If you can’t view this newsletter please click here to view it online Union Member Benefits Update April 2010 2010 is on the move, it’s April already, can you believe?! This month brings loads of good news for union members including information on registering for the upcoming ACTU Organising Conference, how to join the Womens Rights at Work teams in this year’s Mothers Day Classic, a new ME Bank TV ad promoting its Industry Super & Union heritage, and how to claim your lost super before the tax man does. Not to mention our monthly DVD competition! Image: Unions Tasmania YR@W team at the 2009 Mothers Day Classic ME Bank reaffirms its Industry Super Fund heritage On 26th March, new CEO Jamie McPhee launched ME Bank’s new marketing strategy, illustrated by a national television commercial going to air from Sunday, April 4, 2010. The advertising slogan – if you’re a member of an industry super fund, ME Bank is your bank, highlights the bank’s philosophical heritage in the trade union and industry superannuation movement. ME Bank’s new CEO Jamie McPhee said the Campaign outlines the additional benefits participating super fund and union members will receive, such as discounts on home loans and soon to be introduce preferential pricing on other products. To read more click here Join the Women's Rights At Work team in the 2010 Mothers Day Classic On Sunday 9 May, more than 90,000 people are expected to participate in the Mother’s Day Classic, an annual walk/run held in metropolitan and regional locations across Australia to raise funds and awareness for the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s breast cancer research programs. Unions across Australia will unite to walk for Women’s Rights At Work and ensure the voices of Australian workers and their families continue to be heard. We encourage union members and their families to join in again this year! Have some fun and join in the fight against breast cancer and show your support for Women’s Rights At Work and the National Equal Pay Campaign. For more information on the Equal Pay Campaign please click here. ME Bank is the major sponsor of the Mothers Day Classic. To read more about how to register please click here. Go the extra step at the 2010 Mother’s Day Classic in Melbourne To mark their sixth year of sponsorship, ME Bank is inviting Mother’s Day Classic participants in Melbourne, Sydney (The Domain) and Perth to go the extra step! Simply by participating in the event, you could earn 1c for every two steps it takes you to complete the event, to a maximum of $50. You can choose to donate your money to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, credit it to an ME Online Savings Account in your name or donate a proportion of earnings to both. In 2009, participants raised over $26,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Take part in this year's campaign and you could help increase this donation! To go the extra step with ME Bank, visit www.membersequitybank.com.au/extrastep and register your name and your Mothers Day Classic registration number to redeem a FREE ME Bank pedometer. You will need to use this to count your steps to go the extra step. The offer is open to a limited number of online entries attending the Melbourne, Sydney (The Domain) and Perth events so be quick and register for the Mothers Day Classic and your free ME Bank pedometer today! To enter the promotion, Mothers Day Classic participants must register for a free ME Bank pedometer before Friday 23/04/10. This promotion is only open to permanent residents of Australia, who are 12 years or over. For full terms and conditions visit www.membersequitybank.com.au/extrastep. Equal Pay and Better Jobs for Women Women doing the same job as men are supposed to be paid the same by law. However, many women still find themselves underpaid and too often miss out on the best jobs, resulting in a 17% gender pay gap. Unions believe everyone’s work should be valued properly. In 2010 closing the pay gap and providing more opportunities for working women are major priorities. Facts Women in full-time paid work still earn 17% less than men or 1 million dollars less over a lifetime Women are now more likely to have a tertiary qualification than men, but women graduates will earn $2000 less than male graduates and $7500 less by the fifth year after graduation Fewer than 2% of ASX 200 companies have a female CEO and only 1 in 12 board directors are women Women retire with less than half the amount of savings in their superannuation accounts compared with men Under the former Coalition Government’s WorkChoices laws, the pay gap widened for the first time in 25 years, as thousands of women lost penalty rates and other important job conditions and minimum wages were cut in real terms. Get more information Visit the ACTU's website for more information Check out the Australian Services Union's Pay Up campaign website Visit the Australian Nursing Federation’s Becouse we care campaign website Competition: DVD The Burning Season The Business of Making a Difference Dorjee Sun, a young Australian Entrepreneur, believes there's money to be made from protecting rainforests in Indonesia, saving the orangutan from extinction and making a real impact on climate change. Armed with a laptop and a backpack, he sets out across the globe to find investors in his carbon trading scheme. It is a battle against time. Achmadi, the palm oil farmer is ready to set fire to his land to plant more palm oil, and Lone's orangutan centre has reached crisis point with over 600 orangutans rescued from the fires. The Burning Season is an eco-thriller about a young man not afraid to confront the biggest challenge of our time. Competition – Member Connect has 3 copies to give away to 3 lucky union members. Simply email Member Connect with your name, address, union and membership number to go in the draw by close of business Friday 30th April. Reclaim your lost super before the tax man does! Did you know that the tax man may have his sights set on your lost superannuation? As of 1 July 2010, AUSfund is required to transfer across to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) all lost super accounts that match the following criteria... All lost super accounts under $200 All lost super accounts that can not be identified as belonging to an individual and have been inactive for more than five years. This means you may have limited time left to consolidate your lost super before the ATO get their hands on it. To find your lost super you can search AUSfund’s database on their web site or use the ATO’s online search tool Super Seeker at ato.gov.au/super You can also contact AUSfund directly on 1300 361 798 for more information or obtain a roll over form from their website at unclaimedsuper.com.au Industry Funds Investments Ltd. (IFI) ABN 17 006 883 227, AFSL No. 229881, RSE License L0000413 as Trustee for Australia’s Unclaimed Super Fund, AUSfund, ABN 85 945 681 973 RSE Registration R1000795. The information contained here is of a general nature and is not intended to provide financial advice. You should note that it is not a recommendation as to what you should do. You should consider the product disclosure statement of the other fund and assess your own financial objectives, situation and needs before deciding whether it is appropriate to transfer your AUSfund account 2010 ACTU Organising Conference Time is running out to register – have you booked your place? You still have time to register for the 2010 ACTU Organising Conference but hurry, workshops are filling up fast! For more information about the program and how to register, click here. New union campaign materials coming A new range of materials is being developed to promote the ‘Workchoices: Whatever the Name, Never Again’ campaign. These new materials will be launched at the ACTU Organising Conference in Sydney later this month, and include a DL flyer, video ads, bumper sticker, t-shirt and badge. To read more about this campaign, click here. Please note that the ACTU still has a range of Working For A Better Life materials available for affiliates. These materials are designed to help build union membership and can be used at meetings of workers, training sessions and other events. They include a DL flyer, Frequently Asked Questions A4 flyer, A3 poster and 4min video. To view them click here. For more information on these materials or to place an order, please contact Amanda Ngyugen on 03 9664 7326 or angyugen@actu.asn.au Discount New Cars – Your New Car Online Showroom Discount New Cars is your online new car showroom. Check out a great selection of exclusive union discounts across our new car range! With access to up front drive away pricing, vehicle specifications and features, everything you need to know about your next brand new car is here and available to you now. With great savings to be made across a wide range of vehicles from DNC’s authorised dealer network, it's easy to find out exactly how much you can save as a union member today. Remember this is a free service for all union members, and enquires are obligation free. Make sure you visit the union specials page www.discountnewcars/unions to start searching for your brand new car. Need to hire a car? ACTU Member Connect has organised a great Hertz car rental offer for union members: New corporate discounted rates guaranteed 365 days per year, including peak periods Vehicle Registration Recovery fee is waived = $5.50 p/day saving Lower standard Accident Damages Excess of $770 instead of the usual excess of $3,300 Lower rates on optional renter protection = up to $6.00 p/day saving Free membership to Hertz #1 Club Gold which is valid worldwide 10% discount off international affordable rates for NZ, UK, Europe, USA & Canada Simply quote your ACTU Member Connect CDP number 1862758 when making your booking. Offer is subject to availability at participating locations in Australia only and conditions apply. Visit the Hertz website for an online quote or phone Hertz on 13 30 39. It’s not too late to join the ACTU/ME AFL&NRL Footy Tipping Competitions! To be part of the either the AFL and/or the NRL footy tipping competition just visit footytips.com.au and either register or reactivate your registration from last year. If you are already a member of footytips.com.au and have entered your tips for Rounds 1 – 3, you can join our competition and your results will still count at the end of Round 22. How to register Click either AFL Tipping Comp or NRL Tipping Comp to join the competitions Enter the password 'union' then click on Join Now! Existing tipsters can enter their username/password and new tipsters can create a new profile. You will be confirmed as being in the competition! Enter your tips! You'll need to repeat these steps to join both NRL and AFL competitions if you'd like to double your chances of winning Terms and Conditions: Please note only financial members of ACTU affiliated unions are eligible to claim prizes. Retirees who were a member of an affiliated union at the time they retired are also eligible. Union Member Benefits Update April 2010 © Copyright ACTU Member Connect 2009 for more information visit www.memberconnect.com.au To unsubscribe, click here. To subscribe, click here.