Live News Feed: MUA National Secretary

Unions send message to UPS
The Australian Transport Union Federation (ATUF) will today hold a protest outside the UPS depot in Botany to support and ITF international day of action against the company after it intimidated and sacked workers in Turkey.
01 September 2010 [Read More]

The Hungry Mile and Barangaroo
Sydney artist Jane Bennett has been artist in residence on the Hungry Mile for the past 5 years, documenting the end of an era with the closure of our working harbour
30 August 2010 [Read More]

Ship of Shame behind oil spill
Newcastle oil spill further evidence that Australian shipping needs revitalising
27 August 2010 [Read More]

Workplace rights a key in election
The ACTU today said that Australian people have sent a clear message during this election that their rights at work matter, and they will not support parties that are committed to policies which undermine workers’ pay, conditions and rights.
22 August 2010 [Read More]

Vote for Oz shipping, Fair Work
On Saturday you will not only be voting on whether you return a Labor Government, you will be also deciding the fate of Australian shipping, Fairwork and job safety. These are 3 crucial issues to maritime workers.
20 August 2010 [Read More]

NSW cleaners win portable leave
NSW cleaners today celebrated the state government's announcement it would set up a portability of long service scheme for all contract cleaners.
20 August 2010 [Read More]

Libs plan to bring back AWAs
An Abbott Government will reintroduce individual employment contracts at the earliest opportunity, the Australian Workers' Union National Secretary, Paul Howes, warned today.
20 August 2010 [Read More]

Time to restart republican debate
The major parties are missing an historic opportunity to put the republican debate back on the agenda in the Federal election campaign, according to the author of a new book on Australia’s political origins.
18 August 2010 [Read More]

The Budgie Smuggler ---again!
ACTU wins appeal against YouTube censorship of the Tony Abbott ' Budgie Smuggler' advert.
13 August 2010 [Read More]

Paddy Crumlin is new ITF President
Paddy Crumlin, National Secretary of the MUA (Maritime Union of Australia) has just been elected President of the ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) at the global union federation's world congress in Mexico City.
13 August 2010 [Read More]

High stakes election for workers
In a last ditch attempt to inform voters of the dangers of a return to WorkChoices and a massive cut to their retirement incomes after the election, unions will hold an urgent series of meetings with workers across western Sydney starting today.
13 August 2010 [Read More]

Abbott fails health workforce
Tony Abbott’s plan to fund 2,800 new public hospital beds will create a national nursing workforce crisis and fail to deliver improved health services for the Australian community, according to the Australian Nursing Federation.
05 August 2010 [Read More]

Time for Tony to tell the truth!
Tony Abbott must begin answering some basic questions about his plans for Australian workplaces, say unions.
04 August 2010 [Read More]

Aged Care plan will create crisis
The Australian Nursing Federation said more beds without more nurses will create a crisis in care within nursing homes in Australia.
01 August 2010 [Read More]

Barangaroo: Safety risk for workers?
Every week a building worker is killed and often these workers are not properly covered by insurance.
29 July 2010 [Read More]

Mine companies wrong on tax
The small group of mine companies who want to revive the debate about the Minerals Resource Rent Tax are wrong about the effect on their section of this important industry, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said.
23 July 2010 [Read More]

They're The Abbott Family
They're tricky.. They're sneaky. And they're all together freaky. They're the Abbott Family...
21 July 2010 [Read More]

Abbott leaves backdoor open
The worst of WorkChoices could return to Australian workplaces through changes to regulations and ‘tweaks’ that do not require legislative amendment.
20 July 2010 [Read More]

Abbott slash and burn
Tony Abbott’s plan to slash a further $1 billion from public spending would send the economy in a dangerous direction and threaten thousands of jobs for working Australians.
20 July 2010 [Read More]

Mine union on Xstrata violence
CFMEU calls on public to co-operate with police over Xstrata management incident
18 July 2010 [Read More]

Rights for workers election issue
This federal election is about the rights of all working Australians and the threat of a future return to WorkChoices under the Coalition, say unions.
17 July 2010 [Read More]

Refuellers to take action
The Australian newspaper has reported that refuellers have threatened to proceed with a 24-hour strike at Sydney airport next week, potentially disrupting air travel.
16 July 2010 [Read More]

Labor’s strong record on jobs :ACTU
Today’s economic statement from the Federal Government confirms that Australia’s recovery is on track with 475,000 new jobs to be created over the next two years, say unions.
14 July 2010 [Read More]

MUA meets ALP candidate in Macquarie
A delegation of MUA members met with the new ALP candidate for Macquarie, Susan Templeman Monday night at her campaign launch.
14 July 2010 [Read More]

UNSW stands down staff
Staff are outraged after management at the University of New South Wales commenced the standing down and docking of pay of more than 70 people who are taking part in a campaign to halt the blow-out in the use of casual and fixed-term contracts at the institution.
12 July 2010 [Read More]

A super boost from Gillard Gvt
AWU members can expect to have bigger, better retirement savings if the Federal Government can get planned big changes passed by Parliament.
07 July 2010 [Read More]

Mine workers back impt tax reform
The Australian Workers' Union welcomes the fact that we can now take this first step on this extremely important tax reform, Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary, said today.
02 July 2010 [Read More]

New ACTU President Ged Kearney
New ACTU President Gerardine (Ged) Kearney takes office today.
01 July 2010 [Read More]

NSW traffic controllers campaign
Traffic controllers across NSW are calling for more awareness of the hazards and risks they face and the need for their union, the traffic control companies and the State Government to work together.
29 June 2010 [Read More]

Unions welcome Crean
Unions welcome the opportunity to work with new Workplace Relations and Education Minister Simon Crean to progress an agenda for the future of Australian workplaces and rights at work.
28 June 2010 [Read More]

Sharan elected to top ITUC job
Australian unions warmly congratulate ACTU President Sharan Burrow on her election as the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.
26 June 2010 [Read More]

Time for unions to refocus
The smooth and orderly manner that Federal Labor has elected Julia Gillard to the important job of Prime Minister augurs well for the Government, Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary, said today.
24 June 2010 [Read More]

Ark Tribe 2010 v building death 1974
In 2010 Ark Tribe, a South Australian rank and file construction worker is on trial and could face imprisonment as a result of charges laid by the Australian Building Construction Commission for his alleged failure to reveal who said what at a meeting of his workmates, which was called to discuss their concerns about workplace health and safety.
21 June 2010 [Read More]

Paid parental scheme passed!
Australian working mothers will have better health and financial security after the historic passage of the first national paid parental leave scheme, say unions.
17 June 2010 [Read More]

NSW mine workers back RSPT
NSW mine workers today unanimously endorsed the Resource Super Profit Tax and a national campaign for greater investment in social and community infrastructure for mining regions.
09 June 2010 [Read More]

TWU calls for security roundtable
The Transport Workers Union is calling for Safe Work Australia and appropriate state OH&S authorities, Cash in Transit (CiT) companies, employees and security and safety experts to come together to discuss measures for increased safety in the industry.
09 June 2010 [Read More]

Your Rights on Trial - June 15
Ark Tribe is a construction worker facing a prison sentence.
08 June 2010 [Read More]

Historic Equal Pay action day
Thousands of equal pay supporters will rally across the country at 11am this Thursday June 10 to take part in Australia's biggest equal pay march since the 1970s.
07 June 2010 [Read More]

Hunter miners back RSPT campaign
Mine workers in the Hunter Valley have endorsed the Resource Super Profit Tax and launched a campaign for greater investment in social and community infrastructure for mining regions.
04 June 2010 [Read More]

Mining communities used as hostages
The AWU has savaged Xstrata's decision to suspend the expansion of Ernest Henry Mine.
04 June 2010 [Read More]

Renew called to abolish ABCC
Construction unions have again called on the Federal Government to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) after its head John Lloyd announced that he would not reapply for the position when his term expires in September.
27 May 2010 [Read More]

SBS job cuts – bad in any language
CPSU National President Michael Tull will meet SBS chief Shaun Brown on Friday to raise concerns over proposed job cuts at the multicultural broadcaster.
26 May 2010 [Read More]

Build Them Here campaign launched
The AMWU in NSW is launching its Build Them Here campaign to call on the New South Wales Government to award transport contracts locally, rather than sending them overseas.
21 May 2010 [Read More]

NSW Gvt backs CleanStart
NSW cleaners today celebrated a win in the Clean Start campaign with the NSW Government signing on to the agreement.
19 May 2010 [Read More]

430 dead, bureaucracy sleeps
The Transport Workers Union has criticized Australia’s slow-moving bureaucrats saying the number of deaths due to truck crashes was rising while the industry waited for reforms aimed at improving safety.
17 May 2010 [Read More]

TWU backs pilots
The Transport Workers Union has called for an immediate upgrade of security at all airports after the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) claimed ground staff at the airport were not being screened adequately.
17 May 2010 [Read More]

Investigate CFMEU bombing
Unions NSW has called for a special police taskforce to be established to investigate the car bombing of the NSW construction union headquarters overnight last Thursday.
17 May 2010 [Read More]

Condemning CFMEU car bomb
So my old workplace was attacked with a car bomb last week. There are not many people in this country who can make that statement!
17 May 2010 [Read More]

CFMEU will not be intimidated
In a press conference issued on Monday, NSW CFMEU secretary Andrew Ferguson said, the CFMEU would not be intimidated or bullied after last Friday's car firebomb attack.
17 May 2010 [Read More]

AWU stands up to mine boss billions
AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, launched a TV campaign today targeting the big mine bosses who are preparing to bankroll Tony Abbott in the upcoming Federal election campaign - and buy the government they want.
16 May 2010 [Read More]

Non-union terminal condemned Parlt
First the NSW Premier and MPs boycotted its official opening, now Robert Coombs, MP has condemned the BHP non union coal terminal NCIG in the NSW State Parliament
15 May 2010 [Read More]

Union numbers rise
Workers turn to unions for better pay: new ABS data shows lift in union membership
12 May 2010 [Read More]

Budget good for jobs: Unions
Responding to the 2010 Federal Budget, ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:“The 2010 federal Budget is good for working Australians, good for the economy and good for future generations. It is a traditional Labor Budget that delivers tax cuts, better quality healthcare for a changing population, and higher superannuation for working people.
12 May 2010 [Read More]

Asbestos victims remember Shaw
Asbestos victims are mourning the death of former NSW attorney-general Jeff Shaw this morning, saying he will be remembered for making radical changes to the legal system that resulted in thousands of victims and their families receiving compensation.
12 May 2010 [Read More]

Community supports resource tax
There's a new way to show your support for the AWU campaign to make sure infrastructure investment goes back into remote and regional Australia.
10 May 2010 [Read More]

Mine bosses run scare campaign
The Australian Workers' Union is distributing a special leaflet to fight mine bosses lies, spread to scare workers' and their families.
06 May 2010 [Read More]

Low paid and Henry Review
The two track economy is a harsh reality for too many working Australians. The Henry Review reforms go some way to helping those being run over in the slow lane, says LHMU, one of Australia’s biggest unions.
03 May 2010 [Read More]

Workers big wins from tax changes
A lift in the Superannuation Guarantee to 12% and a new government contribution to low-paid workers' superannuation accounts are big wins for working Australians.
02 May 2010 [Read More]

NSW Premier backs transport unions
Key transport unions today said that Premier Keneally’s decision not to attend the official opening of the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group’s (NCIG) terminal on Monday should send a clear message to NCIG executives that it needs to reconsider a non-union agreement struck during the dying days of Work Choices.
30 April 2010 [Read More]

Drivers welcome paid waiting times
The Transport Workers Union has today welcomed new regulations outlined in the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy (PBLIS), saying paying drivers for time they spend waiting at the stevedore is a huge step forward for fairness and safety in the industry.
30 April 2010 [Read More]

Greed Inc dumps on young Aussies
A call from mining executives for the creation of a special northern economic zone permitting the use of temporary overseas labour is a short sighted response to skills shortage that sells out Australian youth, according to the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union.
30 April 2010 [Read More]

Sign Paid Parental leave petition
The ACTU is circulating a petition in support of the Commonwealth Government’s proposed Paid Parental Leave.
30 April 2010 [Read More]

Stand up to BHP on workplace safety
Politicians - of all political shades - are just too scared to stand up to BHP-Billiton and tell them that in a safe work place people should come before profits, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said on International Workers' Memorial Day.
28 April 2010 [Read More]

ABCC linked to construction deaths
Construction workers have linked the rising number of deaths in the construction industry with the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and have called for its immediate abolition.
27 April 2010 [Read More]

New union election campaign
Australian unions will today launch a new national advertising campaign aimed at exposing Tony Abbott’s plans to take Australia back to WorkChoices.
27 April 2010 [Read More]

AWU welcomes end to finance rip-offs
Unions members stand to get an extra $50,000 in their retirement funds because the Rudd Government has adopted proposals which will end dodgy rackets pushed by some financial advisers onto unsuspecting Australian workers, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes said today.
26 April 2010 [Read More]

MP backs NSW school cleaners
Member for Mulgoa Diane Beamer has been the first MP to support NSW school cleaners in their bid to win a fair cleaning contract from the state government.
22 April 2010 [Read More]

Lazy leader without genuine job plan
The Coalition's plan to scrap the dole for under-30s has been widely panned as a stupid idea - based on lazy policy development.
21 April 2010 [Read More]

Kearney elected unopposed at ACTU
Ged Kearney has been elected as the next President of the ACTU following the closure of nominations today for an upcoming casual vacancy.
20 April 2010 [Read More]

No Kalgoorlie miners hurt : AWU
Mines in the Kalgoorlie region have been shutdown because of the earthquake which hit the town and environs this morning.
20 April 2010 [Read More]

Billions ripped off workers' super
Australian workers are being forced to pay for financial advice they never ever receive from dodgy financial planners reaping in billions through hidden commissions, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, has warned.
19 April 2010 [Read More]

Leprosy claims ring MUA alarm bells
More evidence highlights need for urgent measures to revitalise Australian shipping .
18 April 2010 [Read More]

NSW hotel workers defeat developer
Some 60 jobs at the Ramada hotel Ballina have been saved through the collective efforts of LHMU activists and the local community.
16 April 2010 [Read More]

ABCC intimidates workers over Easter
The intimidatory tactics of the ABCC have sunk to a new low with the news that dozens of workers were served threatening letters by the agency on the eve of the Easter break.
15 April 2010 [Read More]

Playing ship roulette with our coast
"We have to ask ourselves if we are prepared to keep playing what amounts to a game of Russian, Panamanian or Liberian roulette with the Reef and our enviable coastline." - Paddy Crumlin, MUA
15 April 2010 [Read More]

Don't ignore teachers on MySchool
There are legitimate concerns over the inaccuracy and potential misuse of information on the MySchool website and the proposals by teachers for improvements should not be ignored, says the ACTU.
12 April 2010 [Read More]

Unions back asylum seekers
Australian unions have restated their support of a humanitarian immigration and refugee policy and called for strong leadership from all sides of politics to show compassion to asylum seekers fleeing strife-torn parts of the world.
12 April 2010 [Read More]

A union mine is a safe mine
The WA State government must recognise that BHP mines in this state have a very poor safety record, AWU West Australia Branch Secretary, Stephen Price , said today.
12 April 2010 [Read More]

Forest union gets US union support
Over the first quarter of 2010 the Union has been building on work in Tumut, begun in 2009, providing workers at the Visy Pulp Mill with information about the Union and their rights to join a Union under the new Fair Work laws.
10 April 2010 [Read More]

Near death on Port Kembla docks
28 tonne load misses waterside workers by less than a metre as union steps up call for safety code
09 April 2010 [Read More]

AMWU backs Robin Hood Tax
The AMWU is supporting proposals for a ‘Robin Hood’ tax, so-called because it would fund poverty relief by levying corporate financial transactions.
09 April 2010 [Read More]

Mandatory equal pay reporting welcom
Mandatory reporting requirements for businesses and beefed up powers for the Sex Discrimination Commissioner are crucial to reducing the pay gender gap, say unions.
07 April 2010 [Read More]

MUA letter to stevedoring bosses
MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin yesterday sent the following letter to all major stevedoring employers POAGS, DP World, Patricks, Toll, Asciano
06 April 2010 [Read More]

Wharfies honour fallen comrade
Wharves stop nationwide for waterside workers to remember tragic death of a mate - call for urgent safety action
06 April 2010 [Read More]

Hunter miners OK Rio Tinto agreement
Rank and file members of Mine Union at the Hunter Valley Operations mine and the Mount ThorleyWarkworth operation have voted in favour of new Enterprise Agreements with Rio Tino in two separate votes last Friday (26 March).
01 April 2010 [Read More]

Unions appeal FWA penalty decision
Unions will appeal against a decision by Fair Work Australia that forfeits overtime penalty rates for people working more than 38 hours a week.
30 March 2010 [Read More]

Time to give up Facebook witch-hunt
Prison Officers accused of misconduct for discussing their work on Facebook will keep their jobs – for the time being at least – after disciplinary proceedings were found to be “fundamentally flawed” by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
29 March 2010 [Read More]

State Funeral Chicka Dixon
A state funeral will be held this Wednesday at Town Hall in Sydney for wharfie and aboriginal activist Chicka Dixon.
28 March 2010 [Read More]

1st anniversary of Fair Work laws
The first anniversary of the passage of the Fair Work laws has highlighted the huge gap between the two major parties on industrial relations.
27 March 2010 [Read More]

Securing workers' entitlements
When companies collapse without paying their employees' entitlements, workers and their families are left devastated.
25 March 2010 [Read More]

TWU backs NRMA report
An NRMA report stating that the 300 deaths annually in the road transport industry cost the economy $2 billion each year should serve as a warning to business and the community that industry-wide change was urgent.
24 March 2010 [Read More]

Nadine Flood gets top CPSU job
Following a unanimous vote at last week's Governing Council meeting, Nadine Flood has been endorsed as the new National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).
24 March 2010 [Read More]

Nurses congrat Sharan Burrow
The Australian Nursing Federation has congratulated ACTU President Sharan Burrow after she was nominated unopposed for an international union leadership position this week.
23 March 2010 [Read More]

Vale Chicka Dixon - wharfie
Waterside worker and long time Aboriginal activist Charles "Chicka" Dixon has died in Sydney aged 81 - struck down by asbestos he contracted working on the wharves.
22 March 2010 [Read More]

Big Biz greedy attack on low paid
The demand by big businesses for a two year delay in any wage rise for about 1.4 million workers would drive down living standards and harm the economy, say unions.
19 March 2010 [Read More]

Pain and uncertainty at Drivetrain
The AMWU is seeking answers as to why 170 casual and fixed-term temporary staff were stood down at Albury gearbox manufacturer Drivetrain Systems International Holdings on March 10, 2010.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

Gvt backs bosses on right of entry?
The Federal Government's support for employers challenging a Fair Work Australia decision on right of entry for unions is a danger to workers and an attack on workers' rights.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

CPSU welcomes new whistleblower law
The new National Secretary of the CPSU, Nadine Flood, has warmly welcomed proposed new whistleblower legislation.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

Good Yennora auto plant jobs lost
Sydney's south-west manufacturing sector has taken a big hit as international car component parts manufacturer, Dana, shuts its Yennora plant, resulting in job losses of 115.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

West Syd nurse numbers unsafe
Nurses across the Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) will hold midday rallies at seven hospitals tomorrow, Thursday 18 March, to highlight the fact that nurse numbers at SWAHS hospitals and community health services have dropped to unsafe levels.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

CPSU's new leader Nadine Flood
The Community and Public Sector Union today endorsed Nadine Flood as its new national secretary to represent the interests of the nation’s 140,000 federal public sector workers.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

ACTU Lawrence speech to Press Club
When I last spoke at the National Press Club, two years ago, I was still relatively new to the job of ACTU Secretary. The government of Australia had just changed and the union movement was still fresh from the Your Rights at Work campaign.
18 March 2010 [Read More]

BA workers get TWU support
Responding to British Airways Management’s attempts to unilaterally impose massive cuts on cabin crew staff terms and conditions, (including a 25% reduction in crew numbers) thousands of BA Cabin Crew members have been working with their union Unite to reach a reasonable outcome of the companies demands. (sound familiar?)
17 March 2010 [Read More]

Low paid not 2nd class
LHMU, one of Australia's biggest unions, says the ACTU $27 per week minimum wage claim is an absolute necessity for award-dependent workers.
17 March 2010 [Read More]

ACTU wants $27 minimum wage rise
Unions will seek a $27 a week pay rise for workers on minimum wages who deserve their fair share of the economic recovery after unfairly shouldering the burden of the downturn.
17 March 2010 [Read More]

Poll: Thumbs up to health revolution
New polling by the ACTU shows that working Australians are worried that our health system is getting worse and not better and improving Australia’s hospitals and healthcare system is now the top national issue.
17 March 2010 [Read More]

2 year campaign for Maersk agreement
The AWU-MUA Offshore Alliance has after a two year campaign got the enterprise agreement with Maersk to a point for the crews to consider in a vote.
16 March 2010 [Read More]

Teacher2Teacher
Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA are proud to launch a new campaign aiming to link Australian teachers with their primary school teacher counterparts in Southern Laos.
15 March 2010 [Read More]

AWU warns of super shysters
The Federal Labor Government should find new ways to help Australians save for a decent retirement by committing to the long held union view that we need 15% compulsory superannuation.
15 March 2010 [Read More]

CEPU targeting new members
It’s straight-forward logic: the more union members that exist in a workplace, the stronger the voice we all have in getting better wages and conditions.
12 March 2010 [Read More]

UN body slams ABCC
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has found the Rudd Government’s construction industry laws breach international labour standards by targeting workers, and their right to belong to unions, for prosecution in an unfair way.
11 March 2010 [Read More]

Equal Pay Campaign starts
The newly-formed Equal Pay Alliance will today call on all political parties and employers to properly value women’s work and close the 17% wage gap between men and women once and for all, as it launches a national equal pay campaign in Canberra.
11 March 2010 [Read More]

Make aged care an election issue
The Australian Nursing Federation launched its national ad campaign in Sydney with the priority of making aged care an election year issue.
10 March 2010 [Read More]

MUA boxing for a good cause
War on the wharves - maritime workers fighting for a great cause in this weeks boxing stoush - $35,000 for Children's hospital
08 March 2010 [Read More]

IWD celebrate women in construction
The CFMEU marks International Women’s Day – March 8 – by drawing attention to the achievements of women in the Australian construction industry, and encouraging more women to pursue a career in construction
08 March 2010 [Read More]

Star City staff kick off campaign
Star City staff today kick off a campaign to win public support for a fair pay offer for workers during this afternoon’s A-League semi-final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. Star City is a sponsor of Sydney FC.
08 March 2010 [Read More]

$50 pay cut for young workers
Australian workers will suffer cuts to their pay and conditions and lose protection from unfair dismissal under Liberal leader Tony Abbott’s plan to bring back WorkChoices, warns a new national union TV ad campaign launched today.
07 March 2010 [Read More]

Historic childcare win!
In December 2009 childcare professionals voted overwhelmingly in favour of improving conditions and real wage increases for ABC staff. Fair Work Australia, a tribunal, has approved this agreement which means it can be enforced.
05 March 2010 [Read More]

Unions OK new awards action plan
Employers must give commitments that they will not use changes to the award system to rip off workers’ pay or conditions, say unions.
04 March 2010 [Read More]

Boeing shows little respect
Boeing's workforce in Western Sydney has been treated with little or no respect with the company announcing it is shutting its aerospace engineering site without any consultation with the workers or their unions.
04 March 2010 [Read More]

Boeing shuts in NSW 400 + jobs go
Boeing's announcement that it will close its Milperra aerospace engineering site, costing up to 400 jobs, is a terrible blow to the workers and their families.
04 March 2010 [Read More]

No place for sex discrimination
Australian employers, including some of the nation’s biggest companies, must lift their game to end sex discrimination in the workplace and improve pay and opportunities for women, say unions.
03 March 2010 [Read More]

Rate rise creates low-pay pressure
Today’s rate rise by the Reserve Bank will add to the living costs of working families and underlines the need for a decent increase to minimum wages this year, say unions.
02 March 2010 [Read More]

Act Now Protest union discrimination
For almost two years the MUA-AWU Offshore Alliance members on the drill rig Nan Hai 6 have been trying to seal a deal with an iconic Danish shipping giant Maersk.
02 March 2010 [Read More]

Oz Rigworkers held 'captive'
For the past two weeks Norwegian offshore drilling company Songa Offshore, operators of the Australian manned drilling rig Songa Venus, have been refusing the right to shore leave for rig workers whilst the rig is Singapore for survey and refit work.
28 February 2010 [Read More]

MUA minutes silence for workmate
Workers on wharves across Australia will observe a minutes silence at 12 noon today (Friday February 26) in a mark of respect for Brad Gray who died in a workplace accident in Brisbane.
26 February 2010 [Read More]

Demand industrial manslaugher laws
Australian construction workers have today slammed both sides of politics for turning their backs on moves towards nationwide industrial manslaughter laws.
26 February 2010 [Read More]

Historic asbestos widow win
Turner Freeman Lawyers had a historic win after an eight year legal battle that will not only deliver compensation to three asbestos widows, but also set a precedent that could allow hundreds or thousands of former wharfies to receive compensation for exposure to deadly asbestos.
25 February 2010 [Read More]

FBU warns of arbitary boundaries
Bureaucratic boundaries between areas served by NSW Fire Brigade officers and volunteer bushfire crews are causing confusion and putting lives at risk.
25 February 2010 [Read More]

Tas photo exhibit on asbestos crisis
The Australian Workers' Union is happy to be one of the sponsors of an extraordinary photographic portrait exhibition, putting a heart-rending sympathetic focus on the widows who have lost husbands to asbestos related diseases in Australia.
25 February 2010 [Read More]

TWU welcomes White Paper
The Transport Workers Union today welcomed the Federal Government’s Counter Terrorism Whitepaper, saying corporate Australia also needed to heed international warnings and strengthen security.
24 February 2010 [Read More]

AWU campaigns for Mexican unionists
The Australian Workers' Union has joined a global campaign to support striking miners in Mexico demanding the right to have their voices heard loudly and clearly at work.
21 February 2010 [Read More]

ITUC and Palestinian/Israeli unions
In a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on 16 February, ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder discussed the deep economic problems confronting Palestinians, and the government’s plans to tackle a series of labour issues including vocational training, employment services, occupational health and safety and labour inspection.
20 February 2010 [Read More]

CFMEU meets Palestine Ambassador
The Ambassador and Head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Mr. Izzat Abdulhadi spoke at the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the CFMEU yesterday in Sydney.
19 February 2010 [Read More]

APHEDA's new Palestinian appeal
Help APHEDA- Union Aid Abroad in 'Bringing Health Home for Palestinians'.
19 February 2010 [Read More]

AWU warns bushfire tragedy ahead
Victorians continue to face devastating loss of lives because the state is not employing enough people to fight bushfires, the Australia Workers' Union Victorian State Secretary, Cesar Melhem, told the Bushfires Royal Commission on Friday.
19 February 2010 [Read More]

Rudd Labor hurt by Qld Gvt plan
A new Queensland poll confirms the State Government’s privatisation plans will severely affect Federal Labor’s chances in Queensland in this year’s election.
18 February 2010 [Read More]

TWU fights Qantas sex discrimination
The Transport Workers Union yesterday filed an application for a general protections dispute with Fair Work Australia that seeks to reverse a recent decision by Qantas to bar all women from 47 new permanent positions created at Sydney Airport.
18 February 2010 [Read More]

Creating good new jobs
Australian governments should leverage investment from foreign sovereign wealth funds to improve national infrastructure investment, skills and industry - through a new Sovereign Capital Trading Scheme, and a related Australian Endowment Fund, The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) said today.
17 February 2010 [Read More]

Rally against Rio
Maritime workers gather outside the offices of Rio Tinto in Collins Street Melbourne to protest the company locking out miners in western Californian town of Boron.
16 February 2010 [Read More]

ACTU poll shows Aust'ns wary of Libs
A majority of Australians believe a Liberal Government led by Tony Abbott-led will bring back WorkChoices, a new national opinion poll released today shows.
15 February 2010 [Read More]

Star City's bluff called!
Today, Star City management lost its bid to stop workers’ planned 24-hour strike on the first day of Chinese New Year. The strike will go ahead!
12 February 2010 [Read More]

ACTU insulation safety focus
The Liberal Party is crying crocodile tears over the deaths of insulation installers after doing nothing to improve workplace safety during 12 years in office, say unions.
13 February 2010 [Read More]

CFMEU concern about home insulation
The CFMEU said today that it was critical of training standards across unregulated sections of the building and construction industry.
12 February 2010 [Read More]

More safety training needed
The deaths of young workers installing home insulation are unacceptable and the program should be halted until it can be demonstrated to unions that much tighter safety and training standards are in place to properly protect workers.
11 February 2010 [Read More]

Import steel costs 2000 Oz jobs
The announcement that Chevron intends to import 25 000 tonnes of steel for the Gorgon Project in Western Australia means an opportunity for 2000 jobs including 300 apprenticeships will be lost.
10 February 2010 [Read More]

CFMEU backs Indigenous protest
CFMEU volunteers from around the country are assisting members of an Indigenous protest camp in the Northern Territory to build a prefabricated house at the camp.
10 February 2010 [Read More]

Traffic control industry regulated
The Australian Workers' Union will pursue a nationwide campaign to improve conditions in the safety industry following Minister for Main Roads, Craig Wallace's decision to regulate the Traffic Controllers Industry in Queensland.
10 February 2010 [Read More]

Sacked on honeymoon
Take the time to support the CFMEU email protest campaign in support of a young Indian worker sacked while he was on his honeymoon.
09 February 2010 [Read More]

LHMU member survey
LHMU is currently running an on-line survey amongst members. The survey follows a series of 10 focus groups with LHMU members held around Australia in late 2009.
09 February 2010 [Read More]

Solidarity with Guam wharfies
The Maritime Union of Australia and the US International Longshore and Warehouse Union have responded to a call for solidarity from dock workers in the US Pacific island of Guam with the following joint declaration.
07 February 2010 [Read More]

RadioLabour - our voice to the world
The labour movement has created a new tool in its efforts to build national and international solidarity: an audio news show on the Internet.
05 February 2010 [Read More]

Cleaners help Govt clean up act!
Lyndal Ryan, LHMU ACT Branch Secretary and ACTU representative on the Federal Government Procurement Consultative Committee, talks about what we can expect from the remaining process to finalise the 'Best Practice Cleaning Standards'.
04 February 2010 [Read More]

Support NSW Star City casino workers
Star City workers have been fighting to win a fair wage offer from the casino for more than eight months and need your support.
04 February 2010 [Read More]

MUA highlights security loopholes
Maritime workers demand government action on real security loopholes and stop witch hunt of transport workers.
04 February 2010 [Read More]

Rig workers meeting a great success
Workers from five rigs attended a meeting in Fremantle on the 2nd of February to hear reports from AWU/MUA Alliance officials on the many positive developments in the campaign to organise workers in the exploration industry.
04 February 2010 [Read More]

Less than $15 for older workers
The Federal Government needs to do more than throw less than $15 per person at training initiatives, if it is serious about increasing workforce participation among mature age Australians, construction workers say.
03 February 2010 [Read More]

Abbott misses on climate change
The federal opposition’s response to climate change fails to grasp the enormous challenge of moving Australia onto a cleaner energy footing, and ignores the economic and environmental risk of doing too little too late.
02 February 2010 [Read More]

Reserve Bank did the right thing
The Reserve Bank has done the right thing by keeping interest rates on hold, with the recent sequence of rate hikes putting extra pressure on household budgets, say unions.
02 February 2010 [Read More]

Rambo style port action
“Government is squandering an opportunity to make effective changes to national security and instead is adopting a Rambo-style scattergun approach by increasing the offences by which workers will be excluded from holding an ID card.
02 February 2010 [Read More]

ITF launches Oz grain blitz
The International Transport Workers Federation in Australian as part of the Flag of Convenience campaign has launched a targeted inspection of South Australian Bulk ships calling it the ITF “Grain Blitz”.
02 February 2010 [Read More]

Increase super to 15%: ACTU
Unions will push for the superannuation guarantee to be raised to 15% following the release of a new government report on the economic impact of Australia’s rapidly ageing population.
01 February 2010 [Read More]

Treat Pluto workers with respect
Workers helping build the Pluto project on the North West shelf should comply with the orders that have been issued by the Federal Court and return to work say unions.
29 January 2010 [Read More]

MUA cancels 48 hour action
In a major turnaround in a hearing before Fair Work Australia today the Maritime Union of Australia today withdrew from a scheduled 48-hour strike action involving the operations of Total Marine Service, after the company’s withdrew the legal action to stop the industrial action.
28 January 2010 [Read More]

TMS offer to MUA falls short
Further protected action at Total Marine Services when offer fails to deliver negotiation points .
26 January 2010 [Read More]

Public sector unions pledge to Haiti
The CPSU, Australia's major Public Service Trade Union, today announced that it would, start the contributions to the Public Services fund for the Haiti Aid Appeal, with a $40 thousand donation to the victims of the disasterous earthquake,
26 January 2010 [Read More]

Win for Esperance MUA
Strike called off, yesterday, as port and union reach agreement on pay and conditions
25 January 2010 [Read More]

James Hardie book reviewed
Australia has the highest recorded incidence of mesothelioma in the world because in the period from 1945 until the mid 1970s Australia was one of the highest users of asbestos based products.
22 January 2010 [Read More]

ITF backs Vietnam air safety probe
The International Transportworkers Federation (ITF) today backed the Transport Workers Union of Australia’s (TWU) plans to investigate reports of alleged safety shortcomings involving Australian-owned airlines operating out of Vietnam.
22 January 2010 [Read More]

Joe Hockey would king hit jobs
Joe Hockey's announcement that he wanted to slash subsidies to key Australian manufacturing industries would put at risk the security of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing workers and their families.
21 January 2010 [Read More]

Beating up on the MUA
The Australian daily finally gives the MUA a short and belated right of reply, More, we would expect, is to come .
20 January 2010 [Read More]

Invest in skills, infrastructure
Major investment in skills, training and infrastructure will be needed if Australia is to respond to the challenge of lifting productivity growth, say unions.
19 January 2010 [Read More]

Unions query Qantas' Vietnam safety
The Transport Workers Union of Australia has today written letters to the Vietnamese Government and their ambassador in Australia to inform them of the Union’s intent to investigate alleged safety breaches by Australian airlines operating out of Vietnam.
18 January 2010 [Read More]

Union appeal for Haiti
On Tuesday 12th January, the small Caribbean nation of Haiti was hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake. The capital of Port-au-Prince, a city of 3 million people, lies in ruins.
18 January 2010 [Read More]

Asbestos safety breach - MUA
Members of the Maritime Workers Union who have been shifting asbestos to Barrow Island for the Gorgon gas project are refusing to return to work until their safety is guaranteed.
14 January 2010 [Read More]

Welcome jobs news - but warning
A drop in Australia’s unemployment rate for the third month in a row is encouraging and may indicate that the peak has passed, but December’s over-reliance on part-time jobs growth may also be masking underlying problems, say unions.
14 January 2010 [Read More]

Big oil rig workers meeting in West
Oil rig workers are holding a meeting early in February to discuss the rig workers campaign in 2010 and the growth of the Off-Shore oil workers alliance.
14 January 2010 [Read More]

Bosses recognise workers' rights
Rio Tinto’s decision to negotiate a new collective agreement for train drivers in the Pilbara iron ore region is a welcome sign that the Rudd Government’s Fair Work laws are working, say unions.
14 January 2010 [Read More]

Bosses must reject Abetz : MUA
Maritime Union of Australia, National Secretary, Paddy Crumlin today called upon maritime employers to distance themselves from the insults made by Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Eric Abetz directed at offshore workers in the Hydrocarbon industry.
12 January 2010 [Read More]

Blow away AMMA smokescreen: MUA
AMMA members are not bargaining in good faith and AMMA is encouraging its members to not bargain in good faith
12 January 2010 [Read More]

Farstad action as talks disappoint
The Maritime Union of Australia today said further industrial protected action planned for Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday next week at Farstad Shipping was regrettable but members felt they had no alternative after negotiations disappointed.
07 January 2010 [Read More]

TWU wants Qantas jobs, security deal
The Transport Workers Union today said that any deal between the Qantas group of companies and Malaysia’s AirAsia must have best practice safety, security and employment conditions as a priority.
06 January 2010 [Read More]

Piracy guidelines for Oz seafarers
In the first six months of last year 78 ships were boarded, 75 ships fired upon and 31 ships hijacked with some 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured, seven kidnapped, six killed and eight missing. The Federal Goverment has now taken notice and provided guidelines to help protect Australian maritime workers.
06 January 2010 [Read More]

Tougher action needed on exec pay
Australia enters a new decade at risk of repeating the mistakes of the past few years unless tighter restrictions are imposed on executive pay packets, say unions.
04 January 2010 [Read More]

Refinery shutdown a strategic threat
Australia's strategic interests are threatened by the shutdown of the Caltex Lubricating Oil Refinery at Kurnell and should immediately be reconsidered, the National Secretary of The Australian Workers' Union, Paul Howes, said.
03 January 2010 [Read More]

New Year laws cover guest workers
Australian labour laws will now cover foreign seafarers, guest workers, on ships trading Australian domestic cargo on our coast, in a major victory for Australian shipping and both Australian and international seafarers.
31 December 2009 [Read More]

TWU urges drivers to take care
The Transport Workers Union has urged all motorists to be careful throughout the remainder of the holiday season and reminded drivers that truck movements are the same across the year, including in the holiday period.
30 December 2009 [Read More]

New protections and standards: ACTU
New minimum employment standards that come into effect on New Year's Day will be good for all Australian workers and represent a major step forward from WorkChoices, say unions.
30 December 2009 [Read More]

Fatigue factor discounted: MUA
Australian and Denmark fall out over cause of death for seafarer as MUA marks first anniversary of the death of delegate Trevor Moore
27 December 2009 [Read More]

Unions help Palestinian workers
The ITF sponsored project to improve the daily conditions of road transport workers inside the Palestinian West Bank established in 2007 needs to be transformed into two parallel campaigns to organise drivers on both sides of the border between Palestine and Israel.
24 December 2009 [Read More]

CEPU welcomes new Oz Post boss
The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union has welcomed the appointment of the corporation's new Managing Director.
23 December 2009 [Read More]

ACTU send Oz Post a message
The ACTU has stepped into the public debate about our members' current dispute with Australia Post, with a simple message for the corporation: "get back to the bargaining table."
22 December 2009 [Read More]

MUA welcomes Syd Ferries decision
The NSW Government announced today it will keep Sydney Ferries in public hands after a long fought campaign by the Maritime Union, residents and supporters,
22 December 2009 [Read More]

Gvt must flex muscle on AXA sale
The Finance Sector Union today called on the Rudd Government to flex some regulatory muscle in the finance industry and learn from past mistakes. It wants the Government to attach tough conditions to any possible sale of AXA insurance to protect jobs and consumers.
22 December 2009 [Read More]

Post union friends worldwide
Unions from across the world have offered their support to our campaign for a fairer EBA7.
22 December 2009 [Read More]

MUA stoppages suspended
Maritime workers, union and TMS to talk as union suspends 48 hours stoppage
21 December 2009 [Read More]

Copenhagen fails to deliver: ACTU
At the close of the Copenhagen conference, world leaders must move to resume negotiation to tackle climate change, before it is too late, say unions.
19 December 2009 [Read More]

Post workers offer halt to action
Postal workers are ready to halt all industrial action planned for today through to Monday evening if Australia Post senior management agrees to meet to resolve outstanding issues in the postal dispute.
18 December 2009 [Read More]

MUA defends workers claims
Following media coverage today of the protected industrial action on the North West shelf the MUA’s national secretary Paddy Crumlin makes the following statement.
18 December 2009 [Read More]

Safe rates for truckies step closer
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has today welcomed the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Industrial Relations, Julia Gillard, saying the government will work with the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation (ARTIO) and the TWU to formulate legislation for safe rates for truck drivers.
16 December 2009 [Read More]

Airport screeners Xmas strike
Domestic aviation screeners are today expected to win the right to take industrial action.
16 December 2009 [Read More]

Nat'l protest at Oz Post tactics
The major union covering employees within Australia Post has announced that from tomorrow it will be commencing a series of work stoppages across the country.
16 December 2009 [Read More]

Corporate vandals hit building ind'y
THE Hightrade affair has been nothing if not a lesson in how the building and construction industry is susceptible to some of the worst corporate practices in Australia, Andrew Ferguson, CFMEU NSW Construction Union Secretary wrote for The Newcastle Herald.
16 December 2009 [Read More]

AWU & World's Biggest Relief Package
This holiday season The Australian Workers' Union is backing the creation of the World's Biggest Relief Package a project of the UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee agency, who provide and coordinate international relief for refugees and displaced people.
14 December 2009 [Read More]

Pay rise: Spotless school cleaners
After many months of negotiations, LHMU has finalised an Enterprise Agreement with Spotless in school cleaning.
14 December 2009 [Read More]

Free mail from today
Postal workers across Australia will deliver mail today regardless of whether it is stamped.
14 December 2009 [Read More]

Justice, Australia Post style
Disruptions to Christmas mail deliveries may become a reality following controversial moves by Australia Post to dock large slabs of pay – for observing bans for as little as 15 minutes.
11 December 2009 [Read More]

No Winners from 2nd Rate Safety
A disturbing thing will happen today. Federal and state Labor government ministers will agree to weaken key aspects of workplace safety law. It will be a sad day for working people and an ignominious day for the political wing of the labour movement.
11 December 2009 [Read More]

ACTU on workplace deaths
A sharp rise in work-related fatalities last year shows that proposed new workplace health and safety laws need to be strengthened, not watered down, say unions.
11 December 2009 [Read More]

TWU wants RSL backing
The Transport Workers Union is travelling through regional NSW to raise support from the Returned Servicemen’s League for improved services for Defence Personel as they move houses.
10 December 2009 [Read More]

CPSU's Telstra industrial action
Eligible members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) in Telstra are taking protected industrial action to protest against stalled negotiations at the telecommunications company.
10 December 2009 [Read More]

A great week for childcare

10 December 2009 [Read More]

MUA urges Farstad to deal
The Maritime Union of Australia has urged the management of Farstad Shipping to get serious about negotiations and produce a genuine formal offer rather than a scribbled note over lunch.
10 December 2009 [Read More]

Monday free Xmas mail day
Consumers across Australia will be presented with the opportunity to send their mail postage free from Monday after postal workers announced details of protected industrial action at Australia Post.
09 December 2009 [Read More]

Abetz will relish union attack role
Tony Abbott has signaled that he is not going to pull any punches in his war on workplace rights with the appointment today of Senator Eric Abetz as his IR spokesperson, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said today.
08 December 2009 [Read More]

MUA meets Indian women port workers
MUA National Secretary and Chair of the International Transport Workers' Dockers Section Paddy Crumlin attended the All India Port & Dock Workers' Federation (AIPDWF) for women worker activists in Mumbai last week.
08 December 2009 [Read More]

Posties record vote OKs action
Postal workers across Australia have voted overwhelmingly – and in record numbers – to take protected industrial action against Australia Post leading into Christmas.
08 December 2009 [Read More]

Nth Coast nurse protests
Protest rallies on Wednesday at four centres. Join the north coast nurses in their fight for safe patient care.
07 December 2009 [Read More]

Childcare workers warn COAG

07 December 2009 [Read More]

Offshore workers industrial action
The Maritime Union has defended the rights of workers to take protected industrial action against claims by the Australian Mines and Metals Association that the 48 stoppage underway was irresponsible.
05 December 2009 [Read More]

Libs want to scrap job protections
Liberal leader Tony Abbott’s promise to exempt small business from unfair dismissal laws will expose millions of Australian workers to no job security, say unions.
04 December 2009 [Read More]

Talks over Alcoa job losses
The Australian Workers' Union Victorian Branch is angered by plans to cut 90 jobs at the Geelong Plant of Alcoa Australia Rolled Products.
04 December 2009 [Read More]

A love that dare not speak its name
The Liberals’ determination to bring back WorkChoices-style individual contracts is a threat to the pay, conditions and job security of working Australians, say unions.
03 December 2009 [Read More]

Abbott will make jobs less secure
New Liberal leader Tony Abbott's promise to bring back WorkChoices under a different name will mean the jobs of working Australians will be less secure if the Coalition is elected.
02 December 2009 [Read More]

Industry must talk to Lib Senators
The Australian Workers’ Union is hoping that in the next few hours industry leaders will let Liberal Senators know that any vote to delay the Federal Government’s CPRS legislation is unsustainable.
01 December 2009 [Read More]

Manufacturing Alliance in Tassie
Australia's two largest blue collar unions are in Tasmania today as part of a national campaign to secure manufacturing jobs for the future.
30 November 2009 [Read More]

Unions welcome new insulation scheme
Unions have welcomed today’s announcement by the Federal Government that it will boost safety and training standards for the Home Insulation Program.
30 November 2009 [Read More]

Xmas mail could be free
Consumers across Australia can look forward to potentially sending their Christmas mail for free as postal workers vote to take protected industrial action.
30 November 2009 [Read More]

287 crosses: Graveyard must not grow
The TWU’s campaign for Safe Rates continues at Federal Parliament. The graveyard will travel around Australia over coming months.
27 November 2009 [Read More]

Casualisation Concerns
Casual employees working regular hours should have the opportunity to convert to permanent status after six months, Unions NSW Secretary Mark Lennon said, as a major study revealed a disturbing rate of casualisation during the economic downturn.
26 November 2009 [Read More]

Childcare workers petition Minister
Childcare professionals Anya Errey and Kylie Schneider met with NSW Minister for Community Services Linda Burney last week and handed over more than six hundred petitions from childcare professionals and parents.
25 November 2009 [Read More]

AWU says pass CPRS laws now!
The Federal Government's proposed CPRS legislation will be good for the economy and good for the Australian environment, The Australian Workers' Union, said today.
25 November 2009 [Read More]

Flags fly on White Ribbon Day
It's White Ribbon Day, day for the elimination of all violence against women, and the MUA is flying the flag nationwide .
25 November 2009 [Read More]

Burrow to seek new int'l union role
ACTU President Sharan Burrow has today announced she will seek nomination next year for election to General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
24 November 2009 [Read More]

AWU backs White Ribbon Day
The AWU is urging all members to get behind White Ribbon Day on 25 November - an international campaign for the elimination of Violence Against Women.
24 November 2009 [Read More]

Job security no 1 issue
Job security is the number one issue for working Australians and their families and the Federal Government should examine the need for tougher regulations on businesses, say unions.
23 November 2009 [Read More]

Coal miners want job guarantees
Mining giants must be forced to guarantee jobs in exchange for more climate change compensation, Australian coalmine workers will tell both sides of politics in Canberra today.
21 November 2009 [Read More]

Let’s use good Aussie steel
If Australian steel is good enough to use on projects across the globe -then we should be ensuring the big new Australian infrastructure projects now coming on line also use our steel, the Australian Workers' Union said today.
20 November 2009 [Read More]

Aged care workers Fed submission
LHMU members make up 75% of the aged care workforce, so when it came to putting a submission into the Federal Government, members were in the front row seat.
19 November 2009 [Read More]

Epidemic of unpaid OT
An epidemic of unpaid overtime is costing hundreds of thousands of Australians time with their families and has worsened during the economic downturn, say unions.
18 November 2009 [Read More]

Mine Union takes fight to Canberra
General President Tony Maher will lead a delegation of rank and file coal mineworkers from Queensland and NSW to Canberra this Wednesday for meetings with the Federal Government and the Opposition on job security for workers in the coal industry as Parliament commences debate on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).
17 November 2009 [Read More]

MUA defends oi and gas workers role
The Maritime Union of Australia said protected industrial action planned by maritime workers employed by Farstad Shipping had been taken responsibly within the Fair Work Act and rejected claims of the action being "reckless or destructive".
13 November 2009 [Read More]

Act Now back Canada's Steelworkers!
Our biggest ally in North America has reached out to Australian Workers' Union members asking for our help to win a strike in Canada which has now stretched out for 4 months.
13 November 2009 [Read More]

Swan says stay Stronger Together
Australia has earned the respect and regard of the global community for how our people have responded to the biggest challenge to the living standards of working people around the world, since the Great Depression.
13 November 2009 [Read More]

Int'l leader slams climate politics
One of the key players in the global trade union movement has condemned the Opposition's division on climate change heading into the Copenhagen meeting warning that Australia must stand by its Pacific neighbours.
11 November 2009 [Read More]

Qantas screening safety threat
The International Transport Workers Federation’s Oceania conference in Sydney will today vote on a motion on baggage on Qantas’ planes, which in part, “reserves the right to impose restrictions on loading and unloading Australian bags if security concerns aren't urgently resolved”.
11 November 2009 [Read More]

TWU halts traffic for safe rates
Transport Workers Union members this morning staged a protest in at a Sydney CBD intersection to raise awareness of the economic pressures in the industry that has seen 287 people killed in truck crashes in the last year.
10 November 2009 [Read More]

Prevent watering down of OHS laws
In a new submission to governments, unions say time is running out to prevent a weakening of workplace health and safety protections.
10 November 2009 [Read More]

Balmains backs Sydney Ferries
Residents of Balmain come out in support of Sydney Ferries at Local Council meeting and call on the State Government to retain Sydney Ferries in public hands.
09 November 2009 [Read More]

Mining,Maritime union $$ to refugees
As the 78 Sr Lankan asylum seekers move into their 20th day at sea, Australian seafarers, miners and wharfies plan to hand $10,000 to the refugees to help them in their crisis.
06 November 2009 [Read More]

AWU-Auspoll job confidence survey
Australian workers want the Rudd Labor Government to keep spending in support of job creation, a tracking survey conducted by The Australian Workers' Union has shown
06 November 2009 [Read More]

Churches, Unions Unite for Refugees
Churches and trade unions in NSW have formed an historic alliance, calling for a humane solution for the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers currently aboard the Oceanic Viking in the Indian Ocean.
05 November 2009 [Read More]

National roundtable eyes jobs future
A national manufacturing roundtable in Canberra has seen key company, government and union leaders come together to map out a future for Australian manufacturing.
30 October 2009 [Read More]

The Humane Solution
The Australian Government must immediately find a humane solution for the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking, according to Unions NSW.
29 October 2009 [Read More]

Workers rally for safety laws
Thousands of workers will hold protest meetings in Sydney and Melbourne today to push for stronger workplace health and safety laws so that fewer workers are injured or killed.
28 October 2009 [Read More]

Unions to boost manufacturing jobs
The Manufacturing Alliance will today meet with business and government leaders to discuss growth and productivity strategies in the manufacturing sector, seeking tripartite solutions to promote innovation and boost jobs on
28 October 2009 [Read More]

Directions for a safe secure future
Just before I started writing this message, I received a poem via our website,The Rigger's Lament, which is a moving and critical reflection on the working man’s struggle to earn a living in the current economic climate.
26 October 2009 [Read More]

Manufacturing Alliance plan for jobs
Australia's two largest manufacturing unions called on business and government today to work with unions and their members to ensure Australian manufacturing experiences strong growth following the global financial crisis (GFC).
26 October 2009 [Read More]

Clean Start for sustainable industry
After a successful three and a half year campaign, cleaners have not only achieved fair pay and working conditions for themselves; they have also educated industry stakeholders on the need to move on to a sustainable footing as an industry.
24 October 2009 [Read More]

Unions seeks urgent bushfire talks
The Australian Workers' Union will be seeking urgent talks with the Queensland Government after its members reported poor resourcing and little support as they battled fires in National Parks, including around Rockhampton.
21 October 2009 [Read More]

Are you on Twitter?
Are you one of the many AWU members now using Twitter to stay in touch with friends and family - and to keep up with breaking news?
21 October 2009 [Read More]

NSW cleaners WON!
Sydney cleaners celebrated a historic win in their three and a half year campaign for fair pay and working conditions on Anti-Poverty day with a big cake and sparklers at Town Hall.
16 October 2009 [Read More]

AWU wins for West Coast miners
The Australian Workers' Union Tasmania branch has welcomed the Tasmanian Government's support for the more than 180 Mt Lyell miners who were put of work in August - because of a mudslide which shut down the Queenstown mine.
15 October 2009 [Read More]

Protecting mature age blokes jobs
he Rudd Government must take urgent steps to protect the jobs and skills of mature age Australian workers in the interest of the long-term future of the nation’s construction industry, the CFMEU will urge today as part of a bold new plan for the building and construction sector.
15 October 2009 [Read More]

James Hardie Book Launch - THURDSAY!
7:30 report journalist and author Matt Peacock will launch his expose on James Hardie, Killer Company this Thursday night at the Sydney Trades Hall.
14 October 2009 [Read More]

Keep tax $$$ away from dodgy bosses
Cleaners were there when the Federal Government's new Procurement Consultation Committee met for the first time in Sydney this morning.
13 October 2009 [Read More]

TULIP launches Solidarity Fund
London, UK - At the inaugural Executive meeting of Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine (TULIP) on Monday 12th October 2009, the trade union leaders from three continents forming the Executive, decided to launch a TULIP Solidarity Fund.
13 October 2009 [Read More]

Crew refuses to sail Tassie ship
"They took a stand on Friday and refused to sail," said MUA Tasmania Branch Secretary Jason Campbell.
12 October 2009 [Read More]

Tas miners get $600,000 assistance
The Australian Workers' Union has welcomed the announcement today by Vedanta and Copper Mines of Tasmania to put together an assistance package to help mine workers through the current stand-down period.
09 October 2009 [Read More]

MUA response to port security report
“Terrorism offences or related activity need to be a serious consideration in port and national security but at the same time the rights of maritime workers need to be protected.
09 October 2009 [Read More]

Gotta Love Sydney Ferries
An expanded public ferry service will ease congestion in Sydney’s West, while cut backs and sell offs will make it worse.
09 October 2009 [Read More]

Do Qantas Board deserve re-election?
Do the Qantas Board Members deserve re-election? That is one of the questions that will be considered by shareholders at the upcoming Qantas Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday 21st October 2009 at 11:00am at the River View Room, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
07 October 2009 [Read More]

AWU concern at BHP prison labour
At a time when South Australia has a rising unemployment rate - and youth unemployment stands at 17 per cent - hugely profitable companies like BHP should not be getting an opportunity to use prison labour at their Olympic Dam site, the Australian Worker's Union said today.
07 October 2009 [Read More]

Julia Gillard bats for Clean Start
Deputy Prime Minister The Hon Julia Gillard MP this morning announced she will write to all State and Territory Governments to encourage them to join the Australian Government by signing on to Clean Start.
02 October 2009 [Read More]

CFMEU digs deep for Samoa/Tonga
Australian construction workers have said today they will dig deep for Samoa and Tonga, pledging to raise funds for communities devastated by yesterday¹s tsunami.
01 October 2009 [Read More]

APHEDA assists Samoa/Phillipines
On 30 September Samoa, Tonga and American Samoa were hit by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, leaving an estimated 150 dead and 1,000 homes destroyed. Last week, the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Ketsana, leaving 3,000 people dead and 380,000 homeless.
01 October 2009 [Read More]

Manufacturing Alliance jobs for SA
The heads of Australia's biggest blue-collar unions are in South Australia today meeting workers at the ASC, a submarine and ship building company, as part of the two unions' Manufacturing Alliance jobs campaign
30 September 2009 [Read More]

CFMEU warns: Coal job scare scam
General President Tony Maher has issued an alert to all members of our Union as the mining companies embark on a jobs scare campaign throughout regional communities claiming that many thousands will be lost if coal does not get huge compensation for the emissions trading scheme proposed by the Rudd Government.
30 September 2009 [Read More]

Solidarity with Irish dockers rally
The MUA Sydney Branch is organising a demonstration against Deutsche Bank in Sydney on Stop Work Meeting Day, Tuesday 29 September.
29 September 2009 [Read More]

Cutting stimulus package risks jobs
Calls to wind back Australia’s economic stimulus program reek of a dangerous return to business as usual with no concern for jobs or the employment security of working Australians, say unions.
29 September 2009 [Read More]

Manufacturing Alliance promotes WA
The heads of Australia's biggest blue-collar unions are in Kwinana, Western Australia today to address workers at the Alcoa refinery, as part of the two unions' Manufacturing Alliance jobs campaign.
29 September 2009 [Read More]

BHP delos respond to corporate greed
Our Union's BHP Billiton Delegates representing 5,000 workers across the company's coal and iron ore operations have responded to the decision by the company to award its CEO a 51% pay rise to $12.08 million by endorsing a strong agenda for improved wages and conditions across the company.
28 September 2009 [Read More]

Shipping and climate change
As maritime workers celebrated World Maritime Day’s theme of Shipping and Climate Change by marching to the National Maritime Museum, they emphasised that new ships would bring even greater energy efficiency and CO2 reductions to the national freight industry.
28 September 2009 [Read More]

Premier Bartlett meets AWU miners
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes will lead a delegation of Mt Lyell workers to meet with Tasmanian Premier Bartlett about their predicament, having spent a month stood down while their workplace is remediated following a mudslide.
28 September 2009 [Read More]

Campaign for Tassie mining community
The union representing stood down workers at Mt Lyell mine in Queenstown, Tasmania is gearing up for a national campaign in support of its members affected by the temporary closure of the mine
27 September 2009 [Read More]

Work Life Balance
New research has found virtually all university staff work unpaid weekend overtime.
03 September 2009 [Read More]

Gotta Love Sydney Ferries
A coalition of community groups has launched a new campaign to keep Sydney’s famous green and gold ferries in public hands.
21 August 2009 [Read More]

James Hardie Penalties Insufficent
The penalties and bans handed down to former James Hardie executives and directors today are not enough considering the extent of their immoral and illegal behavior and the harm the company’s deadly asbestos products have caused, say unions.
20 August 2009 [Read More]

Union Pursue Indigenous Stolen Wages
A wide ranging political and legal campaign to recover the stolen wages of Indigenous workers in Queensland has been launched.
19 August 2009 [Read More]

Aussie Post 's sick note
Australia Post yesterday used the equivalent of a “sick note” to deliberately sabotage a hearing into your Union’s industrial action ballot application.
14 August 2009 [Read More]

Senate dinosaurs risk good jobs
The rejection by the Senate today of the Government’s emissions trading legislation is a setback for the creation of hundreds of thousands of new clean energy jobs in Australia, says the ACTU.
13 August 2009 [Read More]

AWU wins 1st worker majority ruling
The AWU Victorian Branch has won Australia's first legal ruling confirming that a majority of workers want to bargain collectively with their employer in a test case on the new Fair Work laws.
13 August 2009 [Read More]

ASU petition to outlaw death penalty
The ASU has today launched a petition calling for the national outlawing of capital punishment to protect Australians both here and abroad from the death penalty.
07 August 2009 [Read More]

Pay bushfire fighters better
The bushfire season in Western Australia starts in eight weeks time; And there is real cause for concern that the number of forest fighter numbers will be down this season, the union representing WA's forest firefighters said today.
07 August 2009 [Read More]

Childcare take BIG STEPS to Gvt
Childcare professionals all across NSW attended last week's Childcare Forums to put forward what they thought needed to change in the sector to improve it for both staff and children.
04 August 2009 [Read More]

Construction jobs crisis
The CFMEU Construction Union today called on the Rudd Government to develop a crisis industry plan for the building industry, in the wake of an independent report predicting massive jobs losses in the next three years.
03 August 2009 [Read More]

AWU backs mining royalty plan
The Tasmanian Government should return some of the West Coast mining wealth to the region to help fund local health services, the Tasmanian AWU Secretary, Ian Wakefield says.
03 August 2009 [Read More]

Unions back Palestine/Israel peace
Trade unionists must show they can create practical examples of solidarity between Israelis and Palestinians, the president of the Australian Council of Trades Unions, Sharan Burrow, told a labour movement meeting in Sydney this week.
02 August 2009 [Read More]

Cleaners meet DPM today
The Deputy Prime Minister, The Hon Julia Gillard and LHMU National Secretary, Louise Tarrant met with cleaners and briefed media on today's announcement concerning the Fair Work Principles.
31 July 2009 [Read More]

Steel Council launched
The Manufacturing Alliance strongly supports today's announcement by Minister Kim Carr that a Steel Industry Innovation Council will be established to ensure access to both public and private sector projects.
30 July 2009 [Read More]

MUA's Hungry Mile win
The Hungry Mile has been formally re-named as an official urban space in Sydneyto ensure its link to history lasts forever.
30 July 2009 [Read More]

Gvt must adopt shipping reforms
The Maritime Union of Australia today urged the Federal Government to urgently adopt reforms to revitalise Australian shipping in circumstances where there are real and ongoing threats of further losses of Australian trading vessels from the coastal trade.
30 July 2009 [Read More]

Justice for low paid workers
The State’s lowest paid workers won’t be left behind, thanks to a $15.50 a week increase in the minimum wage announced in today’s State wage case decision.
30 July 2009 [Read More]

LOW PAID WAGE RISE SMART AND RESPONS
The State’s lowest paid workers won’t be left behind, thanks to a $15.50 a week increase in the minimum wage announced in today’s State wage case decision.
30 July 2009 [Read More]

Star City campaign for fair wages
Star City staff have overwhelmingly voted on a resolution to reject casino management's sub-standard offer of a 1.5% pay rise in the first year.
28 July 2009 [Read More]

Manufacturing Alliance unions happy
Manufacturing workers will welcome today's Federal Government Buy Australian announcements because they provides assurances that Australian manufacturing will get better access to government and private sector opportunities, the leaders of the Manufacturing Alliance unions said today.
28 July 2009 [Read More]

Poll shows Aust want local content
The Manufacturing Alliance today released polling that revealed Australians would like to see a stronger Government approach to local content and procurement.
26 July 2009 [Read More]

Union Manufacturing Alliance
Australia's two largest Blue Collar Unions are in Canberra today to launch an Alliance to address the jobs crisis in the manufacturing industry and to ensure that Australia remains a country that makes things.
24 July 2009 [Read More]

Protecting family life
Fair Work Australia ordered today for a ballot of Bundaberg Sugar workers on their plans to take industrial action to protect their leave entitlements.
22 July 2009 [Read More]

Workers betrayed in Ballarat
More than 100 workers due to lose their jobs at Lihir Gold's Ballarat mine have been betrayed by the company's decision to abandon the project, the Australian Workers Union said today.
22 July 2009 [Read More]

Aged carers demand transparency
LHMU - the aged care union put a submission into the Department of Health and Ageing review of the re-accreditation process for residential aged care homes.
20 July 2009 [Read More]

TWU says Gvt must protect middle Oz
The Transport Workers Union has called on all Governments to step in and use its buying power not just to protect big business and shareholders, but to protect the working conditions of all Australians during the current global financial crisis.
20 July 2009 [Read More]

Traffic controller safety
he Australian Workers' Union has welcomed the Queensland Government decision to form a task force to implement recommendations of a report into traffic controller safety and conditions
19 July 2009 [Read More]

UK steelworkers fight for jobs
More than 5000 workers and their families marched through a north of England steel community town this weekend.
19 July 2009 [Read More]

Exec pay Regulation not a dirty word
In the midst of a global recession, few issues have galvanized public anger in developed countries as much as the extraordinary sight of senior company executives helping themselves to huge pay rises, whilst ordinary people are thrown onto the unemployment scrap heap or forced to accept wage freezes or shorter working hours, writes John Sutton, CFMEU National Secretary.
16 July 2009 [Read More]

CFMEU happy fo apprentices
Construction workers have welcomed the changes by the Federal Government to the Howard era construction guidelines, which will favour companies who hire apprentices, women and Indigenous workers for Commonwealth funded infrastructure projects.
16 July 2009 [Read More]

Tas AWU continues asbestos campaign
The Tasmanian branch of The Australian Workers Union has launched its new information brochure on the campaign for the Prioritised Removal of Asbestos from the State of Tasmania.
15 July 2009 [Read More]

WAGE RISE NEEDED IN TOUGH TIMES
A wage rise for the State's low paid workers will be good for the economy.
13 July 2009 [Read More]

Pope says unions critical in GFC
Pope Benedict XVI has called for a bigger role for trade unions as part of the solution to end the global financial crisis.
09 July 2009 [Read More]

TWU call for safe rates for truckies
Members of the Transport Workers Union will today protest outside the National Press Club in Canberra as Australian Transport Association CEO, Stuart St Clair, speaks inside on safety and the future of the trucking industry.
08 July 2009 [Read More]

ACTU on low-pay shocker
Working Australians to suffer as WorkChoices-era pay commission saves its worst for last
07 July 2009 [Read More]

Who will save Herbie the Possum ?
Queensland AWU members cheered Minister Kate Jones' commitment today to keeping the Herbie the Possum emblem at a media conference this afternoon, responding to AWU concerns.
07 July 2009 [Read More]

AWU protecting Herbie the Possum
Park rangers are trying to keep the Herbie the Possum symbol as part of their negotiations for a new AWU wages deal with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS).
07 July 2009 [Read More]

ALP union event on Palestine/Israel
Labor Party and union members in Australia, looking for progressive solutions to support peace, justice and reconciliation for Palestine and Israel , will hold a break through Fringe Event at the 2009 National Conference of the Australian Labor Party in Sydney later this month.
07 July 2009 [Read More]

MUA Front Puffin crew make headlines
The crew of the FPSO Front Puffin, whose harrowing personal stories about the rescue of 34 critically injured refugees off Ashmore Reef on April 16 is the cover story of the upcoming Maritime Workers' Journal, and has also featured in the national press today
07 July 2009 [Read More]

Invest in bushfire protection: AWU
Significant new investment in planning and preparation for bushfires is now overdue and Victoria is unlikely to meet recommended backburning targets ahead of the next fire season, according to the union representing Government Forest Firefighters.
06 July 2009 [Read More]

Just another cog in the machine
A union can make a big difference to people's perceptions of a job.
04 July 2009 [Read More]

Don't risk 2nd rate safety
New South Wales unions have used the right to prosecute employers in a tactical manner to change the behaviour of employers.
03 July 2009 [Read More]

AWU welcomes employee share changes
The Rudd government has reversed key elements of its crackdown on employee share schemes following strong union lobbying about Federal Budget measures which hurt many AWU members.
02 July 2009 [Read More]

Unions, Telstra OK Principles
On the day that the new Fair Work Act has taken effect, the CEPU and other unions along with Telstra have released details of a new Principles Agreement designed to promote a better working relationship into the future (outlined below).
01 July 2009 [Read More]

Hotel workers make history
Today at 9 am on Day One of the Fair Work ACT luxury hotel workers made history. They became the first workers to lodge applications with Fair Work Australia under Australia’s new industrial relations laws. The Fair Work Act came into effect today.
01 July 2009 [Read More]

Time to celebrate new IR laws
New industrial relations laws, which begin today, represent an historic step forward for the rights of working Australians and their families.
01 July 2009 [Read More]

Goodbye WorkChoices, hello Fair Work
Hotel workers employed in Australia's luxury hotels are making last-minute preparations to use Australia's new Fair Work Act which comes into effect tomorrow.
30 June 2009 [Read More]

MUA statement re allegations
MUA statement re allegations against former Qld branch union official
30 June 2009 [Read More]

MUA video of Canberra Iran protests
MUA members and officials joined around 300 unionists, workers and members of the Australian Iranian community outside the Iranian Embassy in Canberra, protesting against the repression of workers' rights in Iran. Watch the video by MUA film maker and waterside worker COOPER SILK
27 June 2009 [Read More]

TWU calls for funds for shot driver
The Transport Workers Union will be asking members and people in the industry to donate money to the family of a truck driver killed after being shot as he was driving his truck in Milperra this morning.
26 June 2009 [Read More]

Iran Embassy refuses to meet protest
The Australian Workers Union faxed a protest letter to the Islamic Republic of Iran's Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Mahmoud Movahhedi, after he refused today to meet a union delegation.
26 June 2009 [Read More]

AWU backs Vic Bushfire class action
More than 700 people affected by the Black Saturday bushfire in the Kinglake area, Victoria, have registered as members of a class action against power company SP Ausnet.
26 June 2009 [Read More]

ABCC bias exposed
Recent comments by the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner have blown any pretence of the body’s independence out of the water, say unions.
26 June 2009 [Read More]

Unions accuse Turnbull of hypocrisy
Construction unions have slammed a decision by Malcolm Turnbull to block moves aimed at restraining abuse of the coercive powers of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) today.
25 June 2009 [Read More]

Outsourcing an airport risk
A yet to be released report by the Australian Crime Commission has again pointed to the problems of outsourced labour at Australia’s airports, allowing people with criminal records access to extremely sensitive areas of the airport.
25 June 2009 [Read More]

Jewish backing for Iran protests
The leadership of the Australian Jewish community has issued a statement backing protests in Canberra and across the globe tomorrow over the continued persecution and harassment of trade union activists in Iran.
25 June 2009 [Read More]

AWU win for Tongan fruit-pickers
A group of Tongan fruit pickers, who were left unemployed in northern Victoria by the Timbercorp collapse, have secured better jobs after an AWU campaign to properly enforce the Pacific Seasonal Workers Pilot Scheme.
24 June 2009 [Read More]

Global Day of Solidarity
On Friday, June 26, a global day of solidarity will be held, calling for justice for Iranian workers. Four global labour organisations, representing more than 170 million workers, are joining forces to fight for the release of Iranian trade unionists who have been jailed for practicing their democratic rights to form trade unions.
23 June 2009 [Read More]

Tehran union demands liberty for all
Vahed Tehran BusWorker Syndicate says any suppression or threat of civil liberty in Iran must be condemned.
20 June 2009 [Read More]

Celebrate Int'l Cleaners Day
NSW cleaners celebrated June 15's International Cleaners' Day by taking to the streets again - this time targeting cleaning company Springmount Services Pty Ltd to demand a Clean Start.
18 June 2009 [Read More]

Property developers big winners
Big construction companies and property developers are crying crocodile tears over the new building industry watchdog that will benefit them at the expense of workers’ rights, say unions.
17 June 2009 [Read More]

ILO praises Histadrut-PGFTU alliance
A new ILO report on the situation of workers in the Occupied Territories takes the time to praise the historic steps taken towards co-operation between the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions and the Histadrut.
17 June 2009 [Read More]

Union welcomes WorkCover super pay
Victoria's Brumby Government reforms to pay superannuation contributions for injured workers and to increase WorkCover payments by 5% are welcome improvements, AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Melhem said today.
17 June 2009 [Read More]

Union construction camp'n continues
Unions vowed today to continue to stand up for construction workers' rights and for an end to the use of coercive powers in the industry.
16 June 2009 [Read More]

Rio attempt to sidestep Rudd IR laws
Mining Union Launches Major Test Case. The ability of major corporations to sidestep new industrial laws giving workers the right to bargain collectively will be challenged in a major test case to be launched today.
16 June 2009 [Read More]

ACTU call to protect workers rights
The Rudd Labor Government must protect workers’ rights and get rid of the Howard Government’s unfair industrial relations laws for the construction industry when it brings in new legislation this week, says the ACTU.
14 June 2009 [Read More]

Don't Risk 2nd Rate Safety Petition
NSW workers enjoy world class workplace safety laws, but they're under threat.
13 June 2009 [Read More]

Oz unions join global Iran protests
Four global union organisations representing over 170 million workers have called a worldwide action day on June 26 to demand justice for Iranian workers.
13 June 2009 [Read More]

Unions welcome ESOP changes
In a submission to Treasury today, four unions welcomed the Government’s proposed changes to employee share ownership schemes (ESOPs).
12 June 2009 [Read More]

CEPU suspends Telstra action
One of Telstra’s main unions has announced that it will immediately suspend its industrial action campaign within the corporation.
11 June 2009 [Read More]

ACTU:Fair work bill not fair for all
Contrary to much of the media coverage of the event, most of our time at the ACTU congress was spent not on the Australian Building and Construction Commission or workplace laws but on discussing the broader agenda of unions about jobs and the economic crisis facing Australia.
11 June 2009 [Read More]

Qld thumbs up to union icon
The people of Queensland have spoken and the historical significance of the Tree of Knowledge has been assured.
11 June 2009 [Read More]

AWU online asbestos register
he Australian Workers Union has taken another step in helping people who have been exposed to asbestos.
10 June 2009 [Read More]

AWU scathing about Rio u-turn
Rio Tinto's decision to walk away from the deal with Chinalco shows finally that the incompetent board and managers of Rio Tinto have decided , finally, on a reality check, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said.
05 June 2009 [Read More]

Urgent Sea Change needed: MUA
Australia would face an impossible task to meet a national freight target tipped to double by 2020 and triple by 2050, without making a new national shipping policy an urgent priority.
04 June 2009 [Read More]

TWU evidence to Parl committee
The Federal Secretary of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Mr Tony Sheldon today joined with Mr Ron Finemore AO, Executive Chairman, Ron Finemore Transport Pty Ltd to give evidence about the tight labour market for truck drivers to the House of Representatives Education and Training Committee.
04 June 2009 [Read More]

Major step forward TWU safety fight
An announcement by Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, that she will work to put in place a system of safe rates for our nations’ truck drivers has been welcomed by the Transport Workers Union.
04 June 2009 [Read More]

TWU leads protest against Air NZ
More than a dozen unions led by the Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWU), the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Rail, Bus and Tram Union (RBTU) will hold a protest today in Brisbane in support of Air New Zealand workers who have their pay and conditions dramatically cut by their own company.
04 June 2009 [Read More]

Health workers disgusted by Chaser
Health workers providing care for children with a terminal illness were disgusted by a segment on ABC Television’s Chaser program last night, their union representatives said.
04 June 2009 [Read More]

Time for a Sea Change in Australia
Tomorrow at the Natship09 conference the National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, Paddy Crumlin, will launch a new platform for the revitalisation of shipping.
03 June 2009 [Read More]

AWU Qld welcomes pandemic leave
The Australian Workers Union has welcomed the Queensland Government decision to provide for Special Pandemic Leave for State public servants as a necessary precaution amid the widening H1N1 influenza.
29 May 2009 [Read More]

Community outrage at Bonds betrayal
A community assembly was set up outside West Swanson Dock in Melbourne over night after word got out that Pacific Brands, manufacturers of the iconic Bonds label, was attempting to ship tax payer funded equipment out of the country.
29 May 2009 [Read More]

QCU prepares community campaign
Queensland unions today set themselves for a political and public campaign against the Bligh Government’s mooted asset fire-sale.
29 May 2009 [Read More]

NSW Gvt must save jobs
The Transport Workers Union and the Textile Footwear and Clothing Union of Australia will hold a media conference today to call on the NSW Government, and Governments across Australia to step in and save jobs.
29 May 2009 [Read More]

Pacific Brands: Stop job offshoreing
Commenting on the secret overnight move by Pacific Brands to ship machinery bought with a government subsidy out of Australia, ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
29 May 2009 [Read More]

Hotelworkers to use new IR laws
Remember John Howard? He was the Prime Minister Australians voted out more than 18 months ago because of his unpopular workplace laws.
27 May 2009 [Read More]

Bad boss, bad for business
A shareholder at yesterday's GPT annual general meeting in Sydney criticised the pushing of new sub-standard employment contracts at hotels owned by the property investment company.
27 May 2009 [Read More]

Coalminers slam Opposition on ETS
Australia’s coalminers have today slammed the Opposition’s decision to block the Federal Government’s emission trading scheme, accusing the Conservative parties of taking a wrecking ball to Australia’s coal industry.
27 May 2009 [Read More]

CFMEU fights new ABCC charges
The CFMEU Construction and General Division has today pledged to fight fresh charges laid by the Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) against South Australian construction worker, Ark Tribe.
27 May 2009 [Read More]

Blue-collar unions on pension age
Australia’s largest blue-collar unions have written to the Prime Minister seeking a review of the Federal Governments budget decision to raise to 67 the age at which the pension can be accessed and warning that any move to raise the age from which compulsory superannuation can be accessed would be actively contested.
27 May 2009 [Read More]

Telstra workers Wednesday walk-out
Telstra workers have “downed tools” for 24 hours today as part of their industrial action campaign to win a new enterprise agreement.
27 May 2009 [Read More]

CFMEU win on random drug testing
In what it describes as a “significant decision in protecting employees privacy and improving drug and alcohol testing standards throughout the workforce”, the CFMEU Mining and Energy Union has won a major case on random drug testing.
26 May 2009 [Read More]

IR Backdown by Telstra
The announcement by Telstra’s senior managers that the company will abandon its aggressive industrial relations policy and restart negotiations with unions over a new collective agreement is a major win for Telstra staff, says the ACTU.
26 May 2009 [Read More]

Telstra to follow law: Hooray?
When you read today's announcement about Telstra's planned approach to negotiate with employees over a new enterprise agreement, nothing could better demonstrate that little's changed at Telstra.
26 May 2009 [Read More]

AWU record pay-win
AWU members at Fosters Plastics, in outer Melbourne, are celebrating their biggest-ever pay rise after a 25-day picket outside the company's Glenroy factory.
22 May 2009 [Read More]

Unions move against Israel boycott
Last month, the Scottish Trade Unions Congress became the latest in a series of unions to call for a boycott of Israeli products. Support for boycotting, divesting from and sanctions against the Jewish state appears to be growing by leaps and bounds.
21 May 2009 [Read More]

Hotel workers can win
Hotel workers are on their way to making real changes to their jobs and their industry.
20 May 2009 [Read More]

TWU 2009 federal conference
100 Council delegates representing more than 85,000 transport workers from across Australia will today convene in Melbourne to plan for the year ahead as the Federal Council of the Transport Workers Union kicks off its annual conference.
18 May 2009 [Read More]

Unions want Cement workers tested
Unions Tasmania Secretary, Simon Cocker is urging all Tasmanians who have ever worked for Goliath Cement to be part of the lung health screening program Cement Australia is offering.
18 May 2009 [Read More]

LNG jobs for indigenous Aust'ns
The powerful West Australian Kimberley Land Council this week signed an in-principle agreement with five trade unions to campaign for Aboriginal people to be employed on the proposed LNG facility in far north-western Australia.
17 May 2009 [Read More]

Free asbestos testing Tasmania
The Australian Worker’ Union is urging people to take up the offer of a free health screening program if they ever worked at the Goliath Portland Cement Company in Railton, Tasmania.
16 May 2009 [Read More]

Harry Bridges sculpture unveiled
US dockers, members of the ILWU, have paid tribute to the Australian unionist, Harry Bridges, who founded their great union.
16 May 2009 [Read More]

Union wants more bush firefighters
Victoria needs around 1500 extra full-time Forest Firefighters to meet the growing bushfire threat, The Australian Workers Union will tell the Bushfires Royal Commission.
15 May 2009 [Read More]

TWU welcome Safety Council
With more than 280 people killed each year on our nation’s roads due to heavy vehicle incidents, the Transport Workers Union has today welcomed the Federal Government’s announcements of the establishment of the country’s first National Road Safety Council.
13 May 2009 [Read More]

Allan Fels: a ghost from the past
Paddy Crumlin, MUA National Secretary slams former ACCC chief for anti-union crusade - attack on CFMEU
13 May 2009 [Read More]

Ghosts film premiere in Australia
On 5 February 2004, twenty-three Chinese drowned in Morecambe Bay (UK).Their families in China are still paying off their debts.
12 May 2009 [Read More]

Luxury hotels race new IR laws
The LHMU - The hospitality union today calls on the Government to protect low-paid workers by ensuring they can access the new industrial relations laws even if they are covered by unfair, old or rushed agreements.
12 May 2009 [Read More]

Jobs and rights at Budget centre
Safeguarding jobs and respecting workers’ rights in the economic downturn must be at the centre of today’s Federal Budget, say unions.
12 May 2009 [Read More]

Federal Budget judged on jobs
This year's Budget is an opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its commitment to jobs by abolishing the 3.25% efficiency cut across the public service, says the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).
12 May 2009 [Read More]

Happy International Nurses Day
International Nurses Day will showcase the “wonderful work, skills and care provided by our hard-working nurses”, the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) announced today.
12 May 2009 [Read More]

AWU welcomes BlueScope win
The AWU welcomes the announcement by Prime Minister Rudd, during a visit to the Illawarra, that BlueScope Steel has won a $20 million contract to supply steel for three new Navy destroyers.
11 May 2009 [Read More]

Don't Risk 2nd Rate Safety Petition
A healthy and safe workplace is a right that we can’t take for granted.
11 May 2009 [Read More]

AWU cheers Qantas unions jobs win
The AWU welcomes the move by Qantas to move maintenance work back from The Philippines to Brisbane – securing the jobs of between 400 and 500 Queenslanders.
11 May 2009 [Read More]

Unions welcome paid maternity leave
Unions welcome the historic introduction a universal, government-funded paid maternity leave scheme covering the majority of Australian women and their families.
10 May 2009 [Read More]

New Telstra CEO: Same old, same old?
The main Telstra workers’ union today congratulated David Thodey’s on his expected appointment as Telstra’s new CEO but warned about a “mountain of legacy” left by Sol Trujillo.
08 May 2009 [Read More]

AWU welcomes CPRS decision
The AWU is heartened by the widespread support the Rudd Government has received - from unions, environmental groups and business - for the new targets for reducing emissions.
06 May 2009 [Read More]

TWU safe rates campaign
NSW truck drivers are holding a go-slow tomorrow morning on the National Highways to the north and south of Sydney to protest against the ongoing lack of action over safety and conditions for owner drivers and employee drivers in the road freight industry.
05 May 2009 [Read More]

AWU on good/bad foreign investment
All foreign investments by state-owned companies should be critically scrutinised, to protect our national interest, Australia's main resources union, the AWU, said today.
05 May 2009 [Read More]

Oz unions get Jewish backing
The Australian Jewish community has released an important Statement of Principles supporting the role of Australian unions in the current global economic crisis.
05 May 2009 [Read More]

Sol’s “slash and burn” at Telstra
More than 300 Telstra workers will lose their jobs next month alone as outgoing CEO Sol Trujillo “slash and burns” across the organisation ahead of his June 30 departure, the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) warned today.
04 May 2009 [Read More]

Cessnock prison privatisation off
Corrective Service Minister John Robertson announced that Cessnock jail would not be privatised.
02 May 2009 [Read More]

Qantas employees lodge flu claim
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) will be lodging papers in the Industrial Relations Commission this morning in an effort to have Qantas fulfill its legal responsibilities to front-line workers in the wake of the growing global swine flu threat.
01 May 2009 [Read More]

TWU wants swine flu Qantas meeting
Following concerns raised by workers at the airport, the Transport Workers Union will be calling for an urgent meeting with Qantas and other airlines to discuss what systems are in place to protect employees as a new strain of swine flu is reported to be within reach of Australian shores.
28 April 2009 [Read More]

'000s of coal mine jobs at risk
Miners today warned that thousands of mining jobs could be put at risk if the Queensland State Government axes funding to its $125 million clean coal project and called on the Bligh Government to reaffirm its commitment to support carbon capture and storage technology.
28 April 2009 [Read More]

Construction deaths remembered
Australian construction workers will observe one minute's silence during a nation-wide stoppage today in commemoration of colleagues who have been killed on the job.
28 April 2009 [Read More]

Workers grieve for lost lives
Families of victims of workplace deaths will join with unions at rallies and memorial services tomorrow (Tuesday 28 April) to mark lives lost in workplace accidents.
27 April 2009 [Read More]

Int'l Day of Mourning: see the video
Many of you will know that 28 April is International Workers Day of Mourning.
27 April 2009 [Read More]

Workers need exit rights from AWAs
Hundreds of thousands of Australian workers need an exit strategy from WorkChoices agreements that have locked them into sub-standard pay and conditions for years to come, say unions.
27 April 2009 [Read More]

Hardie must keep victims in the loop
Unions are calling for asbestos victims to be fully informed about the impact of the global financial crisis on the ability of James Hardie to meet its compensation obligations.
23 April 2009 [Read More]

New solutions for skills training
Fresh approaches to national skills training are urgently needed in order to meet the challenges of the economic downturn and to position Australia for a return to growth and prosperity, according to a consortium of peak industry, trade union and youth advocacy bodies.
23 April 2009 [Read More]

Qld casino workers prepare to battle
Almost 200 Treasury Casino union members in Queensland rallied outside the casino in Queens Park, Brisbane on Tuesday 14 April protesting against their employer’s proposed sub-standard, non-union agreement.
22 April 2009 [Read More]

Young victims of Global Crisis
Measures must be taken to prevent a generation of young Australians becoming victims of long-term unemployment as a result of the Global Financial Crisis, say unions.
22 April 2009 [Read More]

Fight steel dumping in Australia
The AWU is calling on Labor MPs, Senators and Labor Premiers to get actively behind the AWU New Steel Plan and has put a priority on stopping steel being dumped on the Australian market, at unfair prices.
22 April 2009 [Read More]

Vote a union icon in as a Qld symbol
Queenslanders are being invited to mark 150th anniversary of the formal separation from New South Wales this year by voting for home grown icons.
20 April 2009 [Read More]

Telstra job cuts threat to NBN
One of the major unions in Telstra has warned that the corporation's continued push to cut jobs threatens the local telco industry's ability to be part of Federal Government plans to rollout its new National Broadband Network.
14 April 2009 [Read More]

Leadership needed to save Pt Kembla
Steel plant furnaces across the globe are shutting down and many may well not re-open, after the global economic crisis is over, the Australian steel union warned today.
14 April 2009 [Read More]

Nanotech health and safety risk
The rapidly growing nanotechnology market in Australia requires urgent regulation to protect the health and safety of workers and consumers, say unions.
13 April 2009 [Read More]

Rights on Site TV's safety call
This week hundreds of construction workers from across Australia met to deliver a message to Julia Gillard MP about the Rights on Site campaign and get the Government to focus on safety in the construction industry where one worker is killed every week.
09 April 2009 [Read More]

JOB Network worker rallies
Unemployed job placement workers and their supporters will rally around the nation today at protest meetings against the Federal Government's Job Network decision.
08 April 2009 [Read More]

Construction unions stand for safety
Nationwide meetings of construction workers will today condemn the use of coercive powers by the Australian Building and Construction Commission and will vote on a campaign of industrial action to get rid of the Building and Construction laws.
07 April 2009 [Read More]

Rio ineptitude seen in jobs sackings
The Australian Workers Union has slammed the Rio Tinto Board for once again demonstrating their incompetent decision-making processes with the retrenchment of nearly 700 Queensland workers.
07 April 2009 [Read More]

National jobs protest -April 8
Join the national protest - be part of the solution. Wednesday 8th April at 1pm in your capital city. Download the flyer for details. For further information about the campaign visit http://www.saveourjobs.com.au/
06 April 2009 [Read More]

5000 jobs in Jobs Network gone
Up to 5,000 job placement workers could be unemployed following last night’s announcement of new employment service contracts.
04 April 2009 [Read More]

Wilcox Report discriminates: ACTU
Construction workers will have fewer rights than other employees and will continue to be discriminated against if the recommendations of the Wilcox Inquiry are adopted, unions say.
03 April 2009 [Read More]

Wilcox Report misses safety issues
Construction workers today said the Wilcox report on the future of the Australian Building and Construction Commission fell short of addressing the real issue of safety in the construction industry, where statistics show one worker dies each week.
03 April 2009 [Read More]

Rocky water to be corporatised
Local council workers have slammed plans by Rockhampton Regional Council to corporatise water and sewerage facilities.
03 April 2009 [Read More]

Rig workers helicopter worries
The MUA-AWU Offshore Alliance has begun an information consultation program with members after another helicopter has crashed into the North Sea while carrying rigs workers to shore.
03 April 2009 [Read More]

Only unions can win BHP safety
The Australian Workers Union is amazed at the spin-doctoring the WA Mines Minister, Norman Moore, has been able to get away with, claiming unprecedented steps to issue stop-work notices, and hyping up the possibility of legal action.
02 April 2009 [Read More]

Local jobs for new infrastructure
The Australian Workers Union welcomes the Victorian Government decision to proceed with the Frankston bypass, and calls on the Government to ensure Australian steel and cement are used in the $750 million road project.
02 April 2009 [Read More]

Join prison privatisation protest
Join the big virtual protest, add your voice to the thousands campaigning to keep prisons under Government control.
02 April 2009 [Read More]

Union camp'n: Save Job Network jobs
The Federal Government’s proposed radical overhaul of employment services is causing fear and loathing throughout the employment services sector says the employment services union, the Australian Services Union.
02 April 2009 [Read More]

Union Elder remembered
The Tribal Elder who kept Australia's labour movement at the centre of our national culture, Laurie Short, was remembered fondly at an unusual State Memorial Service today in the historic Sydney Trades Hall.
01 April 2009 [Read More]

G20 - unions call for action
Trade union leaders from around the world are converging on London this week to press their case at the G20 Summit on the global economic crisis. Meetings with the Summit host British Prime Minster Gordon Brown on Tuesday and Australian Prime Minster Kevin Rudd on Wednesday will round off dozens of similar meetings with heads of governments, organized by national union leaders in their home countries since the beginning of last week. Summit-eve discussions with French President Sarkozy, Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero and German Finance Minister Steinbrueck took place on Monday.
31 March 2009 [Read More]

TWU members return to work
Qantas baggage handlers, ramp, fleet and catering staff are returning to work at Sydney's international and domestic terminals this afternoon after stopping work this morning over safety issues.
30 March 2009 [Read More]

Qantas workers stop work over safety
Qantas employees at Sydney's international and domestic terminals have walked off the job this morning over safety and security concerns throughout the Qantas group of companies' operations.
30 March 2009 [Read More]

Gvt must delay Jobs Network decision
The union representing workers in the Federal Government’s Jobs Network today warned a range of welfare programs were at risk if the government pushed on with plans to review the employment services sector.
30 March 2009 [Read More]

Comm Bank must keep jobs promise
The union representing bank workers is calling on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Bankwest to stand by the commitment given to stakeholders that no Bankwest jobs would be slashed following CBA's takeover of the Western Australian bank.
30 March 2009 [Read More]

Unions to G20: rebuild world economy
More than 200 million workers around the world face being pushed into extreme poverty unless co-ordinated and urgent action is taken to stimulate economic growth in response to the global financial crisis, global unions have warned ahead of the G20 Leaders Summit in London.
28 March 2009 [Read More]

AWU challenge to Brumby pay policy
The new Victorian Government public sector wages policy, announced today, was an unjustified and inflexible step backwards for many working people, according to the Victorian Secretary of The Australian Workers Union, Cesar Melhem.
27 March 2009 [Read More]

State Memorial Service Laurie Short
The NSW Premier Nathan Rees announced today that a State Memorial Service will be held for Mr Laurie Short.
27 March 2009 [Read More]

Aussie wharves are crime free
All Australian waterside workers and MUA members have been cleared by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) with the Maritime Union and Ports Australia yesterday dismissing political allegations by the Federal Opposition of bikie gang or criminal infiltration of the wharves.
26 March 2009 [Read More]

No way pay cuts for childcare
Serena Kershaw, ACT childcare professional, is concerned about the value Australians place on the importance and potential of high quality early childhood experiences for children.
26 March 2009 [Read More]

Laurie Short iconic figure
One of the great figures of the Australian labour movement, Laurie Short, the Secretary of the Federated Ironworkers Association from 1951 to 1982, passed away, aged 93 on Tuesday afternoon in Sydney.
25 March 2009 [Read More]

Garnaut U-turn a mad lashing out
Professor Garnaut seems to have done a complete U-turn on compensation as part of an Australian emissions-trading scheme.
24 March 2009 [Read More]

Chesty Bonds moves to sweatshops?
Oxfam is calling on Pacific Brands and other major Australian clothing companies to take more responsibility for the rights of the overseas workers who make their goods. This follows today’s release of a report that found a Hong Kong-based company that coordinates the manufacture of some Pacific Brands products rates poorly on efforts to eradicate sweatshops.
23 March 2009 [Read More]

Pollies hold up urgent mine meeting
The AWU is angry that the West Australian Mining Industry Advisory Committee will not meet till, at the earliest, in May to look at the crisis in the local industry.
20 March 2009 [Read More]

AWU demands BHP shutdown in WA
The AWU has called for all BHP operations within WA to be closed, and an independent audit conducted throughout their entire operation, after another Pilbara worker death.
19 March 2009 [Read More]

Vic Forest Firefighters meet
Hundreds of Victorian Forest Firefighters are considering taking industrial action in support of their claim to be paid on the same basis as other Firefighters in the state, The Australian Workers Union said today.
19 March 2009 [Read More]

Workers not happy Sensis sacks 150
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) today strongly condemned the decision to cut approximately one hundred and fifty Jobs from Telstra’s Sensis division.
19 March 2009 [Read More]

Newcastle Uni cleaners fight
The LHMU, the cleaners' union, has today launched a community supported campaign to demand the University of Newcastle reverse its decision to cut funding to its cleaning contract by 25%.
18 March 2009 [Read More]

LHMU members dig deep
LHMU members donated over $11,000 in just two weeks in our online appeal for members who lost their houses in the Victorian bushfires.
18 March 2009 [Read More]

ILO thumbsdown to ABCC
Construction workers have called on the Rudd Government to comply with the latest recommendation from the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and suspend the operations of Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
18 March 2009 [Read More]

AWU wants asbestos program
The Australian Workers Union has called on the Tasmanian government to adopt an aggressive asbestos removal strategy for all workplaces - especially school classrooms.
18 March 2009 [Read More]

Rally against prison privatisation
Stop the Cell-Off Rally, April 2, Parliament House
17 March 2009 [Read More]

Bone pointed at good unionists
A major aluminum products company in Western Sydney is trying to silence the union voice in their workplace, by sacking the Australian Workers Union delegate, and about half its workforce .
17 March 2009 [Read More]

Because We Care aged care campaign
More aged care nursing staff with the right mix of nursing skills and increased Federal Government funding, are the main objectives of a new, national campaign to be launched by the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) today.
17 March 2009 [Read More]

Hotel lobby: WorkChoice diehards
LHMU, the hospitality workers’ union, says warnings of dire consequences to the hospitality industry from Australia’s award modernisation process are a desperate attempt by Workchoices “diehards” to prevent fair working conditions.
12 March 2009 [Read More]

Crunch time: Our Policy Future
Catalyst has been working closely with Australia’s leading progressive think tanks to present a major policy conference Crunch time: Australia’s Policy Future.
11 March 2009 [Read More]

Nurses say NO to private prisons
Lack of public scrutiny of privatised prisons would put nurses at risk. There are already enough problems in government prisons.
10 March 2009 [Read More]

USU conern at new Gvt energy push
The United Services Union has stepped up its opposition to the Government's plans to privatise the state's electricity retailers as the Government begins to test the waters for private investment in the sector.
07 March 2009 [Read More]

Unions rally for Bonds workers
Seven Unions will tomorrow meet at the Wentworth factory of Pacific Brands, where iconic brand Bonds as well as Berlei are made, to show support for the company's 1850 workers who are facing redundancy.
05 March 2009 [Read More]

Union badge collectors unite
A new social networking site for trade unionists worldwide has been lanched.
02 March 2009 [Read More]

Korean Worker Protest Pres visit
Action Alert – Protest at the South Korean President visit to Sydney, March 4, 5.30pm, Hilton Hotel, George Street, Sydney
02 March 2009 [Read More]

Transport unions OK Bonds-Gvt talks
Transport Unions congratulates government for dialogue between Textile Union and Pacific Brands
28 February 2009 [Read More]

TWU calls for Pacifc Brands talks
The Transport Workers Union has called on Pacific Brands to return over $17 million in taxpayerfunded grants from recent years after they devastated their Australian workforce and their families by deciding to cut almost 2000 jobs earlier this week
28 February 2009 [Read More]

Qld unions launch TV ad campaign
The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) will today launch a major TV ad campaign highlighting the seriousness of the global financial crisis and its impact on Queensland jobs.
28 February 2009 [Read More]

MUA bans Bonds gear shipment
Waterside workers will join truck drivers and rail workers in banning Bond's from shipping out millions of dollars in government subsidised machinery to China.
28 February 2009 [Read More]

Unions NSW and paid parental leave
Paid parental leave a much needed stimulus if introduced in 2009
24 February 2009 [Read More]

Beaconsfield verdict this week
The coroner investigating the death of Beaconsfield miner Larry Knight will deliver his findings on Thursday, almost three years after the disaster.
24 February 2009 [Read More]

AWU in joint asbestos study
The first stage of a detailed Cement Australia and AWU joint asbestos project has commenced in Tasmania.
24 February 2009 [Read More]

Loc Gvt future of childcare
The Australian Services Union has stepped up its campaign for child care to be transferred to local government in the wake of the collapse of ABC Learning Centres.
23 February 2009 [Read More]

Mine unions call for export debate
The Australian Workers' Union and the CFMEU are jointly calling for a revitalised national debate on the use of export licenses which were abolished in the 1990s.
19 February 2009 [Read More]

Manly Fast Ferry dispute settled
The weeklong dispute between Bass and Flinders and the Maritime Union of Australia was settled this morning, with both parties signing off on an agreement to raise both wages and safety for the Manly Fast Ferry.
18 February 2009 [Read More]

Telstra workers end Workchoices
Workers will protest against the behaviour of major employers such as Telstra at the Senate Inquiry into the Rudd Labor Government's Fair Work Bill today (Monday, 16 February).
16 February 2009 [Read More]

AWU cash support to Vic members
Up to 20 AWU members and their families have lost their homes and possessions during the Victorian Bushfires and are now receiving support from the AWU.
13 February 2009 [Read More]

AWU int'l support for fire victims
Unions from across the globe have sent financial support and messages of solidarity to AWU members in Victoria caught up in the horrendous bushfires which have made world-wide news.
11 February 2009 [Read More]

MUA fund supports bushfire victims
The Maritime Union of Australia has set up a special fund to help the communities devastated by the Victorian bushfires. National Secretary Paddy Crumlin is calling on ships crew and workplaces, members and families to donate.
09 February 2009 [Read More]

ACTU on bushfires
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has today expressed its sadness and condolences at the tragic loss of more than 100 lives in the bushfires that swept Victoria over the weekend.
09 February 2009 [Read More]

LHMU members lose homes in fires
At least nine LHMU members have lost their homes in the bushfires that swept across Victoria over the weekend.
09 February 2009 [Read More]

AWU members on Vic fire frontline
More than 600 Australian Workers Union members, frontline bushfire fighters, were out in force over the weekend trying to protect Victorian communities in the face of the worst bushfires in the history of that state.
09 February 2009 [Read More]

Telstra strike in Vic suspended
Telstra strike in Victoria suspended because of bushfire tragedy, but to go ahead in rest of nation.
09 February 2009 [Read More]

Qld MP backs US Steelworkers
The United Steelworkers (USW) said today that workers at EaglePicher Technologies, in Joplin, Missouri, are gaining important political allies overseas in their struggle to reverse huge concessions forced on employees by management at the defense plant.
06 February 2009 [Read More]

MUA branches back Israel boycott
Durban dock workers banned shipments of Chinese weapons to Zimbabwe last year, now they are set to ban Israeli shipments to protest the bloodshed in Gaza.
05 February 2009 [Read More]

ACTU backs AWU campaign
The ACTU Secretary, Jeff Lawrence, came out in strong support of the AWU call for special protection during the global crisis to support local steel and aluminium companies battling cheaper imports.
04 February 2009 [Read More]

Unions made Australia: Cardinal Pell
The leading voice of the Catholic community in Australia told the AWU national conference that unions have a significant role to play in defending and creating jobs in the current economic crisis.
04 February 2009 [Read More]

CFMEU attacks Turnbull
Construction workers accused Malcolm Turnbull of turning his back on thousands of construction workers who face job losses and uncertainty over the coming months.
03 February 2009 [Read More]

Cleaners vote on Agreement
Office cleaners around Australia are now voting on the Clean Start Collective Agreement.
03 February 2009 [Read More]

CPSU welcomes stimulus package
Australia's largest public sector union has today welcomed the Federal Government's $42 billion package aimed at stimulating the economy and supporting Australian jobs.
03 February 2009 [Read More]

Cardinal Pell speaks to AWU
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, His Eminence Cardinal George Pell will be the key note speaker at the AWU national conference tomorrow ( Wednesday February 4, 2009).
03 February 2009 [Read More]

AWU wants bi-partisan agreement
The Australian Workers' Union has offered to work with both the Rudd Government and the Turnbull Coalition to find ways to develop early bi-partisan agreement on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
01 February 2009 [Read More]

Win for Cochlear workers
The full bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Committee has upheld the original decision to reject the termination of the existing agreement, thereby declining Cochlear Limited’s appeal.
28 January 2009 [Read More]

AWU national leadership re-elected
The national leadership team of the Australian Workers' Union - the National Secretary, Paul Howes; the National President, Bill Ludwig; and Assistant National Secretary, Ben Swan, have been re-elected, unopposed for a four year term.
28 January 2009 [Read More]

Jobs - key issue at AWU Conference
Australia's oldest union, and our biggest blue collar union, will hold its National Conference next week in Queensland - at the same time Parliament returns to Canberra.
28 January 2009 [Read More]

Coalition must back IR laws: ACTU
Liberals and Nationals must support Australian workers and back new industrial relations laws
26 January 2009 [Read More]

ACTU call for jobs stimulus package
Unions call for new economic stimulus package to target jobs that can begin straight away
20 January 2009 [Read More]

ACTU speech to Gaza rally Melbourne
ACTU International Officer Alison Tate: Speech to Gaza rally (Melbourne)
18 January 2009 [Read More]

Qantas agrees pay rise, job security
To secure the jobs of around 1400 workers, in the face of the global financial crisis, Qantas union members have reached an agreement with Qantas management about planning to keep work in-house .
16 January 2009 [Read More]

Bosses mustn't slash pay, conditions
Employers must not use the uncertain jobs market to pressure workers into accepting cuts to their pay and conditions, unions said today in response to new unemployment data.
15 January 2009 [Read More]

Big mine union jobs call
The Federal Government should urgently convene a tri-partite resources meeting to discuss the effect of the global economic downturn on jobs in the mining industry, Australia's biggest mining union said today.
15 January 2009 [Read More]

AWU National Conference
Australia's oldest union and our biggest blue-collar union will hold its national conference in the first week of February in the Surfers' Paradise Room at Conrad Jupiter's on the Gold Coast.
14 January 2009 [Read More]

Work laws don't deliver: ACTU
Labor’s proposed industrial relations legislation fails to fully deliver on the Rudd Government’s pre-election promise to scrap WorkChoices and restore workers’ rights, says the ACTU.
14 January 2009 [Read More]

Protect low-paid workers, ACTU
Minimum wages must be protected to prevent low-paid becoming US-style working poor.
12 January 2009 [Read More]

CEPU condemns Telstra extravagance
Telstra employees will be infuriated by today’s revelations that Telstra Directors are indulging in an extravagant, all-expenses paid weekend in Las Vegas, while at the same time refusing to negotiate a fair collective wage agreement for its workforce, according to their union, the CEPU.
09 January 2009 [Read More]

Fed Gvt slashes jobs
The Federal Government has slashed more than one hundred jobs across the Australia Taxation Office as its productivity cuts put the squeeze on the public service, the Community and Public Sector Union said today.
09 January 2009 [Read More]

Telstra bans this weekend
Telstra members are advised that bans are to be placed on the performance of overtime, call backs and recalls this weekend.
09 January 2009 [Read More]

Urgent info for AWU Alcoa workers
AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, has asked delegates to circulate a letter to all Alcoa AWU members about media reports suggesting jobs will be shed.
07 January 2009 [Read More]

ACTU on Gaza
Global action needed to effect immediate Gaza ceasefire and restart peace process, says ACTU
07 January 2009 [Read More]

MUA honours fallen comrades
MUA member Trevor Moore, 43, was killed tragically on board the Karratha Spirit on Christmas Eve.
07 January 2009 [Read More]

Stop Gaza fighting: APHEDA
ACTU and Unions NSW are calling for an immediate ceasefire, and for access to emergency and relief supplies.
07 January 2009 [Read More]

ACTU on slowing economy
Response to slowing economy must focus on jobs and skills, not attacks on rights at work, says ACTU
06 January 2009 [Read More]

Unions NSW on Gaza
Trade unions from Palestine and Israel are continuing to work co-operatively across the border between the two states, providing support for working people and demonstrating that a peace process is still possible.
06 January 2009 [Read More]

APHEDA statement on Gaza
The military onslaught against 1.5 Million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must be stopped immediately.
05 January 2009 [Read More]

MUA condemns Gaza invasion
The Maritime Union of Australia today condemned the Israeli invasion of Gaza and called for the Australian Government to back the United Nations General Assembly calls for an immediate withdrawal and ceasefire.
05 January 2009 [Read More]

Communist legend dies
The Communist Party of Australia is saddened to announce the death of its General Secretary, Mr. Peter Symon. Peter served for 36 years as the General Secretary of the Socialist Party of Australia and then the renamed Communist Party of Australia (CPA) until his death at the age of 86.
22 December 2008 [Read More]

Garnaut attacks job security
Professor Garnaut fails to understand the very real pressures on working families in the current economic climate, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said today .
20 December 2008 [Read More]

Lighting candles for migrant rights
The common values of the trade union movement and the Jewish community were highlighted on International Migrant Workers Day in Sydney when the Australian Workers' Union and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies co-sponsored the first ever Union Chanukah celebration
19 December 2008 [Read More]

Global crisis:Migrant workers suffer
Unions have had a positive effect in preventing wage discrimination against migrant workers concentrated in the manufacturing sector, according to a report released on the eve of the UN-declared International Migrant Workers Day (December 18).
17 December 2008 [Read More]

AWU backs Gvt's green pathway
The Australian Workers' Union has welcomed the release of the White Paper on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme saying it provides certainty to the workers doing the job on the frontline of this important debate.
16 December 2008 [Read More]

Encouraging White Paper
The headline statements coming out of the White Paper released today are very encouraging, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes said today.
15 December 2008 [Read More]

Business must create green jobs
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme announced today comes down on the side of caution by recognising the importance of existing industries, with the ACTU calling for the Government to keep open the possibility of higher greenhouse reduction target by 2020.
15 December 2008 [Read More]

Childcare workers in limbo
Stress and uncertainty continues for 16,000 ABC Learning workers as they wait to find out if they’ll get the $31m entitlements owed to them.
13 December 2008 [Read More]

New infrastructure spending welcome
Unions welcome today’s announcement of new Government spending on road, rail and education infrastructure and call on employers to do everything possible to protect jobs.
12 December 2008 [Read More]

Unions Tasmania congratulates AWU
Unions Tasmania Council Secretary, Simon Cocker today congratulated the Australian Workers Union and Cement Australia on the launch of its groundbreaking research project looking into the health of current and former employees at the Railton cement plant that once produced asbestos cement products.
12 December 2008 [Read More]

Telstra staff action next Tuesday
CPSU and CEPU members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking 'protected industrial action' to win a union collective agreement with Telstra. And they need your support.
11 December 2008 [Read More]

ACTU on Qantas merger
Yesterday the Australian Council of Trade Unions' (ACTU) executive passed a resolution of support and action in relation to the recent news that the Qantas Group is pursuing merger talks with British Airways.
11 December 2008 [Read More]

Bankrupt advice on emissions
Paul Howes, the AWU National Secretary, has written an Opinion Piece for a national daily newspaper arguing we should be more than a little jaundiced when banks join the chorus demanding big emissions cuts.
11 December 2008 [Read More]

Everyone has the Right to Education
The NSW Teachers Federation has written to the Premier today, the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calling on him to introduce legislation into the NSW Parliament guaranteeing the provision and access to education and training courses for inmates in NSW prisons.
10 December 2008 [Read More]

ASU welcomes ABC childcare support
The Australian Services Union (ASU) has welcomed the commitment of the Federal Government to keep ABC Learning Centres open until March next year.
10 December 2008 [Read More]

Banks carve up ABC Learning
The LHMU – The childcare union says the big banks’ Receiver today announced the carve up of the ABC Learning business.
10 December 2008 [Read More]

Human Rights & construction workers
Construction workers will use the Rudd Government's public consultation on the recognition of human rights in Australia to call for the immediate repeal of the building and construction laws.
10 December 2008 [Read More]

AWU on Vic Transport Plan
AWU Victoria commented today on the announcement by the Mr Brumby's Government that additional "rolling stock" will be provided by way of further bus, train and tram services in the State of Victoria.
10 December 2008 [Read More]

Howes elected new ACTU Vice-Pres
For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century the Australian Workers' Union has been elected to a leadership position on the executive of the ACTU.
10 December 2008 [Read More]

Telstra workers vote to strike
Telstra workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over the company’s ongoing refusal to negotiate a collective agreement with its employees, the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) announced today.
09 December 2008 [Read More]

ACTU says give AWAs the BOOT
The new independent umpire, Fair Work Australia, should be given the power to axe AWAs that fail to meet Labor’s new better off overall test (BOOT) say unions.
09 December 2008 [Read More]

The Rudd Govt: 1 year down, 2 to go
On November 24 2007, Australians voted for a Labor Federal government led by Queenslander Kevin Rudd MP.
09 December 2008 [Read More]

Support ZCTU: with a few dollars
The peak union federation, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), has recently asked Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA for support to keep the union structures going in the face of great poverty and repression.
06 December 2008 [Read More]

Give us your ABC Learning stories
Next week’s announcement by the Receivers of ABC Learning needs to give families and workers absolute certainty about jobs, entitlements and places. In the new year we need to similarly address what happens with all 1040 ABC Learning childcare centres.
06 December 2008 [Read More]

Working kids need more work reform
A public discussion paper released by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People highlights the concern that the current major reforms of workplace laws do not fully address the needs of hundreds of thousands of young Australians.
06 December 2008 [Read More]

Childcare anxiety and uncertainty
LHMU – The childcare union says today’s announcement by the Receivers of ABC Learning raises as many questions as it answers for families and workers at ABC childcare centres.
05 December 2008 [Read More]

ABC Learning short term solution
The Australian Services Union (ASU), the local government child care union, has welcomed ABC Learning's receivers' commitment to continue to keep child care centres open into next year.
05 December 2008 [Read More]

Racing stable workers get new voice
The AWU in Victoria has begun a campaign to improve the working conditions and safety of stable employees in the racing industry.
05 December 2008 [Read More]

Condemn ZCTU arrests
Reports state that 69 unionists have been detained, some violently, after demonstrating against limits on bank withdrawals that have left Zimbabweans unable to take out enough money to buy a day’s food.
05 December 2008 [Read More]

Support ZCTU: with a few dollars
The peak union federation, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), has recently asked Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA for support to keep the union structures going in the face of great poverty and repression.
05 December 2008 [Read More]

What a Rod!
Menzies refuses to sign Clean Start Agreement and tries to silence protesters
04 December 2008 [Read More]

Safe Work Bill changes needed
All politicians should accept the Senate amendments to the Safe Work Bill to strengthen workplace health and safety lawsand allow a swift passage for the legislation, says the ACTU.
04 December 2008 [Read More]

Defend childcare - defend jobs
ABC Learning Centre’s collapse shows child care shouldn't be for profit
04 December 2008 [Read More]

Qantas need to guarantee Aussie jobs
The Transport Workers Union has today called on Qantas management to announce an undertaking that the jobs and existing employment conditions of the 38,000 Australian working families in Qantas will be protected in any potential merger with British Airways.
03 December 2008 [Read More]

Video - Putting babies before banks
Watch a video of Sydneysiders putting babies before banks by signing the LHMU petition calling on the big banks to do the right thing by workers and the families who depend on ABC Learning centres across the country.
03 December 2008 [Read More]

Global rally against the ABCC
Tens of thousands of workers around the world will today march with a common purpose – to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
02 December 2008 [Read More]

Babies - too expensive?
An LHMU inquiry reveals a high proportion of babies (zero to two year olds) may be the reason why many ABC Learning centres are under review for closure. ABC Learning Receivers McGrathNicol are assessing 386 ABC to decide if they will remain open in 2009.
02 December 2008 [Read More]

Towards a Green New Deal
The Federal Government can drive a massive increase in green jobs by combining focused economic stimulus with climate policies like a strong 2020 carbon pollution reduction target, a broad coalition of social, union, environment and economic groups said today.
02 December 2008 [Read More]

Time to finish off ABCC
It is time to finish the job and give all workers fairer IR laws: abolish ABCC, union protests acros Australia today.
02 December 2008 [Read More]

Union protects toddlers childcare
Why full centres, with long waiting lists could be dumped by Receivers
01 December 2008 [Read More]

The Rudd Govt: 1 year down, 2 to go
On November 24 2007, Australians voted for a Labor Federal government led by Queenslander Kevin Rudd MP.
01 December 2008 [Read More]

Shed hands ripped off
Pressure is being put on low-paid workers in the shearing industry to work extra hours for no extra pay, at a time when workers' pockets are already suffering financial distress, the Australian Workers' Union said today.
01 December 2008 [Read More]

Childcare - babies before banks
The 2008 festive season isn’t looking very happy for ABC childcare workers waiting to see if they will be paid their hard-earned entitlements and if they’ll have jobs in the new year.
01 December 2008 [Read More]

ABC Learning Receivers must explain
LHMU – The childcare union says the Receivers of ABC childcare centres must explain why the future of almost 400 ABC Learning childcare centres has been put under a cloud.
30 November 2008 [Read More]

Solidarity with Indian hotel workers
On behalf of the more than 10 million workers in the food, agricultural, hotel and tourism sectors it represents, the IUF expresses its deep sorrow at the violence that took place in Mumbai, India, on November 26, 2008.
29 November 2008 [Read More]

London rally against ABCC
Londoners support the rights of Australian construction workers
29 November 2008 [Read More]

ASU wants local gvt childcare
Many communities across Australia face the prospect of the closure of child care centres across their municipalities in the new year.
28 November 2008 [Read More]

Tony Sheldon TWU resignation
This morning I notified the TWU Committee of Management of my intention to resign as the Union’s State Secretary in the New Year so I can focus on my duties as the Union’s National Secretary.
28 November 2008 [Read More]

The Rudd Govt: 1 year down, 2 to go
On November 24 2007, Australians voted for a Labor Federal government led by Queenslander Kevin Rudd MP.
28 November 2008 [Read More]

LHMU leads fight for ABC Childcare
LHMU members continue to campaign to protect childcare workers’ jobs and entitlements and to keep ABC centres open. On 26 November the receiver announced that 656 of the 1040 centres would continue to trade as normal after 31 December. The receiver also said that the future of almost 400 centres is still under review.
27 November 2008 [Read More]

ASU push for ABC Learning Centres
Australian Services Unions renews calls for to bring forward plans to transfer as many as possible ABC Learning Centres to local government.
27 November 2008 [Read More]

Win for Vic unfair dismissal rights
The Australian Workers Union win for a racing steward employed at Harness Racing Victoria is a major victory for the unfair dismissal rights of all Victorian public servants.
27 November 2008 [Read More]

Join the ABCC rallies Dec 2 2008
RALLIES - Join the rallies across Australia and the world on 2nd Dec 2008.Mass rallies will be held in cities and towns across Australia and the world in support of the Rights on Site campaign and to celebrate the DPP dropping the charges against Noel Washington.
27 November 2008 [Read More]

Stop hanging of Iranian unionist
Farzad Kamangar, a teacher, trade unionist and rights activist in Iran's Kordistan province, sentenced to death on what his attorney calls "absolutely zero evidence," could be hanged today, his supporters say. Sources report that he has been taken from his cell at Tehran's Evin prison in preparation for execution. Security officers at the prison are reported to have informed him that he is to be executed imminently, taunted him and called him a martyr.
27 November 2008 [Read More]

Fair Work Bill turns the tide
New industrial relations laws introduced into Federal Parliament will give working Australians the fundamental right to collectively bargain for better wages and conditions.
27 November 2008 [Read More]

Disastrous news: ABC childcare
LHMU – The childcare union says today’s announcement by the Receivers of ABC Learning centres is disastrous news for thousands of workers and tens of thousands of families.
26 November 2008 [Read More]

QCU fights for indigenous wages
The Queensland Council of Unions will continue to fight for wage justice for indigenous workers following the government’s announcement that it would use money already set aside for these workers to set up the Indigenous Queenslanders Fund.
26 November 2008 [Read More]

Libs still evasive on IR laws
Malcolm Turnbull has failed to come clean about where the Federal Opposition really stands on restoring key rights for workers that were taken away by WorkChoices.
26 November 2008 [Read More]

Teachers Fed wants childcare buyout
The NSW government has the perfect opportunity to continue to support and develop preschool education by purchasing childcare centre buildings in the wake of industry turmoil.
26 November 2008 [Read More]

ABCC laws in disarray
Australia’s Building and Construction laws are in disarray today as the DPP dropped charges against union official Noel Washington.
26 November 2008 [Read More]

ACTU on new work laws
New industrial relations laws introduced into Federal Parliament today will give working Australians the fundamental right to collectively bargain for better wages and conditions.
25 November 2008 [Read More]

New union TV ad
Will Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party support the restoration of Australian workers’ rights, or will he back a continuation of WorkChoices?
24 November 2008 [Read More]

Asbestos time bomb
Asbestos-related disease remains a ticking time bomb for Australians because there is no nationally consistent approach to asbestos removal and management in buildings and infrastructure and poor data collection across states and territories, unions said today.
21 November 2008 [Read More]

Gvt must tackle sealane piracy
The Maritime Union is calling on the Australian Government to act decisively in the face of the increasing number and severity of pirate attacks on international shipping.
21 November 2008 [Read More]

Telstra workers strike action vote
Telstra workers are about to start voting on whether to take urgent industrial action over the company’s ongoing refusal to negotiate a collective agreement with its employees, the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) has announced.
21 November 2008 [Read More]

Childcare must return to Local Gvt
With the collapse of a second for profit child care provider, CFK Childcare Services, the Australian Services Union (ASU), has renewed its calls on the Federal Government to support a major return to local government for child care services.
21 November 2008 [Read More]

Union call centre workplace blitz
About 100 union members will take to the streets in Melbourne's CBD aided with calling cards and cup cakes and ring tones to launch a national call centre campaign today.
20 November 2008 [Read More]

AWU backs WA uranium mining
The Australian Workers’ Union has called on the leader of the West Australian Labor Party, Eric Ripper, to fall into line with Federal ALP policy on uranium mining.
20 November 2008 [Read More]

ABC Learning and childcare workers
ABC Learning is in receivership as they owe over $1 billion to the banks and other creditors.
19 November 2008 [Read More]

Paid parental leave video comp
Unions NSW is asking you to send the PM your message by video showing your support for the paid parental leave campaign.
17 November 2008 [Read More]

Grab the latest Rig Workers Voice
The latest issue of "Rig Workers Voice" now circulating talks about the changes to workplace laws - and how they will affect you on your oil and gas rig.
17 November 2008 [Read More]

ASU wants Fed help for ABC centres
The Federal Government and ABC Learning administrators, McGrathNicol, should give priority to local governments seeking to buy or operate ABC Learning centres, according to Australian Services Union National Secretary Paul Slape.
16 November 2008 [Read More]

Unions have arbitration win
Unions have welcomed confirmation from the Federal Government that a robust new system of workplace bargaining will be backed by an industrial umpire with strong powers to protect workers.
14 November 2008 [Read More]

CFMEU praises 457 Visa review
The CFMEU today congratulated Commissioner Deegan on her report to the Federal Government on reform of the 457 Visa scheme.
14 November 2008 [Read More]

Steel unions go for global strategy
Steel unions from around the world reached an historic agreement last week to develop a global response to climate change in the steel industry.
13 November 2008 [Read More]

Putting Telstra Execs on the spot
Unions and shareholders are joining forces to push for a better deal for Telstra staff and customers at the Telstra AGM in Melbourne on 21 November.
12 November 2008 [Read More]

Mini-Budget job cuts, privatisation
Yesterday the NSW state government released its mini-budget and with it announced that it was planning to cut 4,000 jobs from the public sector immediately.
12 November 2008 [Read More]

Call to back Oz sea lanes, shipping
Members of the Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Committee spoke in support of Australian shipping in Parliament yesterday as MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin heads for Canberra for top level discussions with the Minister for Transport Anthony Albanese on ways to implement the recommendations of the new report.
12 November 2008 [Read More]

IT blunder costing Telstra millions
Call centre workers at breaking point over failed IT system ,
12 November 2008 [Read More]

Public education for our future
Australia’s public schools are among the best in the world. They deliver high quality education to millions of students every day. Seventy per cent of the nation’s children attend a public school, yet they receive only a third of Federal Government funding.
11 November 2008 [Read More]

Good jobs whacked by global crisis
Good new secure jobs, which would have been a byproduct of Alcoa’s expansion of their Wagerup facility, have been dealt a big whack by the global financial crisis, the AWU said today.
11 November 2008 [Read More]

AWU on board with car plan
The Australian Workers' Union welcomes today's Prime Ministerial announcement of a New Car Plan as an investment in the skills and livelihoods of Australians.
11 November 2008 [Read More]

Doubt cast on ABC viability
This afternoon’s meeting with ABC Learning Receiver McGrathNicol was positive says the LHMU – The childcare union.
10 November 2008 [Read More]

Paid maternity leave more crucial
Paid maternity leave will be even more crucial for parents and their newborn babies as they face job insecurity and financial uncertainty as a result of the global financial crisis, says ACTU President Sharan Burrow.
08 November 2008 [Read More]

TWU welcomes safe rates report
A landmark joint Commonwealth/State Government report released today has recommended the establishment of a national scheme for setting mandatory safe rates for employees and owner-drivers in the heavy vehicle industry.
08 November 2008 [Read More]

Feds must lead on ABC Learning
After months of speculation today’s announcement that ABC Learning has been placed in receivership and an Administrator appointed heightens uncertainties surrounding the continued operation of the business, says Louise Tarrant, National Secretary of the LHMU – The childcare union.
06 November 2008 [Read More]

Bosses must provide safe workplaces
Unions back new proposals to increase the maximum fines for companies and directors who cause death or injury to workers, but believe the fines need to be even higher if they are to act as an effective deterrent and are concerned that bad employers will still find it easy to escape prosecution.
06 November 2008 [Read More]

ACTU warns Telstra investors
Senior Telstra management’s aggressive and uncompromising stance on the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) is putting at risk thousands of jobs for Telstra workers and could lead to a $11.9 billion drop in the company’s value, say unions.
06 November 2008 [Read More]

AWU backs Wave Hill kid's book
Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody's remarkable song, From Little Things Big Things Grow is based on the story of the famous Wave Hill Gurindji strike.
06 November 2008 [Read More]

ABC Learning time to end uncertainty
The LHMU – The childcare union – today called on Federal and State Governments and ABC Learning to clarify uncertainty surrounding the operation of ABC childcare centres.
06 November 2008 [Read More]

No wages for crew
Twenty-two Filipino workers on board a ship carrying coastal cargos to a WA port from Adelaide may not have been paid for three months
04 November 2008 [Read More]

AWU takes steel job fight global
The success of an Australian emissions trading scheme (ETS) will largely depend on how we best achieve a global response to climate change, Australian Workers' Union (AWU) National Secretary, Paul Howes, warned today.
03 November 2008 [Read More]

Telstra workers move to strike
Telstra workers will go to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission today (Monday, November 3) to seek approval to commence urgent industrial action across the country, the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) announced.
03 November 2008 [Read More]

Telstra workers let down by umpire
Telstra’s workforce needs a strong industrial umpire with dispute settling powers to break the long-running stalemate over a new collective agreement, unions said today.
03 November 2008 [Read More]

Not modern to downsize awards
Nationwide, a large and diverse group of associations concerned with women's recognition and rights in the workplace have united to oppose the downsizing of women's awards.
31 October 2008 [Read More]

Green Gold Rush report
Australia could become a world leader in creating green industries generating up to a million green collar jobs by 2030 and multi-billion dollar export opportunities in green technology, according to a new report released today by the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Conservation Foundation.
30 October 2008 [Read More]

Sacked for exposing Telstra
A Telstra employee has been sacked for blowing the whistle on secret anti-worker plans to cut wages and conditions in Australia’s fourth largest company, the CEPU said today.
30 October 2008 [Read More]

Tougher safeguards needed
Tougher safeguards and new industrial relations laws with a strong independent umpire are needed for workers exposed to the global financial crisis say unions.
29 October 2008 [Read More]

Union safety expert denied access
Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd has this morning denied CFMEU National Health and Safety Officer, Martin Kingham access to the site of the catastrophic collapse of formwork and cement, which put at risk workers' lives on Monday.
29 October 2008 [Read More]

Qld deal shows good union bargain
More than 125,000 Queensland public sector workers stand to get pay rises of around $102 a week as a result of a new deal on wages and conditions negotiated by unions.
29 October 2008 [Read More]

FSU v St George Shareholder fight
Westpac and St George bank workers will continue to campaign against the St George takeover, despite the Treasurer’s decision to approve the controversial bank merger.
24 October 2008 [Read More]

Promoting good tax reform
Australia’s future tax system must promote economic and social development and create a fairer society, according to the newly-formed National Community Tax Forum.
23 October 2008 [Read More]

Boeing's bitter Hunter aftertaste
The big Boeing company, completely shutting down its operations in the Hunter at the end of November, has again shown it has little respect for the workforce, the Australian Workers’ Union said today.
23 October 2008 [Read More]

Pilbara strike escalates
Train drivers in the Pilbara are ramping up industrial action today following Rio Tinto’s continued refusal to meet with its workers.
22 October 2008 [Read More]

Centrelink worker poisoned
A worker in Centrelink’s Tweed Call Centre has been diagnosed with poisoning following the lifting of the kitchen floor on the premises
22 October 2008 [Read More]

Restoring Rights at Work
Catalyst Australia in partnership with the Australian Institute of Employment Rights is holding a series of public forums on Restoring Rights at Work: Lessons from the UK?
22 October 2008 [Read More]

Little Qld hospitals fight
While it has been the big hospitals getting the attention, the smaller hospitals have been playing their part in this year's QHealth collective bargaining campaign.
22 October 2008 [Read More]

Stop Brit far-rightist coming to Oz
Progressive think tank Catalyst Australia is working with community, faith, union and human rights organisations to prevent the visit to Australia of Nick Griffin in December 2008.
22 October 2008 [Read More]

Millionaires should pay tax share
Millionaires and the well-off must pay their fair share of tax, say unions.
21 October 2008 [Read More]

Cuts threaten climate change action
Bureau of Meteorology plans to slash jobs across regional weather stations could jeopardise future action needed to tackle climate change, Australia's largest public sector union warns.
21 October 2008 [Read More]

Qld OKs child labour strikebreakers
The Queensland Government is allowing the use of child labour to circumvent union work bans in an ongoing dispute over pay in the state health system.
20 October 2008 [Read More]

AWU & regional infrastructure spend
Australia's biggest blue-collar union has called on the Rudd Government to make infrastructure investment into regional Australia their priority.
19 October 2008 [Read More]

Sydney cleaners celebrate big win
Sydney’s office cleaners celebrate International Anti-Poverty Day as contractors sign on to reform the contract cleaning industry .
17 October 2008 [Read More]

Unions demand jobs, wages security
Job security and protecting workers’ income must not be ignored in the national strategy to weather global financial havoc, unions said today.
17 October 2008 [Read More]

Australia Post profit from wage cuts
Australia Post must ensure its workers get a “fair share” of its massive $600m pre-tax profit, CEPU National President Ed Husic said today.
15 October 2008 [Read More]

Strike action GeoScience Australia
The Federal Government must intervene in a public sector pay row that could undermine critical plans for carbon capture and storage, Australia’s largest public sector union said today.
15 October 2008 [Read More]

No pay for cheated Ballarat workers
More than 120 workers at Ballarat foundry John Valves were this morning denied their wages for last week's work and stood down without pay for the next three days.
15 October 2008 [Read More]

Pressure builds to abolish ABCC
The Victorian Labor Party Conference unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Federal Government to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) at the State conference on the weekend.
14 October 2008 [Read More]

Judge slams ABCC
The Queensland Plumbers Union says the Australian Building and Construction Commission a gross waste of tax payers and called for it to be scrapped after a case against the union was thrown out of court.
13 October 2008 [Read More]

ABCC discriminatory
The release of the discussion paper, from Honourable Murray Wilcox QC, on the future of the Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) shatters the case made by big business and property developers for the retention of the ABCC, said Dave Noonan, National Secretary, CFMEU Construction & General Division.
13 October 2008 [Read More]

Fed judge slams ABCC
The anti-worker bias of the Australian Building and Construction Commission has again been exposed by the acting chief justice of the Federal Court who has found the ABCC turning a “blind eye” to dishonest employer behaviour.
10 October 2008 [Read More]

Childcare unionists on SBS TV
LHMU members Elizabeth Johnstone, Shirley Kelly and Susan Nolan were on SBS TV’s “Insight” program on 7 October.
09 October 2008 [Read More]

Mine tragedy exploitation
The Beaconsfield Mine musical, to premier at the Melbourne Fringe Festival this week, is a distasteful exploitation of a tragedy, Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) National Secretary, Paul Howes, said.
07 October 2008 [Read More]

Bank Union's new lending charter
The Finance Sector Union has joined with policy think-tank The Australia Institute and Care Financial Counselling service to launch the Finance Sector Union’s Charter of Responsible Lending today in Canberra.
04 October 2008 [Read More]

ITUC launches Youth Blog
In the lead-up to the World Day for Decent Work on 7 October, the ITUC today officially launches its Youth Community Blog (YCB).
03 October 2008 [Read More]

Fair Pay increase good start but ...
While US bankers may be wondering how they will pay for their yachts and island resorts cleaners across Australia are more focused on paying their rents.
02 October 2008 [Read More]

Fixing Sydney, Transport & Planning
The public transport woes of Sydney are bandied about by the media, politicians and public – but is a solution in sight?
02 October 2008 [Read More]

What women want
What women want – a new media script for female politicians…. An NSW Fabians event.
02 October 2008 [Read More]

ACTU backs AWU green vision
The Australian Workers’ Union has been a fantastic advocate for its members during the current Climate Change debate, journalists at the National Press Club were told by ACTU President, Sharan Burrow.
02 October 2008 [Read More]

New laws must deliver Rights at Work
Members of the AMWU national council traveled to Canberra and delivered a clear message to Labor to deliver all the rights workers voted for at the last election.
01 October 2008 [Read More]

Cochlear workers lobby Canberra
Cochlear workers’ battle for a union collective agreement has taken them to Canberra, where a delegation met with Labor MPs and pressed for the rights they were promised last election.
01 October 2008 [Read More]

Don't let companies avoid green regs
The Australian Workers’ Union believes the responsible thing to do for our environment is to establish a carbon reduction scheme which does not force offshore our emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries.
30 September 2008 [Read More]

Protecting the Qld dream
Joyanne Higginbottom worries that her children and her neighbour’s kids won’t be able to buy a house and have the Queensland lifestyle she and her generation enjoy.
30 September 2008 [Read More]

Help lift cleaners out of poverty
Cleaners have been raising their voices about the crisis in cleaning and contract cleaning firms around Australia committed to working with us to fix the crisis - now they need to put their money where their mouths are and sign the ground breaking Clean Start Agreement to fix this industry.
30 September 2008 [Read More]

Building Commissioner must resign
The CFMEU today called on Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, John Lloyd, to apologise and resign after eight charges against construction worker Brian Shearer were withdrawn by the Department of Public Prosecutions.
26 September 2008 [Read More]

Breakthru cleaners’ fair deal fight
The LHMU – The cleaners’ union – today (25 September) announced a breakthrough for office cleaners in the Clean Start campaign. Rose Cleaning Services, one of the ACT’s top five cleaning companies, has just signed the Clean Start Collective Agreement for fair wages and working conditions for cleaners.
25 September 2008 [Read More]

New ITUC Green Jobs report
The launching of a major report “Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low Carbon World” in New York today is a major step towards action to help create millions of new environmentally-friendly jobs around the world while underlining the need for just and fair transition for workers and their families affected by climate change and by government decisions to cut carbon emissions.
25 September 2008 [Read More]

Protest jail threat CFMEU official
Supporters of civil rights and construction workers will rally against the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) on Tuesday December 2 - the date and time that CFMEU official Noel Washington goes on trial for refusing to submit to an ABCC interrogation.
24 September 2008 [Read More]

New Opp Minister on Workchoices?
The appointment of Michael Keenan to the Shadow Employment and Workplace Relations ministry gives the Coalition the chance to rethink its support of WorkChoices and support a fairer IR system, the ACTU said today.
22 September 2008 [Read More]

AWU praises Gvt carbon plan
Prime Minister Rudd’s initiative to finance and develop carbon capture and storage technology has real potential to secure and support thousands of current jobs in regional Australia, the Australian Workers’ Union ( AWU) said today.
19 September 2008 [Read More]

CEPU talks to save 800 jobs
The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) today said it will meet with Telstra management on Monday 22 September 2008 in order to save up to 800 jobs.
18 September 2008 [Read More]

Urgent CEPU briefings on Telstra
The CEPU will be holding mass member briefings of Telstra members across Australia next Saturday, 20 September.
18 September 2008 [Read More]

Telstra must resume talks now!
Workers in Telstra’s Wholesale and Service Advantage (Call Centric) divisions have shown great courage in rejecting the company’s inadequate non-union job contract.
17 September 2008 [Read More]

Clear message to Telstra
Unions today urged Telstra management to respect the rights of its workers to be represented by unions after the company’s offer of a non-union job contract was rejected by employees.
17 September 2008 [Read More]

Union video forum !
Whether taking a DIY approach with camcorder and laptop, establishing an in-house broadcast studio or outsourcing to create slick ads and campaign materials, the video medium has much to offer trade unions.
16 September 2008 [Read More]

Centrelink staff threatened
Four out of five Centrelink employees say they have witnessed violent or aggressive behaviour at work according to a national survey by the CPSU.
15 September 2008 [Read More]

Poll: give Telstra employees choice!
According to opinion polling commissioned by the CEPU, almost 90 per cent of Australians believe the Federal Government must now intervene to ensure that Telstra workers are represented by their union, if they choose.
15 September 2008 [Read More]

Gvt nurse operator uses WorkChoices
Unions have called for the Federal Parliament to scrap what remains of Work Choices after revelations yet another major employer is still exploiting the Howard Government’s industrial relations laws to deny workers the right to union collective bargaining.
15 September 2008 [Read More]

What happened to the Left?
In years gone past the Left was a serious political force that held sway in once powerful trade unions, the Australian Labor Party and the broader community.
13 September 2008 [Read More]

Time for Telstra to end manouverings
After the company’s second legal defeat this week, Telstra management should now back down on its failed Work Choices strategy, sit down with unions and discuss a better pay offer to staff, say unions.
12 September 2008 [Read More]

Another day, another Court loss
With the heat on Telstra in the lead up to next week's votes on the Wholesale and Service Advantage non union agreements, management did what management does best.....
12 September 2008 [Read More]

R U a Kiwi in Oz, do you know one?
New Zealanders living in Australia are eligible to vote in the New Zealand election this spring.
10 September 2008 [Read More]

Qantas workers concerned
Off-shoring, contracting out and cost-cutting by QANTAS is impacting on maintenance standards according to a new poll of Qantas maintenance workers.
10 September 2008 [Read More]

Qld workers throw off AWA shackles
An AWU campaign to end individual agreements, at one of the biggest employers in regional Queensland , has had a resounding victory.
10 September 2008 [Read More]

AWU demands BHP shutdown in WA
The Australian Workers’ Union is calling for a complete shutdown of all BHP’s Iron Ore operations in Western Australia following the third death at a BHP site in about 6 weeks, and the 2nd in two weeks at Yandi.
05 September 2008 [Read More]

Cowboys on the North-West gas fields
A global energy industry corporation, using a slight of hand trick, has improved their enormous bottom line, by paying skilled guest workers, on the North-West Gas Shelf off Western Australia, between S4 and $10 an hour.
05 September 2008 [Read More]

What happened to the Left?
In years gone past the Left was a serious political force that held sway in once powerful trade unions, the Australian Labor Party and the broader community.
12 September 2008 [Read More]

Defending shearers work rights
Shearers across rural Australia need to be aware that the farmers’ lobby is pushing for significant changes to their working conditions, under the guise of modernising their Award.
04 September 2008 [Read More]

Fatigue is a killer
Watch the Victorian Ambos Fatigue is a Killer advertisement
03 September 2008 [Read More]

Hotels crisis hits Sheraton
Sydney hotel workers will demonstrate today outside the Sheraton on the Park Hotel to draw public attention to the crisis in Australia’s luxury hotel industry which is threatening Australia’s reputation as a tourist destination.
03 September 2008 [Read More]

Unacceptable bank delays
It is not good enough for some of the largest commercial banks to take almost a week before passing on Tuesday’s cut in official interest rates to their customers, unions say.
03 September 2008 [Read More]

Merchant Marine finally recognised
Hundreds of seafarers, young and old will join others with links to the sea to gather for the inaugural Merchant Navy day in Adelaide today.
03 September 2008 [Read More]

Integrated transport strategy: MUA
MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin calls on government to make good on its strategy for a nationally integrated transport plan encompassing shipping and ports.
03 September 2008 [Read More]

Total chaos as IBM blocks pay talks
Major airlines, banks, customs and other key services face meltdown this week as a result of IBM refusing to negotiate a collective agreement with employees.
01 September 2008 [Read More]

Protect PS whistleblowers
CPSU has called on the Rudd Government to introduce strong protections for public servants that act in the public interest by exposing corruption, maladministration and illegal activity.
30 August 2008 [Read More]

Hunter on climate change frontline
Big regional industrial centres, such as Newcastle and the Hunter, are smack-bang on the front-line of Australia’s current climate change debate and the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) wants to ensure that decisions about their future are not just made in our big metropolitan centres.
29 August 2008 [Read More]

Telstra workers want collective ag't
Telstra workers should be given the choice to have their unions negotiate a collective agreement rather than have the company’s managers push a non-negotiable job contract upon them.
28 August 2008 [Read More]

Mine Union backs Rights on Site
The Mining and Energy Union is giving its full support to a campaign launched yesterday to pressure the Rudd Government to restore democratic and civil rights to workers in the construction industry.
26 August 2008 [Read More]

‘Rights on Site’ campaign launched
Three construction workers, all of whom have been personally attacked by the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), will today launch the ‘Rights on Site’ campaign in Parliament House.
25 August 2008 [Read More]

Centenary of a great Oz union
More than 250 people came together in the NSW Parliament House last night to pay tribute to the Federated Ironworkers’ Association and to salute its iconic former leader Laurie Short – now 92 years old.
21 August 2008 [Read More]

Queensland’s LGA misled members:AWU
The leadership of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) owes an apology to its members, and to the hard-working local government workforce, for consistently promoting the discredited WorkChoice laws to Queensland Councils, AWU Queensland Secretary, Bill Ludwig, said today.
21 August 2008 [Read More]

AWU win for local gvt workers
An Australian Workers’ Union win in the Federal Court in Brisbane today takes the WorkChoices yoke off the shoulders of local government workers, Bill Ludwig, AWU National President and Queensland Branch Secretary, said.
20 August 2008 [Read More]

Protest Iran union repression
Repression against labour activists in Iran is intensifying. In recent weeks, there have been numerous cases of arrests and jailings.
20 August 2008 [Read More]

AWU talks to Meet the Press
The Australian Workers’ Union will back the pilot program for guest workers in the agricultural sector to be announced today by the Federal Government, if the program provides a regulated and transparent process in the hiring of seasonal workers from overseas.
17 August 2008 [Read More]

A life in politics.........
Modern politicians are sometimes ridiculed by the public, obsessively scrutinised by the media, often have difficult relations with colleagues, and rarely have much quality time for their family. The question is whether public life is worth it?
16 August 2008 [Read More]

Don't privatise Vic TAFEs!
The Victorian Government is planning the most serious overhaul of our public TAFE system in recent history. These plans have serious consequences not just in the education sector, but every industry affected by vocational education.
16 August 2008 [Read More]

Banks put profits ahead of customers
Australia’s banks are selfishly putting their profits ahead of their customers who are under financial pressure from high interest rates.
13 August 2008 [Read More]

AWU says email your MP now!
This time last year, it was clear who was threatening our rights at work - the Howard Government.
13 August 2008 [Read More]

MUA says protect LNG from ETS
The Maritime Union of Australia had the following letter published in today's Australian.
13 August 2008 [Read More]

Time to deliver new workplace laws
Signs of a slowdown in the economy underline the need for the urgent scrapping of Work Choices and restoration of a strong safety net of rights and entitlements for Australian workers.
13 August 2008 [Read More]

Luxury hotel tries to gag workers
One of Australia’s largest hotel operators has threatened to discipline - and potentially dismiss - any staff member who talks to the media about their workplace. The Starwood-operated Gold Coast Sheraton Mirage’s media gag extends to discussions with lawyers, union representatives and even government officials. The LHMU the hotel workers' union believes even communications between workers and the Workplace Ombudsman could be affected.
12 August 2008 [Read More]

Union calls for TCF Industry Plan
The Australian textile clothing and footwear industry is ready to emerge from the dark decade of Howards neglect.
11 August 2008 [Read More]

Cuban trade unionist visits Sydney
Gilda Chacon Bravo will speak at MUA offices in Sydney about events in Cuba including dealing with the historic advances made by the Cuban people and the progressive changes taking place in Cuban society.
11 August 2008 [Read More]

ITF Australia rescues ship's crew
Three day stand-off wins the day for abused crew on board flag of convenience ship in Whyalla.
10 August 2008 [Read More]

Finishing Keating's super revolution
I got short shrift when I called for this year's promised income tax cuts to be paid into the nation's savings as government superannuation contribution, when I gave the first speech for 2008 at the National Press Club in January.
07 August 2008 [Read More]

Israel/Palestine union agreement
The Israeli national trade union centre Histadrut and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), both of which are affiliated to the ITUC, have reached a landmark agreement to protect the rights of Palestinian workers employed by Israeli employers, and to base future relations on negotiations, dialogue and joint initiatives to advance “fraternity and coexistence between the two peoples.
07 August 2008 [Read More]

MUA calls for gvt intervention
The proposed private equity takeover of Asciano, the company operating Patricks Stevedores, represents a failure of government policy that will devastate the Australian waterfront, the Maritime Union of Australia warned today.
06 August 2008 [Read More]

Stop Korea union arrests
Following a massive wave of protests and demonstrations, on 24 July the South Korean government issued arrest warrants for top leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) including Lee Suk-haeng (President) and Lee Yong-shik (General Secretary). Ms. Jin Young-ok, First Vice-President of the KCTU has been arrested and detained.
05 August 2008 [Read More]

IOC inaction on labour rights
International mobilization in 35 countries calls for positive action to clean up Olympic supply chains
04 August 2008 [Read More]

AWU leader @ Newcastle IR society
Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary, to address annual Finnigan Rudd Memorial Dinner of the Industrial Relations Society of NSW, Newcastle Branch on Thursday August 28, 2008.
04 August 2008 [Read More]

Telstra must accept umpire’s ruling
Telstra Human Resources should abide by a ruling of the federal Department of Workplace Relations and immediately resume talks with unions about a new enterprise agreement.
04 August 2008 [Read More]

AWU leaders talk lower-carbon jobs
The AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, today begins a national tour of regional centres to build grassroots understanding of the implications of the move to lower-carbon standards for AWU members’ jobs, and for the living standards of Australian families outside the capital cities.
02 August 2008 [Read More]

ABCC report outdated discredited
The release today of the Australian Building and Construction Commissions 'Economic Analysis of Building and Construction Industry Productivity: 2008' report is fundamentally flawed, said Dave Noonan, National Secretary CFMEU Construction Division.
02 August 2008 [Read More]

Fight against draconian ABCC
Today, Victorian trade union delegates confirmed their deep anger at the continued existence of the undemocratic, anti-worker and anti-union Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) and resolved to intensify the fight to have it abolished along with the underpinning legislation and code.
30 July 2008 [Read More]

Construction rights on site!
Construction workers should have the same rights as the rest of the workforce.
30 July 2008 [Read More]

Employers take advantage
Employers are taking advantage of restrictions on union entry to cut rights at work
29 July 2008 [Read More]

Solidarity with ZCTU
Trade union leaders Lovemore Matombo & Wellington Chibebe - ON TRIAL TOMORROW (30 July) in Harare!!!!!!!!!!
29 July 2008 [Read More]

AMWU members want action on climate
A new poll shows that workers in areas that rely on energy intensive industry overwhelmingly support action on climate change if there is government support for new industries.
26 July 2008 [Read More]

TWU welcomes safe rates pay system
The Transport Workers Union has today welcomed today’s announcement that the National Transport Commission (NTC) will investigate and report on options for implementing a national system of safe rates for employees and owner-drivers.
26 July 2008 [Read More]

Hear workers voice on climate change
Employees in industries at risk deserve protection with trading permits, the AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, has written in today's Melbourne Age
24 July 2008 [Read More]

Emissions permits for workers
The Australian Workers’ Union wants to put our members at front and centre of the emissions trading debate, the AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said today.
23 July 2008 [Read More]

We too are ZCTU!
This is a photo mosaic of Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, the President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
22 July 2008 [Read More]

Unions, business joint skills pact
Australia’s unions and the nation’s two largest employer bodies will hold an historic meeting today (Tuesday) to forge a shared approach to the skills and training needs of the national economy.
22 July 2008 [Read More]

Time to wake up on sexual harassment
The ACTU has backed the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s national plan to tackle gender inequality in the workplace including more education to eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination.
22 July 2008 [Read More]

AWU and Beaconsfield Inquiry
The Australian Workers’ Union is hopeful that the inquest into the death of miner Larry Knight will determine the cause of the collapse of the mine on Anzac Day in 2006.
22 July 2008 [Read More]

Gillard berates Telstra tactics
Telstra's decision to abandon negotiations with unions for a new enterprise agreement have received a cold reception in Canberra, with Deputy PM Julia Gillard rejecting the company's reasons for walking away from talks.
19 July 2008 [Read More]

Union anger over Qantas job cuts
The Australian Services Union has reacted strongly to Qantas' announcement that it plans to cut 1,500 jobs by December.
19 July 2008 [Read More]

Voters and workers' rights
A major national poll is showing that the public is losing patience with the demands of business lobby groups who want to keep major aspects of WorkChoices.
19 July 2008 [Read More]

ACTU on Qantas job cuts
The decision by Qantas to shed 1500 jobs in Australia and overseas is disappointing and unions will seek to work with the airline to minimise compulsory redundancies for the workforce.
18 July 2008 [Read More]

Telstra workers pay at risk
Telstra workers will be very disappointed with the decision taken by the company’s Human Resources managers to call off talks with unions.
17 July 2008 [Read More]

Global Day of Action July 17
Unionists will join a global day of protest on Thursday against private equity firms they say exploit workers.
16 July 2008 [Read More]

Sign a paid maternity leave petition
Australia and the United States are the only industrialised nations without a system of universal paid maternity leave.
15 July 2008 [Read More]

ABCC attacks CFMEU over OHS demand
Court proceedings have begun today against a Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union official, Robert Mates, who stood up for workers health and safety at a Heidelberg work site run by Anthony Goss.
14 July 2008 [Read More]

Saving Oz energy & resource jobs
Up to 15,000 Australian jobs could be under threat, Australia’s biggest energy and resource union, the AWU warned today.
14 July 2008 [Read More]

Power workers tell Old Macdonald off
Power workers walked off the job at the Munmorah and Vales Point power stations on the NSW central coast last week to protest against Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald, who was using the Munmorah site for a press conference
11 July 2008 [Read More]

Iran's Osanloo still jailed
A year to the day since his violent arrest, the ITUC, The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and Amnesty International are calling on the world not to forget jailed Iranian trade unionist Mansour Osanloo.
11 July 2008 [Read More]

Diving industry safety
Australia’s dive industry is booming but lacks critical unified safety standards and professional training, said the Australian Workers' Union in Cairns today.
10 July 2008 [Read More]

Climate change mustn't hit workers
Tackling climate change offers huge job creation opportunities for Australian manufacturing but only with the right government support, said the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union today.
08 July 2008 [Read More]

Working Australians & a green future
The Rudd Government’s commitment to meet their Climate Change timetable is admirable, Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary, said today.
07 July 2008 [Read More]

Politics of Climate Change in NSW
Climate change is now accepted as a real and imminent threat. The findings of the Garnaut Report and the introduction of emissions trading will require wide ranging changes in practice and attitude to the environment, including a vision that extends beyond the electoral cycle.
05 July 2008 [Read More]

AWU on Garnaut
The Garnaut Draft Report’s recognition of the importance for Australia, as an exporting nation, of the big resource, energy and metallurgical mining industries, is welcomed by the Australian Workers' Union - our biggest resource and energy union.
04 July 2008 [Read More]

Vic ambo online campaign
Ambo morale crisis could see 700 Victorian ambos walk away and sink govt recruitment plans
02 July 2008 [Read More]

Global energy misusing guest workers
The Australian Workers Union has called on the Federal Government to urgently stop a global energy industry corporation moving a barge from Australia to Indonesia, while investigations into their misuse of foreign labour are completed.
01 July 2008 [Read More]

New AWU Secretary for WA
Australia’s biggest resource and energy union will begin an aggressive new campaign to re-establish the Australian Workers’ Union back into Western Australia’s mining heartland with the election of a new WA Branch Secretary, Stephen Price.
30 June 2008 [Read More]

CFMEU on warpath over ABCC powers
Is a trade unionist compelled to give evidence on what was said at a meeting of workers? Answer: yes. At least, if the building industry's watchdog, the ABCC, requests attendance.
27 June 2008 [Read More]

Sydney Eric Lee workshop!
Enthusiastic Melbourne unionists have snapped up nearly every seat to hear Eric Lee from Labourstart give a one day workshops on union web campaigning. There are a lot more places available in Sydney where the bookings have been slower! So book now!
26 June 2008 [Read More]

Creating 3 million 'green jobs'
Australia can take strong action to tackle climate change and create millions of new job opportunities, according to a major report released today.
26 June 2008 [Read More]

USU petition to protect ahm services
The United Services Union (USU) today launched a petition to urge Australian Health Management fund (ahm) CEO, Mick McLeod, not to go ahead with the takeover by Medibank.
26 June 2008 [Read More]

Costa's power sell-off disaster
More than 1.5 million people will be ripped off if the State Government makes an early bid to sell Energy Australia, warned the United Services Union today.
26 June 2008 [Read More]

Unions and The Net: The Next Stage
Eric Lee from Labourstart will be holding one day workshops in Sydney on July 9th, and Melbourne on July 11th, which will deal with the current threats and opportunities for unions using the net for campaigning and networking. The workshops will also cover current issues such as the use of social networking sites, Second Life and Web 2.0.
25 June 2008 [Read More]

USA must pressure China to go green
Australian Workers’ Union National Secretary Paul Howes this week met with Republican and Democrat Senators to lobby them for a global emissions trading scheme which protect the jobs of resource industry and manufacturing workers in Australia and the USA.
25 June 2008 [Read More]

Politics of Climate Change in NSW
Climate change is now accepted as a real and imminent threat. The findings of the Garnaut Report and the introduction of emissions trading will require wide ranging changes in practice and attitude to the environment, including a vision that extends beyond the electoral cycle.
24 June 2008 [Read More]

Support the Big Picture in Zimbabwe
You can help support democracy and workers' rights in Zimbabwe - just by showing your face.
19 June 2008 [Read More]

Feds pressured on NGO worker paycut
As a result of the ASU campaign launched on 5 June 2008, Federal Ministers Jenny Macklin, Joe Ludwig and Wayne Swan have received hundreds of emails from workers affected by the changes that are being made to the way that income is calculated by Centrelink for the purpose of determining Family Assistance payments.
18 June 2008 [Read More]

Are you under debt stress?
When was the last time you were able to visit your local bank branch without being offered a credit card or a loan?
17 June 2008 [Read More]

AWU plan to trap CO2
Australia’s biggest energy and resources union – the Australian Workers Union - wants the Federal Government to provide R&D funds to research and study the potential of creating new climate change jobs in Australia based on trapping CO2 offshore.
16 June 2008 [Read More]

Child Labour Action Guide
On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour, the ITUC is launching a new “Mini Action Guide on Child Labour,” providing campaigning tools and direct support to trade unions to fight against child labour. According to the ILO, some 218 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. Many of these children work long hours, often in dangerous conditions.
14 June 2008 [Read More]

New ILO Social Justice declaration
Following two successive years of debate, the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference adopted a major Declaration on “Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation.”
14 June 2008 [Read More]

Childcare fees increases unwarranted
The LHMU the Childcare Union says any childcare fee increases above inflation are unwarranted because of the Australian Government's unprecedented allocation in the May budget of more than $600 million for the childcare sector.
12 June 2008 [Read More]

Hungry Mile recognition extended
After a concerted campaign by Sydney's maritime workers and their union, the Hungry Mile is now set to be the official locality name around a stretch of Hickson Road in Sydney.
12 June 2008 [Read More]

Boeing give Sydney workers a voice!
Boeing is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jets and military aircraft, with approximately 1300 employees at its Australian subsidiary Hawker de Havilland.
11 June 2008 [Read More]

Play Fair torchbearers confront IOC
The Play Fair 2008 campaign handed over 12,000 names of people that carried the alternative Olympic Flame for labour rights.
11 June 2008 [Read More]

Bosses can afford maternity leave
The ACTU is calling on all businesses to help fund a national paid maternity leave scheme which would provide Australian women with at least 14 weeks paid leave.
11 June 2008 [Read More]

Time to energise the Bush - AWU
The biggest selling daily newspaper in Australia the, Melbourne Herald-Sun, has this morning run a major Opinion piece by the AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, arguing the union’s case why business and government must accept that it is Time to Energise the Bush.
10 June 2008 [Read More]

AWU Paternity leave submission
The Australian Workers Union has called for the inclusion of ‘Daddy Days’ or Paternity leave in a submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Maternity leave.
07 June 2008 [Read More]

Give Pacific workers union rights
The Australian Workers Union will back a Federal Government scheme to allow Pacific Islanders to come to Australia under a pilot scheme for guest workers in the agricultural sector.
06 June 2008 [Read More]

Calling all Kiwis
In October or November 2008 New Zealand will have a General Election. A Your Rights At Work NZ Campaign has been established in Australia to get eligible New Zealand voters based in Australia enrolled to vote.
27 May 2008 [Read More]

Union versus Asbestos
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has organised the largest asbestos survey and research program to ever be undertaken at a single work site in Australia.
21 May 2008 [Read More]

Budget and childcare: the real story
The increased childcare tax rebate will grab the headlines but the substance in the Budget on childcare relates to the funding of an integrated care and education program worth nearly $1 billion dollars, the LHMU the childcare union said tonight.
13 May 2008 [Read More]

What parents want from long day care
The first comprehensive national survey of what parents want from long day care (LDC) is released today. The survey found 90% of children use LDC between 7 and 11 hours per day, a length of time parents say they need to support their workforce participation.
13 May 2008 [Read More]

Racing stewards back at work
AWU harness racing stewards return to work today, satisfied with the outcome of an Industrial Relations conciliation hearing late yesterday.
10 April 2008 [Read More]

Vic Harness racing strike will cost
Harness racing in Victoria is expected to come to a standstill indefinitely from tomorrow (Wednesday) when the state’s 13 official stewards take lawful strike action, the AWU said today.
08 April 2008 [Read More]

Health and safety review welcome
Unions have welcomed today’s announcement by the federal Labor Government of a national review of workplace health and safety laws.
04 April 2008 [Read More]

Transport plan crucial for jobs
Victoria’s ability to provide sustainable, skilled jobs for working people would be threatened if the State Government did not act on recommendations to build two new tunnels under Melbourne, the Australian Workers’ Union said today.
04 April 2008 [Read More]

Sculpture remembers wharfie dispute
Melbourne wharfies mark ten years since iconic waterfront dispute
04 April 2008 [Read More]

Waterfront dispute 10th anniversary
Today Stevedores on the Fremantle docks will stop work for two hours and march through the streets to mark the tenth anniversary of the iconic Patrick waterfront dispute.
04 April 2008 [Read More]

$47mill Ansett super unclaimed
Almost seven years since the collapse of Ansett it appears that almost $47million worth of superannuation remains unclaimed by around 1,959 former Ansett employees whose super was transferred to AUSfund after Ansett Airlines collapsed in September 2001.
04 April 2008 [Read More]

Hunter region 2020 and unions
The Hunter Region 2020 conference this weekend will be told unions expect the Rudd Labor Government to support intitiatives which invest in new technology and promote smart manufacturing for our region.
04 April 2008 [Read More]

Banks push debt on working families
Banks are ‘pushing debt’ onto working families: unions call for cuts to lending targets.
02 April 2008 [Read More]

Harness racing in Vic to be crippled
Harness racing in Victoria will be severely disrupted from Friday when stewards take industrial action.
02 April 2008 [Read More]

Virgin needs high standards
Richard Branson should demonstrate his commitment to the growth of the Australian aviation industry by announcing the heavy maintenance of his aircraft, using Sydney as an international hub, will be done in this country.
01 April 2008 [Read More]

Unions welcome start of AWA bans
Unions welcome the ban on new Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) that takes effect today (12 midnight Friday 28 March) but plan to continue the campaign to scrap Work Choices in its entirety.
28 March 2008 [Read More]

Rural workers will cheer end of AWAs
Low-paid workers in the rural sector will be cheering today when Parliament finally ends the most hated symbol of the WorkChoices era – the individual contract Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA).
19 March 2008 [Read More]

Clyde Cameron - a great AWU man
A long-serving Federal Labor MP and AWU official, Clyde Cameron, has died aged 95. Mr Cameron played an important role in the history of the Australian Workers' Union.
17 March 2008 [Read More]

Union poll gives Super nod to Rudd
A national poll completed for the Australian Workers’ Union has shown that Australians would give Prime Minister Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan the green light to deliver their election tax cuts into their retirement savings – instead of in cash.
14 March 2008 [Read More]

Commonwealth unions to meet
With the 53-member Commonwealth this week celebrating “Commonwealth Week”, the ITUC is supporting the Commonwealth Trade Union Group (CTUG)* in its call for the organisation of mainly English-speaking countries to take action in support of workers’ rights, equal pay for women, and climate change.
13 March 2008 [Read More]

Hotel workers launch rescue package
Research by the LHMU, the hotel workers’ union, reveals a crisis in luxury hotels with devastating staff turnover levels, record injury rates, dangerous workloads, bullying by management and Australia’s biggest number of low paid workers.
11 March 2008 [Read More]

Unions condemn Mid East massacre
The ITUC has condemned the killing of at least eight religious students in Jerusalem, and the wounding of several others, by an assassin on 6 March. Militant group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack.
11 March 2008 [Read More]

End rural worker wage freeze!
AWU members in the rural sector want an end to the wage freeze imposed on them by the Howard Government created Fair Pay Commission.
10 March 2008 [Read More]

Calling all Kiwi unionists
At the end of this year New Zealand will have a general election. New Zealand unions have asked the Australian union movement to support their campaign to get eligible New Zealand voters, based in Australia, enrolled to vote.
06 March 2008 [Read More]

Work laws must respect Oz values
Australia’s work laws should respect our democratic values, and ensure working people are allowed to have a voice in their workplace.
06 March 2008 [Read More]

Climate Change and insurance workers
Last week IAG and Suncorp - Australia’s two largest general insurance companies -blamed lower than expected annual profits on extreme weather events.
05 March 2008 [Read More]

Westpac employees say NO
Hundreds of FSU members have faxed their signatures to the FSU office to condemn Westpac’s plans for further offshoring.
05 March 2008 [Read More]

Oz unions back Iran campaign
As part of the ASU commitment to ITF International Railway Safety Day, we will be joining with International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and ACTU affiliates in supporting two critical issues this week. Trade unions internationally are calling for a global day of action on March 6 to highlight the situation of detained union leaders in Iran, to demand their release and to highlight human rights abuses against the people of Colombia. Australian unionists, including ASU members, will be participating in a series of events around the country.
05 March 2008 [Read More]

CFMEU calls for apprentice quotas
Building companies that win government construction contracts, including the low-cost housing program announced yesterday, should be required to meet a formal apprentice quota, the CFMEU said today.
05 March 2008 [Read More]

MUA: Safety breaches risk lives
Construction of the NSW Government's desalination plant is riddled with safety breaches that are putting lives at risk, striking divers warned today.
04 March 2008 [Read More]

ACTU Exec working families agenda
The Executive of the ACTU will meet in Melbourne today to consider a new campaign plan to improve the wages, working conditions and superannuation of working families.
04 March 2008 [Read More]

Gaza: Cycle of Violence Must End
With the Israeli army withdrawal from Gaza, the ITUC has called for the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.
04 March 2008 [Read More]

CPSU welcomes new PS bargaining
The CPSU has welcomed the release of new workplace bargaining guidelines for the public sector.
03 March 2008 [Read More]

MUA divers protest
The construction of the Kurnell Desalination Plant faces delays because a contractor is flouting the NSW Government's guidelines on workers rights, the Maritime Union of Australia warned today.
03 March 2008 [Read More]

AWA meatworks investigation
It is unethical for employers to continue to push workers onto AWAs that cut their pay and conditions when a Government ban on the use of Work Choices AWAs is imminent say unions.
03 March 2008 [Read More]

Women earn 16% less than men
Women earn 16% less than men: International Women’s Day - International Pay Equity Report
03 March 2008 [Read More]

ACTU warns on rate rise
It is too soon for working families to be slugged with another interest rate rise and the Reserve Bank should wait and see before inflicting another increase on home buyers this week says the ACTU.
03 March 2008 [Read More]

Squattocracy @ Struggle: AWU history
SQUATTOCRACY & STRUGGLE, a 55 minute radio feature for the Hindsight history program, looked at some of the early years of the Australian Workers’ Union through the eyes of one family in the frontier town of Bourke.
02 March 2008 [Read More]

AWU lobbies for Tas hospital
The AWU has stepped up a campaign in support of the Rosebery Hospital after the Tasmanian branch won the backing of the 130,000 member union’s National Executive at their two-day meeting in Hobart.
29 February 2008 [Read More]

Qantas Valet parking protest
About two thirds of staff at Qantas Valet Parking at Tullamarine Airport are expected to work their last shifts today as a new AWA contractor takes over.
29 February 2008 [Read More]

Fairpay commissioner pockets $38,000
News that pay commissioner Professor Ian Harper pocketed a $38,000 pay rise last year while award wage workers got a measly $10 a week is proof that the former Howard Government’s Work Choices IR laws favoured big business and executives at the expense of ordinary workers say unions.
28 February 2008 [Read More]

Mansour Osanloo - Freedom Will Come
Watch this You Tube video which explains why unions are organising a global action day on 6 March 2008 to express our solidarity with Iranian workers once again.
27 February 2008 [Read More]

Qantas must back valet parking
Qantas should immediately step in and save 170 valet parking workers from major cuts to their wages and conditions say unions.
26 February 2008 [Read More]

Qantas Valet Parking forces AWAs
An AWA offer has been re-issued not once, not twice, but three times in just nine days by the new contractor due to take over Qantas' Valet Parking service this Saturday.
26 February 2008 [Read More]

March 6 will be day for Osanloo
Events will be held worldwide on 6 March 2008 as hundreds of thousands of trade unionists dedicate the day to demanding the release of imprisoned Iranian union leader Mansour Osanloo.
26 February 2008 [Read More]

Union Control of the ALP?
After almost 120 years is it time to cut the labour movement’s Gordian knot, that most intricate relationship between the fortunes of the political wing (the ALP) and the industrial wing (affiliated trade unions)?
25 February 2008 [Read More]

Stop the Sell-Off
Stop the Sell-Off, Keep Power in Our Hands.

Rally tomorrow outside NSW Parliament House.
25 February 2008 [Read More]

Centrelink cuts - bad for community
The CPSU has warned that Government moves to cut 2,000 jobs from Centrelink will lead to more queues and longer waiting times for clients.
24 February 2008 [Read More]

Who backs Iranian union camp'n?
A quick report for the many people asking about the progress of the LabourStart campaign to support Mahmoud Salehi and Mansour Osanloo – two jailed Iranian trade unions.
23 February 2008 [Read More]

Squattocracy and Struggle
SQUATTOCRACY & STRUGGLE, a 55 minute radio feature for the Hindsight history program, will look at some of the early years of the Australian Workers’ Union through the eyes of one family in the frontier town of Bourke.
22 February 2008 [Read More]

Unions blast bank foreclosures
Unions are calling on banks and home lenders to change the way they deal with families struggling to pay their mortgages, after reports of homeowners returning from work to find their locks had been changed.
22 February 2008 [Read More]

Support Qantas Valet Parking workers
About 170 workers across major airports in Australia currently need your support. In the dying days of AWAs in Australia, the new firm contracted to provide Qantas' Valet Parking wants to put all staff on a five year AWA.
21 February 2008 [Read More]

Super way out of tax cut dilemma
Protecting our members from higher interest rates and bigger mortgages - which eat away at wage packets - is a key issue for the AWU.
21 February 2008 [Read More]

Qantas workers sacked offered AWAs
Qantas parking workers sacked & then offered their jobs back on AWAs that pay $15,000 less.
16 February 2008 [Read More]

Release jailed Iranian workers
The ITUC and the ITF are organising a global action day on 6 March 2008 to express our solidarity with Iranian workers once again.
16 February 2008 [Read More]

Steel needs long term future vision
The Newcastle Herald ran this Opinion Piece today, from the AWU's Paul Howes, after OneSteel announced on Friday it was shutting down this September the former BHP bar mill at Mayfield in Newcastle.
16 February 2008 [Read More]

New employment standards
All Australians will be able to look forward to a more secure working future under the 10 new employment standards proposed by the Rudd Government, says ACTU President Sharan Burrow.
15 February 2008 [Read More]

AWU angered by OneSteel slash & burn
The AWU has blasted OneSteel for refusing to invest in new technologies and using their merger with Smorgons Steel as an excuse to shutdown plants across Australia.
15 February 2008 [Read More]

Vic elective surgery cancelled
Talks in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission fail to settle the long running pay and conditions dispute in Victorian public hospitals
15 February 2008 [Read More]

1st step to dismantle WorkChoices
The Labor Government’s proposed new workplace relations law, tabled in Parliament today, is an important and welcome first step towards reversing the damage done to working Australians by the Liberal and National Parties’ unfair ‘Work Choices’ laws, say unions.
13 February 2008 [Read More]

AWU miners back isolated community
AWU mine workers in Tasmania are lending their voices to a State campaign to re-establish the Rosebery Hospital.
13 February 2008 [Read More]

Campaign against privatisation
Public opposition has grown against the NSW Iemma Government plan to sell its electricity retail business and lease its power generating plants for 99 years to private companies.
13 February 2008 [Read More]

AWU wants Vic Gvt Inquiry
The Australian Workers’ Union is calling on Victorian Premier, John Brumby, to review the Government’s decision to award a $360 million contract for the overseas manufacture of 18 new trains.
11 February 2008 [Read More]

Unions on interest rates
Interest rate hike puts more working families under financial pressure:unions.
05 February 2008 [Read More]

Union Aid Abroad seeking volunteers
Union Aid Abroad is looking for volunteers for its Make Life Fair Everywhere campaign.
04 February 2008 [Read More]

Work families can't afford rate rise
Unions today warned that low and middle income working families cannot afford another rise in interest rates and called on the Reserve Bank to hold rates at current levels until the full impact of the global financial situation is clearer.
04 February 2008 [Read More]

Economic challenges Rudd Labor faces
The American economy is on the edge of an economic slowdown, recession is possible. Petrol prices are moving towards the threshold of US$100 dollars per barrel.
04 February 2008 [Read More]

AWU gets opinion-leader support
The AWU's superannuation plan launched on Wednesday at the National Press Club is winning support from influential opinion-makers.
01 February 2008 [Read More]

Darwin MUA crew statement
We the crew of the RV Triton would like to put on record our disappointment at Gardline for sacking us because we are members of a union.
31 January 2008 [Read More]

Make focus on OHS a priority
Urgent action is needed to prevent workplace deaths, the ACTU said today.
31 January 2008 [Read More]

ACTU: Restore workplace rights
Union leaders will meet in Canberra over the next three days at an ACTU conference to discuss how to scrap the Liberals’ Work Choices IR laws and restore the rights of workers.
30 January 2008 [Read More]

Regional jobs growth - the AWU plan
The Australian Workers’ Union wants the newly elected Rudd Government to build a strategy to help turn our country towns into the long-term engine-room of Australian growth, environmental protection, population redistribution – so that we can maintain the Australian dream.
31 January 2008 [Read More]

Winning back long service leave
The Australian Workers’ Union wants to work with the Rudd Government to restore the right to long service leave to our union’s members, Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary, will tell the National Press Club today.
30 January 2008 [Read More]

AWU backs Qld Gvt mine concern
A culture of silence at BHP’s Cannington mine must come to an end, the AWU National President and Queensland Secretary, Bill Ludwig, said today.
25 January 2008 [Read More]

Wage rip-off on North West Shelf
One of the biggest global energy industry corporations involved in the oil and gas rush on the North West Shelf is using the skills shortage to import cheap Asian labour – and they’re paying the workers less than what they were promised in their contracts.
22 January 2008 [Read More]

AWU denied Cannington access
Miners Union denied free access to workers at isolated BHP’s Cannington mine .
18 January 2008 [Read More]

AWU leader joins LA writers picket
The Australian Workers' Union National Secretary Paul Howes joins Writers Guild of America picket line in support of striking writers.
17 January 2008 [Read More]

Economic challenges Rudd Labor faces
The American economy is on the edge of an economic slowdown, recession is possible. Petrol prices are moving towards the threshold of US$100 dollars per barrel.
04 February 2008 [Read More]

WA mine pain: OHS voice restricted
The AWU, Australia's mining union, has called for the elimination of artificial restrictions on the right of our union's OHS people, and key officials, to represent mine workers facing workplace health crises.
13 January 2008 [Read More]

Bosses continue to force AWAs
Unions are calling on employers to stop forcing staff onto Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) ahead of new laws expected to be tabled next month in Federal Parliament that will ban AWAS and begin scrapping Work Choices.
09 January 2008 [Read More]

Banks must put people before profits
The ACTU is urging Australia’s major banks to put people before profits and refrain from increasing interest rates following recent decisions by ANZ and the National Australia Bank to put rates up.
07 January 2008 [Read More]

Bank staff pressured to sell debt
The Finance Sector Union today called for bank customers to direct their ire in the right direction in the wake of the move by the major banks to increase interest rates.
07 January 2008 [Read More]

12 hour shift cancer scare
The Australian Workers' Union has welcomed a United Nations report released at the end of last year warning that shift work can be an important factor in causing certain cancers.
07 January 2008 [Read More]

Xmas Day workers
More people working Xmas Day, New Years Day than ever before
25 December 2007 [Read More]

Question marks over miners' safety
A team of Australian Workers’ Union officials is heading to Fosterville Gold Mine near Bendigo to begin its safety investigation into an underground explosion at the mine which resulted in 12 workers requiring hospital attention.
20 December 2007 [Read More]

Stop the Sell Off
Unions NSW and power industry delegates launch campaign to 'Stop the Sell Off' of the state's electricity industry proposed by the NSW Government.
20 December 2007 [Read More]

Qantas must not hit 5000 Oz families
The AWU has been assured that Qantas’ announcement of a new joint venture with Malaysia Airlines will not have any impact on the more than 5000 Australian workers and their families who are involved in local Qantas engineering and maintenance operations.
19 December 2007 [Read More]

Newcastle workers hit hard @ Xmas
Well paid highly skilled Australian workers are about to lose their jobs in the Newcastle area because Federal and State governments are just not prepared to step up and support our manufacturing industries – the AWU said today.
19 December 2007 [Read More]

Beaconsfield mine safety
The AWU believes the new Beaconsfield mine management is much more co-operative than the previous management, the union said today as management announced the resumption of full production.
18 December 2007 [Read More]

MUA backs NZ dockers
Three ships turn away as a Maritime Union delegation joins a picket in Napier New Zealand.
17 December 2007 [Read More]

Face of the AWU on Facebook
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) is set to become more visible on the web with a new Facebook application launched today. (Thursday December 13 2007).
13 December 2007 [Read More]

Hardy Wines leave sour taste
Hardy Wines was acting worse than the Grinch at Christmas in denying its Buronga winery workers fair compensation for losing their jobs next year, the Australian Workers’ Union said today.
11 December 2007 [Read More]

BHP trying to bribe Oz workers
BHP caught trying to bribe Australian workers onto AWAs
09 December 2007 [Read More]

Rogue bosses warned
Bosses who want to undermine the Rudd Labor government's plans to phase out AWAs will not be tolerated.
06 December 2007 [Read More]

PM Rudd salutes unions
Australia's newly elected Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, today praised the role and importance of the trade union movement in Australian society.
05 December 2007 [Read More]

Shorten farewells AWU members
Bill Shorten - one of the AWU's greatest leaders - has sent a message to our union's 130,000 members, thanking them for the extraordinary support and opportunities he has had over last 14 years in what he describes as as challenging and memorable chapter of his working life.
05 December 2007 [Read More]

NSW Fabian Society AGM
Please come along to the NSW Fabian Society AGM to be held at the South Steyne , Darling Harbour, Sydney on 12 December 2007 at 6.30pm.
04 December 2007 [Read More]

New national AWU leader
Australia's oldest and biggest blue-collar union has voted for generational change with Paul Howes, 26, elected as National Secretary after his predecessor, Bill Shorten, was elected on the weekend as part of the Rudd Labor Government.
27 November 2007 [Read More]

Union rejects ALP 'meat axe' call
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has called on the ALP to stop its offensive posturing over public service saving measures.
22 November 2007 [Read More]

Gillard on secret WorkChoice plans
Channel Seven FOI Editor, Michael McKinnon, has revealed that a two and a half year battle to get secret Work Choices documents released has resulted in a further cover-up by the Howard Government.
20 November 2007 [Read More]

Brit unions back Oz expat vote Labor
The British TUC has issued a call to Australians living in the UK to vote to restore workers' rights in the Australian elections which will be held this weekend.
20 November 2007 [Read More]

Gvt deregulation of mine safety
News of the safe and rapid rescue this morning of our miners in Ballarat is welcome indeed – Paul Howes of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) said.
19 November 2007 [Read More]

Farmers Fed uses WorkChoice laws
More than 100,000 workers in the Australian pastoral industry could have their wages cut because of complications caused by the WorkChoice laws, and the Howard Government’s Australian Fair Pay Commission
16 November 2007 [Read More]

New union TV ad for next 2 weeks
New union TV ad highlights importance of preventing Liberals going further on IR .
11 November 2007 [Read More]

Not speaking English - sacked!
Cochlear workers threatened with dismissal for raising concerns over an English-only workplace policy will feature in Mandarin language TV advertisements arguing for their right to be represented by a union.
09 November 2007 [Read More]

Fosters workers want union agreement
Fosters workers at Yatala in Queensland have again voted to take industrial action this week in their fight for a union collective agreement.
09 November 2007 [Read More]

Nationals rob rural workers hopes
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile's attack on The Australian Workers' Union shows how much the Nationals have adopted a lock-step, follow-the-leader policy stance with the Liberals - rather than an independent stance in support of regional Australia.
09 November 2007 [Read More]

PS jobs as political football
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has called on politicians to stop using public service jobs as a ‘political football’.
07 November 2007 [Read More]

Barnsley workers plight
CFMEU Construction National Secretary Dave Noonan will today meet union members on the picket line at Barnsley Joinery Works, where 17 workers were sacked on Friday without immediate payment of their entitlements as per the award.
07 November 2007 [Read More]

LGBTI workers and Fed election
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has stated that they intend to follow up the "Same Sex: Same Entitlements" Inquiry whose report was launched in June this year.
02 November 2007 [Read More]

Childcare leaders unite
Childcare leaders unite to identify crisis in quality standards across Australia
01 November 2007 [Read More]

Howard confirms plan to cut Awards
John Howard has confirmed that his Government will push ahead with their plan to reduce coverage of the award safety net and would also consider changes to the fairness test if re-elected, according to a report in today’s Australian Financial Review.
01 November 2007 [Read More]

2007 WorkChoices Cup
Here is a cheeky Melbourne Cup office sweep for the big day in November.
31 October 2007 [Read More]

Asbestos victims plea to Abbott
Asbestos-disease sufferers and their families will present Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott with a plea to increase their life expectancies through a new drug subsidy at his Manly office today.
31 October 2007 [Read More]

TV's Ramsay St and WorkChoices
Natalie Saleeba, who plays lawyer Rosetta Cammeniti in the Australian soapie Neighbours, met on the set at Ramsay Street with Sharan Burrow the ACTU President this morning to highlight the affects of Workchoices on workers, including actors.
31 October 2007 [Read More]

33,000 more job losses
Workers in manufacturing, agriculture and construction will be campaigning around Australia today (Wednesday) to highlight the negative impact of Work Choices and the Howard Government’s approach to Australia’s manufacturing industry on families and local communities.
31 October 2007 [Read More]

DEWR fined $30,000
The Workplace Relations Department (DEWR) has today been fined $30,000 by the Federal Court for discriminating against union members in the public service.
30 October 2007 [Read More]

Help LG workers fighting WorkChoices
Workers at Holdfast Bay City Council in South Australia need your support. Despite the clear majority of staff voting against it, management at the Council are determined to pressure staff into signing a Work Choices agreement.
30 October 2007 [Read More]

Parlt function for cleaning industry
Representatives of the Australian property industry attended a Clean Start: Fair Deal for Cleaners campaign reception hosted by the NSW Deputy Premier, Hon John Watkins, at NSW Parliament House on 17 October.
30 October 2007 [Read More]

Howard can't be trusted on IR
John Howard cannot be trusted on industrial relations and there is no doubt the Liberals will take Work Choices further after the election, the ACTU said today.
29 October 2007 [Read More]

MUA Election page up and running
Watch the latest MUA idol film featuring Peter Garrett one time rock star from Midnight Oil now Labor MP and shadow environment minister alongside an exclusive interview with David Gleeson, Screaming Jets at Sydney's RocknRally by Port Botany wharfie and MUA film-maker Cooper Silk.
29 October 2007 [Read More]

Builder admits scare campaign
The head of one of Australia's largest construction companies has exposed the fact that industry employer groups are running a massive scare election campaign by conceding the sky will not fall in under a Labor Government.
25 October 2007 [Read More]

Telstra drastic WorkChoice push
Telstra's drastic plan to rush through a non-union, WorkChoices agreement for its white collar workforce before the federal election has been greeted with deep scepticism from staff and unions.
24 October 2007 [Read More]

Big business asks for more
The ACTU has called on the Federal Government to respond to comments by billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey, who said employers should be able to bring in more workers from overseas and pay them only half the wages local workers receive.
24 October 2007 [Read More]

ALP child initiatives great: Union
"Today's announcement by the ALP addresses two of the most important indicators of quality child care: workforce training and staff-to-child ratios in Long Day Care", says Louise Tarrant, National Secretary of the LHMU. The LHMU represents Australia's children's services workers.
24 October 2007 [Read More]

Iran bus unionist blinded
Mansour Osanloo, the President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) who has been detained in the notorious Evin prison in Teheran since July this year has lost the sight of one eye after being denied the urgent medical treatment he needed.
23 October 2007 [Read More]

WorkChoices gatecrashes Cochlear AGM
Cochlear shareholders and board members will get an unexpected dose of the federal election campaign today as workers from the Cochlear manufacturing facility in Lane Cove bring their campaign for union representation to the AGM floor.
23 October 2007 [Read More]

Qantas staff TV campaign
Following the successful launch of the Australian Services Union YouTube advertisement, the Union has now taken the campaign against Qantas cost cutting and downgrading of services to television.
22 October 2007 [Read More]

Working people :No to Gvt's IR laws
ACTU launches new TV ad campaign warning that a re-elected Howard/Costello Government will go further with its IR law changes.
22 October 2007 [Read More]

Brewery workers on the hop over pay
Despite being offered $1000 to sign on and a substantial pay rise, workers at Foster’s Yatala in Queensland have once again rejected the company’s offer, holding out for a union collective agreement.
20 October 2007 [Read More]

Hockey reveals Howard union agenda
Federal Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey has confirmed the Howard Government’s intention to go further on industrial relations and get rid of trade unions altogether if re-elected.
19 October 2007 [Read More]

CFMEU wants Lib ads canned
"The claims in the latest Liberal party scare ad that housing construction costs will be higher under Labor are absolute rubbish," according to Dave Noonan, National Secretary of the CFMEU Construction Division.
18 October 2007 [Read More]

Liberal Party ads insulting: ACTU
A new negative Liberal Party political advertisement launched today by leader-in-waiting Peter Costello is insulting to working families says the ACTU.
18 October 2007 [Read More]

Hawke talks Labor success
Is there a winning formula for Kevin Rudd to follow as a Labor PM? Bob Hawke will talk this week about his years as PM at the next NSW Fabians Labor Leader series.
16 October 2007 [Read More]

Cleaning up our cleaning industry
Senior executives from some of Australia's biggest property owners will meet with cleaners, cleaning contractors and union officials in a breakthrough industry function in Sydney on Wednesday, 17 October.
16 October 2007 [Read More]

Ugly side of not-so-lucky country
Cleaners working in Australia's crisis ridden contract cleaning industry are stepping up their campaign for a fair deal during Anti-Poverty Week, being held from 14 to 20 October 2007.
16 October 2007 [Read More]

Tax cuts don't compensate WorkChoice
The tax cuts promised by John Howard & Peter Costello will not compensate working families for the Work Choices IR laws and the Govt’s plan to push a further 1.5 million workers onto AWAs if it is re-elected, the ACTU said today.
16 October 2007 [Read More]

Global seafarers' deal creates jobs
Australian seafarers will have greater opportunity to work in Australia's international trade thanks to a special levy placed on shipowners in a groundbreaking new global agreement.
16 October 2007 [Read More]

ACTU on Fed election
The Federal Election is an opportunity for working families to protect their rights at work and vote against the Liberals’ and Nationals’ unfair WorkChoices IR laws says the ACTU.
14 October 2007 [Read More]

We're off and running!
Election's called - we're off and running! Check out our animation now.
14 October 2007 [Read More]

Hawke talks Labor success
Is there a winning formula for Kevin Rudd to follow as a Labor PM? Bob Hawke will talk this week about his years as PM at the next NSW Fabians Labor Leader series.
14 October 2007 [Read More]

Cleaners and Anti-Poverty Week
Across Australia CBD cleaners are preparing for major nation-wide Clean Start: Fair Deal for Cleaners rallies during Anti-Poverty Week.
13 October 2007 [Read More]

Exclusive golf course shafts workers
The Australian Workers’ Union will picket an exclusive Victorian golf course until its workers - terminated yesterday with no notice – are reinstated.
12 October 2007 [Read More]

WorkChoices worsens women’s pay gap
The pay gap between men and women has widened under the Howard Government, with women on AWA individual contracts falling furthest behind.
12 October 2007 [Read More]

Sign up for better OH&S
None of us ever expect to get injured at work and we hardly ever think about what sought of workers compensation scheme is there to look after us.
12 October 2007 [Read More]

Public servant must resign: CFMEU
A senior public servant should resign if he wants to accept an invitation to address the extremist HR Nichols Society, the CFMEU said today.
12 October 2007 [Read More]

Hockey not interested in truckies
Joe Hockey has refused to meet with McArthur Express Owner-drivers to explain why he has not allowed for them to be covered under the General Employees Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS).
12 October 2007 [Read More]

Toxic fumes endanger Hobart workers
100 production workers have been exposed to a carcinogenic mist at a Hobart zinc smelter as operators put company profits ahead of workers' health and safety, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union warned today.
11 October 2007 [Read More]

Lifeline cuts workers' choices
The Australian Workers' Union National President and Queensland Branch Secretary Bill Ludwig has voiced his dismay following the revelation that Lifeline Community Care Queensland has used the Federal Government's workplace laws to push through a non-union employee collective agreement.
11 October 2007 [Read More]

Qld brewery workers strike again
Employees from Foster’s Yatala Brewery in Queensland will strike again from 2-6pm TODAY.
10 October 2007 [Read More]

Hawke talks to Gallop
Come along and hear Bob Hawke talk with Geoff Gallop about his time as Prime Minister of Australia.
08 October 2007 [Read More]

Brewery workers begin rolling strike
Foster’s employees walked off the job at Yatala TODAY at 11am as their fight for a union collective agreement intensified.
05 October 2007 [Read More]

Brit students back Fosters workers
British student organisation raises concerns over Foster's Queensland Yatala with UK brewer.
04 October 2007 [Read More]

Qantas hit by ASU YouTube ad
In a first for enterprise bargaining campaigns, the Australian Services Union has today launched a 30 second online advertisement accusing Qantas of cost cutting and downgrading service standards in airports across the country.
03 October 2007 [Read More]

Life Under WorkChoices
A massive study of more than 8,000 workers’ experiences to be released today provides the most accurate picture to date of the impact of the Federal Government’s industrial relations laws.
02 October 2007 [Read More]

ACTU call for Burma action
ACTU calls on Australian Government to exert maximum pressure on Burma’s military regime.
01 October 2007 [Read More]

Global unions Burma protest
With protests in Burma, led by Buddhist monks and nuns, gathering momentum in recent days the military junta has now reacted with ferocious assaults on the demonstrators.
27 September 2007 [Read More]

Macarthur Express workers
Hundreds of families have been left looking for answers after the sudden collapse of trucking company McArthur Express.
27 September 2007 [Read More]

Spanish inquisition for TWU?
News this afternoon that Minister for Workplace Relations Joe Hockey has announced no fewer than 8 inquiries into the Transport Workers’ Union is McCarthyism gone mad.
26 September 2007 [Read More]

Foster's beer strike brewing
Foster’s employees vote in favour of strike action against their employer as they step up their fight to win a union collective agreement.
26 September 2007 [Read More]

Beazley on unions: farewell speech
Kim Beazley in his last speech to Parliament devoted a major section to acknowledging the role of the union movement in promoting democratic values.
22 September 2007 [Read More]

First ever on-line strike!
Members of the Italian workers union Rappresentenza Sindacale Unitaria (RSU) along with the Union Network International (UNI) will make history by staging the world’s first virtual strike in the online world of Second Life.
20 September 2007 [Read More]

25% rise in murders of unionists
In 2006, 144 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers' rights, while more than 800 suffered beatings or torture, according to a worldwide survey released today by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
19 September 2007 [Read More]

Clean Canberra Hospitals
Canberra Hospital cleaners will line up 41 buckets representing the number of cleaners that are needed to keep the hospital clean.
19 September 2007 [Read More]

Costello plans new AWA push
Peter Costello has confirmed that he would go further on industrial relations and that he fully supports a recently leaked secret Government plan to push 1.5 million more workers onto its unfair Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) individual contracts.
17 September 2007 [Read More]

Wattyl be our Rights at Work?

17 September 2007 [Read More]

Big pay loss under WorkChoice
A new government-funded report released today confirms that Australia's 1.7 million hospitality and retail workers have been hit the hardest by the introduction of the WorkChoices IR laws, with some workers losing up to a third of their incomes.
13 September 2007 [Read More]

Unions warn against Costello
John Howard’s announcement that he will stand down in favour of Peter Costello is a clear signal that the Liberal Party plans to take a hardline approach to industrial relations and will go even further on its unfair WorkChoices IR laws if it wins the next election says the ACTU.
13 September 2007 [Read More]

Worker sacked 'operational reasons'
The ACTU today blamed the Howard Government’s IR laws for making it easier to sack long-term workers, following revelations that two video library attendants were sacked after eight years service at Video City stores in Devonport and Burnie, Tasmania.
12 September 2007 [Read More]

Big Week for Scrutiny of Work Choice
One of the world’s leading economists, Professor Richard Freeman of Harvard University, will be speaking on the significance of Work Choices in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney this week. He will be raising questions about the law’s likely impact and argue the changes are set to create more problems than they solve.
10 September 2007 [Read More]

DEWR bosses guilty of discrimination
Following a two year legal battle, the Federal Court has found the department responsible for administering the Workplace Relations Act has acted illegally by discriminating against union members in the public service.
06 September 2007 [Read More]

Workers vote flattens Fosters
Foster's brewery workers in Queensland have shown they overwhelmingly oppose the company’s plans to impose a non-union agreement.
06 September 2007 [Read More]

Barry Hemsworth: fighting 1 Year on
On Thursday September 6, crane driver Barry Hemsworth will clock up a full year maintaining his one man picket line outside Botany Cranes, the company that sacked him after a workplace safety dispute.
05 September 2007 [Read More]

Fosters Beer:e-mail protest campaign
On September 3 a large majority of the 280 workers employed by Foster's Yatala brewery near Brisbane,voted to reject the non-union agreement that the company is trying to impose using the Howard government's anti-labour "Work Choices" legislation.
04 September 2007 [Read More]

What do workers need from new laws?
The future for workplace laws, collective bargaining and unions: what do workers and unions need in future.
04 September 2007 [Read More]

City office cleaners protests
CBD office cleaners will today reveal their plan to fix the crisis in the cleaning industry.
04 September 2007 [Read More]

Australia - a client state of China?
Hon Kim Beazley MP, Alan Behm and Dr Chris Rahman will be speaking on this contentious issue on 5 September at Gleebooks at 6.00pm on Australia’s relations with the Peoples Republic of China.
04 September 2007 [Read More]

Fences not enough for Bush
Fences not enough for Bush to escape US Iraq Veteran’s voice at APEC.
03 September 2007 [Read More]

What APEC is not about!!!
Labour rights and human rights in the region - A quest for real Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation.
03 September 2007 [Read More]

60 years of Aust'n Union Songs
New 100-page booklet about the Australian folk revival and the Australian labour movement since the Second World Way.
02 September 2007 [Read More]

Cochlear YouTube msg to PM
Cochlear workers battling for the right to be represented by their union in wage negotiations are sending the Prime Minister a message via You Tube.
01 September 2007 [Read More]

Foster’s not giving sporting chance
Workers at Foster’s Yatala brewery in Queensland are poised to step up their campaign for a fair Union Collective Agreement.
31 August 2007 [Read More]

Anarchy in the gallery
'Let the walls speak!' political poster exhibition
31 August 2007 [Read More]

Unions on APEC & sex slavery
Senior trade union leaders from Asia Pacific countries will meet in Sydney today and tomorrow (Thurs 30 Aug - Fri 31 Aug) to discuss reports that the Asian region is fast becoming a hub for the trafficking of women for sexual slavery.
30 August 2007 [Read More]

Australia - a client state of China?
Despite the hype over Australia’s supposed China-focused economic destiny and our closer political and security engagement with Beijing, there remains a bipartisan credibility gap in Australian China policy.
29 August 2007 [Read More]

AWA mineworkers not so well paid
Mineworkers on collective agreements typically earn more than $100,00 per year, while those on AWAs typically earn far less than that.
29 August 2007 [Read More]

Labor policy steps to better rights
The ACTU said that the Labor Party's transitional industrial relations arrangements announced today were an important step towards restoring rights for working families in Australia.
28 August 2007 [Read More]

Walsh set to replace Daley, Vic LHMU
Thirty-six year-old Jess Walsh will soon replace Brian Daley as secretary of the LHMU Victoria branch. Daley is retiring after 13 years at the helm.
27 August 2007 [Read More]

Work rate scandal for cleaners
A national survey of CBD office cleaners reveals cleaners are having their hours cut but are still expected to complete the same amount of work – and sometimes expected to do extra work in the shorter hours.
26 August 2007 [Read More]

Boss group rejects Howard¹s AWAs
At last an employer-backed study into the Australian Construction Industry has rejected the Howard Government's individual contracts and concedes the benefits of trade unions in making the industry more productive, the CFMEU said today.
24 August 2007 [Read More]

Workers on AWAs miss redundancy pay
Workers on AWA individual contracts employed at the South Burnett Meatworks in Queensland have missed out on tens of thousands of dollars in redundancy pay after the plant closed while workers on a union collective agreement will get their full redundancy entitlement, with some employees getting up to $19,000.
24 August 2007 [Read More]

Foster's struggle goes global
Union members will rally outside Foster’s Australia’s marketing headquarters in Queensland today from 12 midday.
24 August 2007 [Read More]

Canberra cleaners workloads campaign
Cleaners at the Hospital will hold a short lunchtime meeting in the foyer of Canberra Hospital at 12.30pm today to protest their ongoing problems with excessive workloads which are having a serious effect on hospital cleaning standards.
22 August 2007 [Read More]

Lawrence takes over at ACTU
Jeff Lawrence takes over as ACTU Secretary & vows to intensify campaign against WorkChoices IR laws.
21 August 2007 [Read More]

Australia - a client state of China?
Despite the hype over Australia’s supposed China-focused economic destiny and our closer political and security engagement with Beijing, there remains a bipartisan credibility gap in Australian China policy.
20 August 2007 [Read More]

LHMU members grill Hockey Gillard
Four LHMU members from South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania travelled to Canberra this week to speak to Joe Hockey, the Minister for WorkChoices and his opposite number, Julia Gillard.
20 August 2007 [Read More]

You can have agreement -but no union
Australia's world famous beer company Fosters has decided that it wants to keep workers at its Yatala brewery in south-eastern Queensland on wages that are up to 35% less than wages at other breweries around the country.
16 August 2007 [Read More]

Historic changes at LHMU
The newly installed LHMU National Secretary, Louise Tarrant, yesterday called for the creation of a “ union of ambition” on her first day in the top job leading the 130,000 member LHMU.
15 August 2007 [Read More]

Cochlear tarnishes profit statement
Today’s profit announcement by Cochlear will be tarnished by its ongoing refusal to listen to its workers’ call for collective bargaining rights, the Australian Manufacturing’ Workers’ Union warns.
14 August 2007 [Read More]

Women worse off under WorkChoice
A national report released today demonstrates that WorkChoices isn’t working for low paid women and their families.
13 August 2007 [Read More]

Oz pub with no good (union) beer?
Fosters brewery workers in Brisbane, Queensland, yesterday continued their public show of solidarity because the internationally renowned brewer refuses to negotiate a union collective agreement.
10 August 2007 [Read More]

Union slams Trujillo pay rise
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has slammed the latest pay increase for Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo following the company's latest profit announcement.
09 August 2007 [Read More]