THE TWU (Vic/Tas Branch) has become the first Australian blue-collar union to earn good governance certification from global leaders in business standards – the BSI Group.
It places the union alongside 80,000 others organisations, from Ambulance Victoria to Sofitel Luxury Hotels, in 172 countries to have received BSI approval for its quality management controls.
The endorsement gives a big tick to the Union’s strategic planning, commitment to best practice administration and development and resourcing of member services.
Branch quality assurance manager Daniela Fragale maintains all internal auditing processes and ensures the Union remains in-line with BSI financial management benchmarks and ISO 9001 certification requirements.
“We are constantly validating our systems to ensure our processes are up-to-date and carried out in a proper manner and this ensures all members get full value,” Ms Fragale said.
“Each (paid) role within the union is also internally audited once a month, and externally once a year.”
A December 2010 survey of 1000 UK adults found over 70-per-cent associated BSI bench-marking with safe and reliable products and services.
Branch Secretary Wayne Mader said the approval meant the Union could continue with its core business of maintaining worker’s rights.
“The union also has well-established protocols to ensure that no one single person in this Branch has the power to authorise any sort of financial transaction without another person giving authority,” he said.
“For example, the issuing of a union cheque requires two signatories and an electronic funds transfer involving two office-bearers in a three-step process using a system of codes and passwords. Union officials are also forbidden to create invoices and the finance controller alone cannot sanction payments.”
The Union is also independently-audited and each year publishes its financial statements, which are also lodged with the Fair Work Commission, in the TWU News.