Industry fund TWUSuper has sought to defend the commercial arrangement it has entered into with the Transport Workers Union and which was the subject of critical commentary during the Trade Union Royal Commission.
In evidence provided to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, TWUSuper has confirmed the commercial arrangement continues to exist and that it represents a cost-effective outcome for the superannuation fund and its members.
The letter, signed off by TWUSuper chief executive, Frank Sandy told the Senate Committee that the Superannuation Services Agreement between the fund and the union provided the fund with a cost-effective solution for dealing with an inherently difficult industry.
“The transport industry is inherently difficult for a superannuation fund to service,” his letter said.
“Via the extensive TWU network, Superannuation Services Officers act as the lynch pin between TWUSuper and thousands of workplaces across Australia.
“The TWU network is a vital service and education delivery channel for the fund, which is largely responsible for 120,000 members and $5 billion in funds under management.”
“The strategic and dollar value to TWUSuper of these services is considerable, essential and not easily replicated by alternative means due to security issues in accessing transport worksites,” the letter said before citing the example of the cost savings achieved for the simple task of distributing education materials to workplace lunchrooms “in the outer reaches of large states such as Queensland and Western Australia”.
It said that pursuing the example of delivering education materials to 2,000 worksites, “without the TWU distribution network, we conservatively estimate that it would take a TWUSuper staff member 25 months or two years to deliver an average four kits per day (80 per month)”.
“Such a method is simply not feasible but illustrates the distribution ability of TWU for a relatively straightforward task as well as the logical economic sense,” it said.
