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ACTU Indigenous Officer Lara Watson joined us on The Bulletin this week, to share what a win for “Yes” in the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum would mean for her as a proud Birri Gubba woman. Later this year, the Australian public – some for their first ever voting experience – will be asked if…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/03/03/yes-unions-for-a-voice-to-parliament/
Interest Rates Rise A couple weeks ago, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased interest rates for the ninth consecutive time. It was news delivered along with a grim warning. It wouldn’t be the last of such increases; there were several more to come. RBA Governor Phil Lowe sticks by his decision and is quick to remind…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/02/20/rates-railroads-and-relief-for-refugees/
The other day I was perusing OECD’s dataset on the gender pay gap. The bar representing Australia was disconcertingly far to the right end of the graph; Australia had one of the widest disparities between women’s and men’s earnings in the OECD, at over 14 per cent. Today as I idly find the same graph,…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/02/14/were-winning-for-women/
When I finally get around to writing my bestselling dystopian novel, it would go something like this… There would be a handful of very powerful corporations, and they would find a way to hoard wealth amongst and for only each other. They would manipulate a system that was already bitterly unfair and weighted against…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/02/07/share-buybacks-the-billionaire-get-rich-quick-scheme/
Nowhere in any of those meetings, were any workers for the company made aware of a substance called silica.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/12/08/the-silent-silicosis-epidemic/
Since Qatar was awarded the right to host the World Cup, over 6500 migrant workers – human beings held in indentured labour – have died.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/11/27/thered-be-no-fifa-world-cup-without-workers/
Everyone has a bad boss story. Robyn Peeples is fictional but I could swear I’ve met him several iterations of him in various workplaces before.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/11/14/all-across-the-country-its-action-action-action/
Everyone has a bad boss story. Robyn Peeples is fictional but I could swear I’ve met him several iterations of him in various workplaces before.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/11/04/robbin-people-tales-of-a-bad-boss/
Last week, the budget offered Australians a little relief, especially for parents. This includes an injection of about $4 billion over 4 years into affordable early childhood education and care, and an expansion of Paid Parental Leave from 18 to 26 weeks. These two wins will help mums to enter or re-enter the workforce. …
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/10/31/the-power-of-campaigning-a-budget-special/
The conditions that union members fight to strengthen and improve, are conditions that affect young people in a very tangible way.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/10/19/the-youth-is-on-fire-and-theyre-unionising/
This week on the Bulletin, we spoke to primary school teacher and Australian Education Union member, Lauren Duncan. Lauren effused warmth and decency. Exactly the sort of person who you would want tasked with teaching your children in their formative years. Exactly the sort of person that it would be a national shame to…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/10/13/teachers-or-millionaires-who-deserves-a-bigger-break/
“Why should the people who produced the whole wealth of the world have such a small share in the enjoyments of the world, or that of recreation which was necessary for their health? Why should their whole lives be made up of eating, sleeping, and work?”
My abhorrent crime for which I am forking up well over a week’s pay was keeping my poorly insulated house warm through a bitter winter. I did this mostly for my baby daughter.
ACTU Secretary Sally McManus joined us on The Bulletin this week to reflect on what came out of the Jobs and Skills Summit.
Hiring 13-year-olds is a recipe for exploitative disaster. They would be paid even less than their 15-year-old counterparts and, owing to their age, would have so little voice and agency in their workplaces.
It is important to remember that the steady decline in enterprise bargaining is one of several factors contributing to this stagnation of wages.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/30/workers-deserve-easy-access-to-the-bargaining-system/
On Saturday 14 October, Australia will have the opportunity to vote in a once-in-a-generation referendum. The question is a simple one and proposes a modest change to our constitution – to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the practical form of a Voice to Parliament.
Yesterday the inquiry into Price Gouging and Unfair Pricing Practices commenced in Melbourne, convened by economist and former ACCC chair Professor Allan Fels and commissioned by the ACTU.
