Industrial Relations

Migrant workers take a stand against gendered workplace violence

Date Published: 21/02/2024
Category: Industrial Relations

Twelve migrant women workers are suing their employer, Perfection Fresh, for failing to provide a safe working environment and enabling sexual harassment.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2024/02/21/migrant-workers-take-a-stand-against-gendered-workplace-violence/

Workers win the right to disconnect

Date Published: 09/02/2024
Category: Industrial Relations

Thanks to new right to disconnect laws to come into effect later this year, all workers will have the right to say no to unreasonable demands to stay digitally connected to their employer and work outside regular work hours. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2024/02/09/workers-win-the-right-to-disconnect/

Putting an end to labour hire exploitation in the mining sector

Date Published: 21/11/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

Mining industry profits are so huge that these companies could easily afford to give every worker in Australia a cost-of-living pay rise of 6%, and still hold onto their crown as Australia’s most profitable industry.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/11/21/putting-an-end-to-labour-hire-exploitation-in-the-mining-sector/

Closing the loopholes to empower workplace delegates

Date Published: 17/11/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

Delegates are the elected representatives of workers in a workplace, serving as a voice for workers when issues arise, and opening lines of communication between workers and employers.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/11/17/closing-the-loopholes-to-empower-workplace-delegates/

Udderly Outraged: Workers Demand Better Conditions in Dairy Strike!

Date Published: 20/10/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

This week, 1400 striking workers in the Victorian dairy industry have set a powerful example of what workers can achieve when they stand together and take action.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/10/20/dairy-industry-workers-unite-to-win-change-through-inspiring-union-action/

Once upon a time in America…

Date Published: 06/10/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

We extend our solidarity and congratulations to every unionist on the Hollywood writers’ strike picket line, who have achieved a provisional deal following a 146-day strike – one of the longest writers’ strikes in US history. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/10/06/once-upon-a-time-in-america/

Qantas high court ruling in favour of workers

Date Published: 18/09/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

In a historic victory for unionists and workers, the Federal Court’s ruling was upheld: Qantas are responsible for the largest case of illegal sackings in Australia’s history, and it’s time for them to take responsibility.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/09/18/qantas-high-court-ruling-in-favour-of-workers/

How employers get away with stealing wages

Date Published: 15/06/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

With two-thirds of workers in Australia having experienced wage theft, chances are it could be happening in your industry too.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/06/15/how-employers-get-away-with-stealing-wages/

How can staff be paid more than their managers?

Date Published: 06/06/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

“When you get on an aircraft, every crew member could be on a completely different pay scale.”

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/06/06/how-can-staff-be-paid-more-than-their-managers/

Today, workers in Australia have brand new rights

Date Published: 06/06/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

Today is an important day for workers’ rights. It’s the day that major parts of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay laws come into effect. These laws were passed by the Albanese Labor Government at the end of last year after tireless campaigning by workers in unions. The new laws today will help unions negotiate higher…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/06/06/today-workers-in-australia-have-brand-new-rights/

Early educators are out to win a massive pay rise. You can too.

Date Published: 17/02/2023
Category: Industrial Relations

How have we reached this point? Because wage growth has looked like a bumpy footpath for the past decade while corporate profits have scaled mountains.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/02/17/early-educators-are-out-to-win-a-massive-pay-rise-you-can-too/

New work laws provide three boosts to workers

Date Published: 08/12/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

A change in work laws means you might well be about to get a well-deserved pay increase.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/12/08/new-work-laws-provide-three-boosts-to-workers/

One in four Australians skipping meals shows need to get wages moving again

Date Published: 01/12/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

It’s a shocking figure that has gained massive media attention, making headlines in the ABC and the Guardian. Even The Australian understands that one in four Australian skipping meals means we need urgent reform. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/12/01/one-in-four-australians-skipping-meals-shows-need-to-get-wages-moving-again/

Strength and safety for childcare workforce

Date Published: 19/11/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

If nothing changes, we will continue to see educators leave the sector in droves. Not for lack of love, but because it breaks our hearts to be forced to put profit above children.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/11/19/strength-and-safety-for-childcare-workforce/

Three things workers need to see in tonight’s Federal Budget

Date Published: 25/10/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

Prices on everything are going up but our wages have failed to match those increases. The budget is a chance to turn the trend around. But don’t just take it from us. It’s what the experts are saying too.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/10/25/three-things-workers-need-to-see-in-tonights-federal-budget/

We as a country are better, stronger and happier when we work together

Date Published: 29/09/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

Sally McManus Address to the National Press Club, Wednesday 28th September 2022 Watch the address here. I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on – the Ngunnawal people, and pay respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. The Australian union movement supports the Statement from the Heart calling…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/09/29/we-as-a-country-are-better-stronger-and-happier-when-we-work-together/

The fair, simple and accessible way we will boost wages

Date Published: 02/09/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

Australia needs sustainable pay increases so that working people’s pay keeps up with the cost of living and productivity increases. For this to occur we need to modernise the collective bargaining system.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/09/02/actu-secretary-sally-mcmanus-speech-at-the-jobs-and-skills-summit/

We know what respect for working women looks like. Here’s how we make it happen

Date Published: 02/09/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

A fairer approach and simpler right to flexible work arrangements in our workplace laws that recognise the importance for all of us of balancing work and care.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/09/02/we-know-what-respect-for-working-women-looks-like-heres-how-we-make-it-happen/

How we can get wages growing again

Date Published: 01/09/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

Our workplace bargaining laws are overly and unnecessarily complicated. They no longer provide an even playing field for workers.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/09/01/how-we-can-get-wages-growing-again/

Having trouble getting decent pay? Fixing the bargaining system will change that

Date Published: 31/08/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

Keep an eye out of the next few days for the union movement’s positive plan to ensuring millions of workers can get a pay rise.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/31/having-trouble-getting-decent-pay-fixing-the-bargaining-system-will-change-that/

Women want to work more, so what is standing in their way?

Date Published: 30/08/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

How is it possible that businesses are crying out for more workers and yet 1.8 million people in Australia say they want work?  

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/30/women-want-to-work-more-so-what-is-standing-in-their-way/

Sally McManus provides a key answer to fixing our low wages

Date Published: 25/08/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

We are staring in the face of a massive cost of living crisis where the prices everywhere have gone up but our wages have not. So what do we do to tackle such a big challenge?  

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/25/sally-mcmanus-provides-a-key-answer-to-fixing-our-low-wages/

Australia has a bright climate future and unions are ready to make it happen

Date Published: 23/08/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

Australia is the best placed country in the world to be a renewable energy superpower, generating 395,000 jobs and $89 billion in revenue by 2040. We can get there by unions, government, business, and climate organisations working together.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/23/australia-has-a-bright-climate-future-and-unions-are-ready-to-make-it-happen/

Workers’ wages and training need a massive boost

Date Published: 17/08/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

A new report from the Australian Council of Trade Unions calls for the reinvigoration of Australia’s TAFE by guaranteeing a minimum of 70 percent public funding, as well repairing almost a decade of damage to our apprenticeship system.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/17/workers-wages-and-training-need-a-massive-boost/

Interest rate increases worsens cost-of-living crisis – but workers can turn the tide

Date Published: 03/08/2022
Category: Industrial Relations

The interest rate rise of 0.5 percentage points, which brings the cash rate to 1.85 per cent, announced on Tuesday by the Reserve Bank of Australia will worsen the cost-of-living crisis for workers. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/03/interest-rate-increases-worsens-cost-of-living-crisis-but-workers-can-turn-the-tide/

A win for workers—and another betrayal by the Morrison Government

The Morrison Government’s IR Bill passed the Senate yesterday, stripped of all but one of its major provisions. This was a win for unions, workers, and the community who campaigned against the changes, writes Chloe Ward.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/19/a-win-for-workers-and-another-betrayal-by-the-morrison-government/

Update: Government entrenches job insecurity with workplace law “Omnibus Bill”

Date Published: 18/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Workers rights

Working people in unions have successfully stopped many of the worst aspects of the Morrison Government’s anti-worker “Omnibus Bill” from becoming law.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/18/gutless-government-punishes-casual-workers-after-humiliating-defeat/

Meet Mark: an imbalance of power

Date Published: 17/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security Working life

Imagine getting laid-off over Christmas, abandoned by your employer, left with nothing while the bills stack up.

It’s a nightmare scenario, but for Mark and 300 of his colleagues, it was all too real.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/17/meet-mark-an-imbalance-of-power/

Meet Sherree: one cut from poverty

One shift can make all the difference for aged care worker Sherree Clarke. But in the midst of a pandemic, she actually saw fewer of them.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/10/meet-sherree-one-cut-from-poverty/

International Women’s Day 2021 Report

Date Published: 08/03/2021
Category: Covid-19 Human Rights Industrial Relations

Reality check for Australian Working Women International Women’s Day is a day to reflect upon and honour the work of all the women who fought for the rights and protections that working women have today. But this year, it’s also a day for a reality check – because this Government has left women behind. The…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/08/international-womens-day-2021-report-reality-check-for-australian-working-women/

Meet Gaby: a nurse’s concern

Date Published: 03/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security Workers rights

As a registered nurse for the past 10 years, Gaby Norman is used to taking care of others. And that’s why, with the Morrison Government proposing dangerous industrial relations legislation, she fears for what’s ahead.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/03/meet-gaby-a-nurses-concern/

Meet Llwyd: the labour hire roundabout

Date Published: 02/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security Workers rights

Llwyd is an electrician based in Brisbane, with nearly three decades’ worth of experience. But he’s trapped on what he calls “the labour hire roundabout”.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/02/meet-llwyd-the-labour-hire-roundabout/

Meet Rylee: the need for job security

Date Published: 01/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Workers rights Working life

Job security. That’s all Rylee Miller is asking for. She just wants to know her job is safe and permanent.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/01/meet-rylee-the-need-for-job-security/

Experts warn changes to job security will put public health at risk

Date Published: 16/02/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security

No access to paid sick leave and insecure working conditions are putting Australians at greater risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a submission by epidemiologists from ANU in response to the Morrison Government’s proposed IR Omnibus Bill.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/02/16/experts-warn-changes-to-job-security-will-put-public-health-at-risk/

Morrison’s dangerous IR bill takes aim at take-home pay and secure work

Date Published: 08/02/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Workers rights

Part-time workers stand to lose thousands in personal income, while others may be denied secure work altogether under proposed industrial relations changes, warns independent think tank, Per Capita.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/02/08/morrisons-dangerous-ir-bill-takes-aim-at-take-home-pay-and-secure-work/

Why the Government’s IR Bill is so dangerous and extreme

Date Published: 08/02/2021
Category: Analysis Industrial Relations

The Senate Inquiry into the Government’s dangerous and extreme industrial relations Bill has just begun.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/02/08/why-the-governments-ir-bill-is-so-dangerous-and-extreme/

The Morrison Government’s industrial relations bill will hurt workers, and hurt the economy

Date Published: 05/02/2021
Category: Analysis Industrial Relations Workers rights Working life

With Federal Parliament back in session, the fight over the Morrison Government’s Industrial Relations Bill is heating up.

Australian Unions oppose the Coalition’s dangerous plans—because they’re bad for wages, bad for workers’ conditions, and bad for the economy.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/02/05/the-morrison-governments-industrial-relations-bill-will-hurt-workers-and-hurt-the-economy/

Enterprise Bargaining is Broken

Date Published: 08/09/2017
Category: Industrial Relations

About The rules around enterprise bargaining are too restrictive and bosses have found ways to exploit them. They use tactics such as outsourcing, offshoring, labour hire, terminating agreements, no stake agreements, and more, to avoid paying fair wages and conditions. Bosses have an unfair advantage over workers. The Issue The enterprise bargaining system was intended…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2017/09/08/enterprise-bargaining-is-broken/

Wage theft – the new model for big business

Date Published: 08/09/2017
Category: Industrial Relations

No worker should ever have their wages stolen, but it has become a widespread and common problem in Australia. Roughly one-third of Australian workers are victims of wage theft each year, robbing workers around the country of an estimated $1.35 billion annually. It can occur in any industry, but wage theft has become common practice…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2017/09/08/wage-theft-the-new-model-for-big-business/

The ABCC: Too much power over working people

Date Published: 08/07/2017
Category: Industrial Relations

About The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) is a Government body intended to bully building, transport and maritime workers. It is trying to silence workers by intimidating them. Some basic rights have been stripped away and workers are threatened with criminal offences. Wages and conditions are being taken away by administrative action. The ABCC is…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2017/07/08/the-abcc-too-much-power-over-working-people/

Should I be paid for any overtime I work?

Date Published: 24/04/2015
Category: Analysis Industrial Relations Workers rights

Leonie asks: I work for the local council and I’ve just now changed jobs within the council.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2015/04/24/should-i-be-paid-for-any-overtime-i-work/

Am I being paid correctly under my award?

Date Published: 01/12/2014
Category: Analysis Industrial Relations Workers rights

Leon asks: My employer says she doesn’t have to pay me the amount set down in the Award as when I started working for her the Award said I was paid at a lower rate.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2014/12/01/am-i-being-paid-correctly-under-my-award/