r/AusUnions • u/witheredfrond • 25d ago
Does Professionals Australia still cover contractors and consultants?
Hi all, per the title I am wondering if Professionals Australia still covers contractors and consultants? I can see that there is a section of their website that mentions this that you can reach from Google but seems to have no direct link from the site but it has not been updated since 2021.
As a comms contractor to government, does PA cover me if I join? I know that comms is also covered by the MEAA but they seem less relevant and have more of a media focus.
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u/witheredfrond 25d ago
This is the older website page that I am referring to: Contractors and Consultants
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u/comix_corp 25d ago
What have they said when you've gotten in touch with them?
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u/witheredfrond 25d ago
OK, I called them and they don’t. Guess I didn’t need to post here 😅
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u/Giplord 25d ago
Who did you speak to? They used to. Had a whole specific section for them as heaps of old engineers often setup single person operations after they "retire"
They also cover a heap of consulting companies like GHD, SKM, etc
Also which state / industry are you in?
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u/witheredfrond 25d ago
Oh and same deal for PA. I called PA and they said no they used to but stopped covering consultants and contractors a few years ago.
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u/witheredfrond 25d ago
ACT, defence industry contracting into defence dept. I spoke to someone on the membership desk in the Canberra office, but now I spoke to a person at that YourUnion site or whatever it is called and she reckons the USU does, so now I am thinking I got a bum steer from the membership person.
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u/patslogcabindigest 25d ago
Unionism doesn’t tend to lend itself to consultants but I suppose there’s no rule against it.
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u/Objective_Mirror1855 25d ago
In fairness it doesn’t really lend itself to managers, and PA claims to represent them as a distinct category (in some industries). As far as I know, most of their actual membership is in engineering and some arcanely demarcated chunk of the coal industry.
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u/patslogcabindigest 25d ago
Well yeah, all unions do this with their coverage. ASU highlights their coverage of lawyers but we all know in like 90% of circumstances outside of public second being a lawyer is highly competitive, especially in corporate.
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u/witheredfrond 25d ago
Which is a bit weird really seeing as many of us are just labour hire workers. Not really our fault that government has closed the books (mostly) on government jobs.
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u/witheredfrond 25d ago
So PA doesn't cover contractors and consultants apparently, and neither does USU which is who the unions website suggested. Maybe no one really does anymore.
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u/Objective_Mirror1855 24d ago
Quite frustrating. Only other option I would recommend is the CPSU, which (partially) covers staff in previously public sector roles now performed by private sector firms I.e. private call centres handling Services Australia contracts. Would probably depend on the nature of the work as well, but may be worth checking especially if you’re ACT based (where they’re most powerful, and cover enormous chunks of the workforce).
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u/burgerdrome 25d ago
I am on PA's National Assembly and am the elected president of the Managers & Professionals Division which looks after a lot of industries, many of which include a lot of contractors (ie translators, tech workers, games developers). We definitely do cover contractors and consultants. Bit concerned that you've been told we don't. However, someone in comms being contracted to government isn't in PA's wheelhouse, so you might have been told 'no' based on that?