THE State Government has given the union movement a bigger role in developing local content policies for major projects.
State development minister Clive Brown has announced the Government will fund two positions at Unions WA, at a cost of $162,000 a year, to focus on local content.
The government-funded union jobs were announced in conjunction with a new funding agreement for the Industrial Supplies Office of WA, which also seeks to maximise local industry participation in major projects.
“Under this arrangement, ISOWA will continue to act as a pivotal connection between project proponents and competitive local suppliers,” Mr Brown said.
ISOWA, which receives $550,000 of State government funding per annum, helped to generate more than $51 million of work for WA suppliers last year.
Mr Brown said the Government wanted to increase the capacity of unions and employees to contribute to local content initiatives.
This would include ‘hands-on’ advice to Government, companies and employees.
Unions WA secretary Stephanie Mayman said she expected the union representatives would liaise directly with project proponents on a case-by-case basis.
“They will be looking at skills development, retraining and industry development generally,” Ms Mayman said.
