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When researcher Cameo Dalley informed a senior woman professor that she was pregnant, the atmosphere changed completely.
It’s easy to feel defeated in the face of ongoing gender inequality. But this International Women’s Day feels a little different.
Find out which International Women’s Day events are happening near you.
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/
A report from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) states that more than a third of female journalists have experienced online harassment, trolling and stalking while doing their job. But only 15 per cent are aware of a workplace policy to address such online abuse.
Public outcry and collective action have been indispensable to the fight against workplace sexual harassment. And behind the wave of progress in Australian workplaces have been thousands of workers in their unions, pushing every step of the way.
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/
It’s hard to believe we face a gender pay gap in Australia that still sees men take home an average of $263.90 more than women per week. But thanks to generations of women working together, that gap has shrunk.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/11/18/how-far-have-we-come-with-equal-pay-for-women/
It’s easy for bosses to virtue-signal about self-care without providing the necessary means to prevent burn out and other hazards in the first place. But in order to actually practice self-care, workers need time and financial security to do so.
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/
Today, parliament passed a bill that will enshrine 10 days paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave as a workplace right for every worker in Australia.
There are many ways workers spend their lunch break. Some tuck into food in the breakroom. Others leave the desk or worksite and go for a stroll.
One woman headed down to a busy building in Melbourne’s CBD and chained herself to the front door of a busy building.
Ten years ago, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard stood up in Australian parliament and spoke the iconic words that have been replayed nearly 4 million times on Youtube: ‘I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man – not now, not ever’. Gillard’s speech uncloaked the sexism prevalent in Australian parliament –…
When my mother was pregnant with me in the 90s, she fought tooth and nail to become the first woman in her workplace to receive paid maternity leave.
The first five years of a child’s life are a critical period in human brain development. More than two decades of research has shown that interactions between educators and children are pivotal for optimal child learning – around language development, behavioural expectations, and emotional relationships. The effects of early childhood education are seen as far as secondary school.
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.
Addressing the cracks in the sector is long overdue. The care compact provides more than job improvement for workers. It is an investment in the dignity and quality of life of the many Australians – young and old – who depend on carers.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/09/02/australias-care-crisis-requires-an-industry-overhaul/
Women today are told that they can and should seamlessly maintain a perfect balance of work and family life. But our current paid parental leave framework tells us that motherhood is a thankless job in many ways.
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/
How is it possible that businesses are crying out for more workers and yet 1.8 million people in Australia say they want work?
For over a decade, unions campaigned for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave in the NES so that no worker would miss out. We were met with constant opposition by the former Coalition Government, but we never gave up. Today, while we celebrate the introduction of paid FDV leave into parliament, we also stop and remember all the lives lost too soon and the struggle that continues.
As working women in the United States take to the streets in outrage, Australian workers can see clearly how important it is to understand our own rights and ensure they remain protected.
After years of tireless effort from union members and community activists, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has made an in-principle decision that workers covered by modern Awards should have access to 10 days paid Family and Domestic Violence leave.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/05/28/for-women-time-does-not-always-equal-money/
After years of tireless effort from union members and community activists, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has made an in-principle decision that workers covered by modern Awards should have access to 10 days paid Family and Domestic Violence leave.
We need to make ten days of paid family and domestic violence leave a reality. This is the call from the Australian Council of Trade Unions as the Fair Work Commission conducts a review into Family and Domestic Violence leave entitlements in modern Awards.
Being a union leader and working mum produces a huge variety of challenges but not always the ones you might expect.
When we place an Uber Eats order, we would never guess that if a woman is delivering the meal she is likely earning 37% less for that order than if a man delivered it.
Employer policies or contracts that prevent workers from discussing their pay with their workmates means that challenges to the gender gap are silenced in many Australian workplaces.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/04/13/why-pay-secrecy-clauses-are-sexist/
Frontline workers have spoken about the absolute necessity of 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave at a Fair Work Commission hearing.
We have joined more than 60 diverse community organisations as the Power2Prevent Coalition and we have called on the Morrison Government to act now to implement the remaining recommendations of the Respect@Work report.
Wage stagnation is a direct product of the Liberal Government’s economic design. They have embedded casualisation and precarious work into our national labour force.
These women have a clear message for Scott Morrison: you can’t walk away from women.
It’s been an excruciatingly long twelve months under the Morrison Government.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/12/women-marched-forward-morrison-marched-back/
Morrison talks as if women were still newcomers to the Australian workforce, let alone acknowledge how the category of ‘woman’ has expanded.
There has been lots of flowery prose and tributes delivered to frontline women workers, but applause and pats on the back don’t pay the bills, according to Ms O’Neil.
While Liberal politicians were munching on their International Women’s Day cupcakes, we weren’t prepared to sugar coat reality. If Morrison wanted to sweeten the millions of women going to the ballot boxes in a couple of months, he should have had a second look at his own track record. Hundreds of women marched from Spring…
History has shown us that equality and safety at work has not been delivered by business lobbyists but by generations of women union members demanding change.
Gender inequity does not happen by accident. It is a result of deliberate policy decisions made by this Government that we have seen happen time and time again.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/03/a-budget-that-failed-more-than-half-of-australia/
Believe the experiences of women. Believe things can change.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/03/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace-must-end-now/
While the Government is busy breaking promises to half the population, union members look out for each other’s wellbeing and safety.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/02/where-is-the-respect-for-working-women/
We’ve selected the top five ways in which the Prime Minister has let down the women of Australia during the last twelve months.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/01/five-times-morrison-has-walked-away-from-women/
Claudia believes Honey Birdette needs to be held to the standards they themselves have sold to the public.
“They say they are still empowering women by providing a safe place to shop for their products. They’re less about empowering women, more about empowering women to buy their products.”
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/01/honey-birdette-selling-empowerment-trading-in-sexism/
“These things all fit together. If we’re going to fix the gender pay gap, if we’re going to make women more equal, we have got to have a commitment to free universal childcare and change the laws so that we can get proper recognition for the skills and jobs that women do.”
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/02/14/jumping-the-gender-pay-gap-still-a-leap-too-far/
“The removal of the threshold is a critical step in closing the gender gap in superannuation, and one which has been promised and re-promised by this government for almost 12 months,” Michele O’Neil said.
“The time for action is well overdue.”
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/02/10/nows-the-time-for-the-super-threshold-to-go/
For new families, a sense of financial security is undeniably valuable. But, on the other hand, so is spending quality time with young children and being there to support partners during the ups and downs.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/11/18/were-taking-action-for-fairer-paid-parental-leave/
Australian working women are hoping that 2021 is a year that will be remembered for generating real change leading to gender equality. Because we should not have to wait for respect, safety and equality.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/11/17/women-sexual-harrassment-speech-michele-oneil/
Clothing giant Country Road has had itself a good pandemic. The ubiquitous fashion company likes to project itself as being the height of domestic sophistication, neat, dignified and considerate. The truth is that this company that made bumper profits amidst COVID-19 online shopping boom is none of those things when it comes to looking after…
The crucial educational, social and economic role of early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been further highlighted over the past two years, as the interruptions of lockdowns and distancing have exacerbated longstanding barriers to accessing free, high-quality, ECEC in Australia, writes Lauren Piko
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/10/22/ecec-is-essential/
We know that insecure work can have several poor economic outcomes for workers. However, what is rarely talked about is the how safety issues, like sexual harassment, are often compounded by these exploitative business models. A new survey commissioned by the ACTU found that 26% of retail workers and 22% of health workers reported experiencing…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/10/21/insecure-work-sexual-harassment/
Women to the front! It was today in 1969 that legendary unionist Zelda D’Aprano chained herself to the Commonwealth building to protest for equal pay for women. You’ll probably recognise this iconic image of Zelda chained to the government building. It’s in history books across Australian high schools, profiled in museums across the nation and…
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/10/21/zelda-daprano-equal-pay-protest/
Menopause can impact work, so why aren’t workplaces talking about it? Let’s take a look at how workplaces can become more menopause friendly.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/10/12/menopause-in-the-workplace/
From Respect@Work legislation to the Women’s Summit, Morrison is all talk and no action when it comes to women’s safety, writes Francis Leach
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/09/10/womens-safety-no-action-from-scott-morrison/
This week, the Senate debated a partial, incomplete and cherry-picked list of recommendations which were drawn from the Sex Discrimination Commission’s Respect@Work report, published over a year ago.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/09/03/respect-at-work/
When it comes to Respect @ Work for women, Australia needs urgent and decisive action not spin and rhetoric, writes Francis Leach
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/07/19/time-to-act-on-respect-work/
ACTU President Michele O’Neil spoke with On the Job about why resisting the Government’s plans to dismantle superannuation is so important.
The 2021 Budget was a chance to tackle the biggest issues facing working Australians. So how did it measure up? We break down what the budget means for you.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/05/17/what-the-budget-means-for-working-australians/
The 2021 Budget is an opportunity to tackle gender inequality and build a better, fairer, safer Australia. Here are 5 things we want to see.
ACTU President Michele O’Neil has called on the Morrison government to provide a budget that delivers for women, telling the National Press Club, “A better budget for women is not just a better budget for women, it’s better economic management, it’s better for men, it’s better for everyone.”
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/04/27/a-better-budget-for-women/
Australian Unions has joined together with a diverse group of organisations representing women’s rights to demand the Morrison Government deliver real safety at work for women.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/04/14/safe-work-4-women/
What is it about the Morrison Government and its continued attempts to sabotage Australia’s superannuation system?
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/22/whats-with-the-liberals-obsession-with-your-super/
Journalist and media advocate Karen Percy says when it comes to dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace, “it’s time for men to stand up”.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets to voice their anger at the sexual violence faced by women in Australia and the failings of the Government to take meaningful action against it.
What did we learn?
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/16/enough-is-enough-5-takeaways-from-march4justice/
You’ve heard a lot from me about the dangers of the Morrison Government’s IR Omnibus Bill. That’s because it’s important. It will entrench casualisation, undermine wages and conditions, and stall Australia’s recovery from the Covid-19 recession.
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/
The COVID-19 recession has been an economic calamity for millions of Australian women and its impact on their financial wellbeing could linger for decades to come according to a new report released by the Grattan Institute.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/09/women-hit-hard-by-covid-recession/
To mark International Women’s Day 2021, Australian Unions have released a report into women’s progress and gender equality in Australia and wow, do we need to do better.
International Women’s Day is here again – a day to celebrate the achievements of women and a call to action in the ongoing fight for gender equality.
A day is great, but it got us thinking. What can we be doing to support women in our workplaces all year round? So, we’ve put together a list of 5 ways you can start making a difference.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/08/5-ways-to-support-women-co-workers-every-day/
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…
Like most women, speaker and journalist Meggie Palmer felt frustrated when confronted with gender pay gap data. But within the disheartening stats, she also saw possibility.
https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/05/closing-the-gender-pay-gap-theres-an-app-for-that/
On this day in 1856, Melbourne's Stonemasons fought for – and won – the 8-hour workday as a nationwide industry standard.
Unfair rostering disadvantages workers in insecure work: unions are calling for for roster justice.
