage any side effects are a barrier to many people receiving the vaccine. So, I am pleased that a number of employers have stepped up and recognized the unique situation that COVID-19 has generated and have granted some form of paid vaccination leave. This entitlement has been won through the hard work of trade unions and their activists.”
FSU has also been very vocal in calling on federal and state governments to prioritize vaccine access for frontline finance workers.
UNI Global Union’s General Secretary, Christy Hoffman, said “Lack of sick leave is a massive roadblock for vaccine access, and through their campaigning, FSU eliminated that hurdle for hundreds of thousands of workers. The FSU has fought to protect the lives of workers, but also to make their communities safer and their union stronger.”
The ‘Breaking Through’ award is given annually to recognize unions’ outstanding organising achievements.
You can read UNI Global Union’s official announcement here.
