Brian Boyd

Who is Brian Boyd?

Brian Boyd was elected secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council on 5 May 2005, succeeding Leigh Hubbard in this position, one of Australia's most powerful trade union roles. He is longstanding member of Birds Australia, now called BirdLife Australia.

Mr Boyd worked for the Builders Labourers Federationfrom late 1979 to 1988 which included the period when the BLF was deregistered. He has also coordinated Victoria's building unions, and worked as an industrial and campaigns officer with the Victorian Trades Hall.

In regard to the right to strike and industry-wide bargaining, Brian Boyd was reported in The Age in April 2007 "I'm arguing that there's still no unfettered right to strike, there are limitations on it; we might want to stop work to give consideration to the Iraq war, for instance," The statement was made in regard to the debate around the Federal Australian Labor PartyIR policy leading up to the 2007 Federal election.

In regard to Australian Workplace Agreements Brian Boyd has voiced concern many may breach OHS law following statistics released in April by the major newspapers that claim 30% of AWAs do not allow workers to have rest breaks during scheduled hours of work. He has called AWAs that breach OHS regulations as criminal and asked that WorkSafe Victoria prosecute any employer found to have taken away this safety condition under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. “Workers are protected by occupational health and safety law. Our Victorian law says that the employer has to provide a safe system of work – and that includes decent rest breaks,” Boyd said. “Employers think they can do what they want under Howard’s laws, but they are forgetting that state-based OHS laws still call them to account.”