B Curphey

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Issue #1991

BHP can’t enforce vaccine mandate: Fair Work Commission

Workers at NSW’s Mt Arthur BHP coal mine have won in the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which ruled on 3rd December that BHP can not enforce a vaccine mandate at the site until it undertakes genuine consultation with workers.

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Issue #1978

Medal bonuses don’t address ableism in Paralympic funding

On Thursday, 2nd September, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that medalists at this year’s Paralympic Games would get equal payments to their Olympic counterparts for the first time in Australian history.

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Issue #1980

Nauru invokes the Law of the Sea to begin deep seabed mining by 2022

At the 76th meeting of the UN General Assembly last week, a controversial move by the states of Micronesia was on the agenda.

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Issue #1998

The “new normal” life with COVID, two years on

New data shows that the cost of living has increased 3.5 per week in the past year and poverty is once more on the increase...

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Issue #2000

Sick Pay Guarantee a step in the right direction

The Victorian government has recently launched a Sick Pay Guarantee pilot program for casual workers. Under the scheme, casuals and contract workers in certain industries...

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Issue #1986

Report shows deaths at work on the rise

On 28th October, Safe Work Australia released a damning report which shows that deaths at work have increased.

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Issue #2020

RTBU’S “rolling” actions highlight broken bargaining system

Workers at Sydney Trains and NSW Trains are taking industrial action throughout August over the Government’s refusal to negotiate in good faith. Health and safety,...

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Issue #2021

Treaty authority established in Victoria

On 16th August, the Victorian Parliament passed legislation creating an independent body to oversee treaty negotiations between the Victorian government and the state’s Traditional Owners....

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Issue #2006

Election 2022: where do the major parties stand on housing?

Heading into the 2022 Federal Election on 21st May, housing is once again a major issue. The cost of housing increased by twenty-five per cent...

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Issue #1995

Commonwealth pushes to rework national curriculum

Federal Education Minister Stuart Robert has gone public with his belief that school curriculums should be teaching our kids “what it means to be Australian.”...

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Issue #2022

Amazon free one-day delivery built on extreme exploitation

Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has announced plans to roll out free one-day delivery for hundreds of thousands of products in Melbourne and Sydney...

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Issue #2023

The rent is too high!: RAHU speaks truth to power at the Victorian state election

On 2nd September, the Renters and Housing Union (RAHU) launched their state election campaign in Victoria, on the platform that “the rent is too high.”...

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Issue #2024

Multi-employer bargaining key to improving working conditions: ACOSS and ACTU

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) has joined with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to call on the Albanese government to implement...

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Issue #1980

Government closes loophole on e-cigarettes

Changes to the law on 1st October will make it illegal to possess or import an e-cigarette (or “vape”) containing liquid nicotine without a prescription.

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Issue #1981

SA bans spit hoods

On 23rd September, the South Australian parliament voted unanimously to ban the use of spit hoods ...

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Issue #2007

Back the call for a 5.5 per cent wage increase

Earlier this month, amid predictable outcry from the Coalition, Anthony Albanese voiced his support for a 5.1 per cent increase in wages, to keep pace...

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Issue #1982

Fair Work Ombudsman finds wage theft in hotel quarantine

In July this year, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), Sandra Parker, launched an investigation into thirty-seven companies who ran security for hotel quarantine in Melbourne...

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Issue #2018

Universities suffer epidemic of insecure work

Job insecurity in universities is reaching record levels. According to a recent report, one third of employees working in a university are casual or contract...

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Issue #2020

ACTU pushes for radical reforms ahead of jobs summit

The federal government is holding a Jobs and Skills Summit in early September this year to address the “shared economic challenges” faced by Australians. The...

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Issue #2025

Sydney train strike update

Plans to disable the ticket readers at Sydney’s metro train stations are back on the table after the RTBU filed a new application for industrial...

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Issue #1982

Queensland police fight vaccine mandate

Members of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) have launched a legal challenge in the Supreme Court of Queensland (QSC) against a vaccine mandate issued by...

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Issue #2011

The future of regional flights is up in the air

Regional Express (Rex) is embattled to say the least. The airline, on which many remote and regional areas depend for flights to major cities, is...

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Issue #1997

Are we really at the forefront on renewable energy?

“Australia is at the forefront of a global experiment on how to shift an electricity grid built on coal to one dominated by renewables.” So...

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Issue #2034

15,000 workers left in the lurch as Deliveroo goes under

British food delivery platform Deliveroo announced on the 16th November that it was going into voluntary administration, claiming that “achieving a sustainable position of leadership...

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Issue #1984

Indigenous Australians continue to be left out of the conversation

In a controversial move earlier this year, the Senate voted down a proposal to establish a parliamentary committee to investigate truth-telling and treaty-making processes – two of the three key recommendations of the Uluru Statement From the Heart.

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Issue #2022

(Un)equal pay day: Melbourne

On Monday the 29th August, working women took to the streets of Melbourne to raise awareness and protest against the rising gender pay gap. The...

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Issue #1997

Respect @ Work 1 year on

The 2018 National Inquiry into Sex Harassment in Australian Workplaces, which produced the Respect @ Work Report, found that two in five women have experienced...

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Issue #1976

Covid crisis in outback NSW: Indigenous communities at risk

The COVID crisis deepened this week as New South Wales began recording over 800 cases a day, and regional Victoria went back into lockdown.

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Issue #1979

Can employers mandate vaccinations?

Editorial note: This article does not purport to give legal advice. It is for general informational purposes only With the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout well...

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Issue #2004

Jobs jobs jobs! Liberals ignore quality over quantity

Once again, one of the LNP’s go-to slogans for the upcoming federal election is “Jobs Jobs Jobs!” After Labor leader Albanese was raked over the...

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Issue #1987

A win for farmworkers as FWC rules on minimum wage

Workers and union organisers with the United Workers Union (UWU) and the Australian Workers Union (AWU) are celebrating a massive win ...

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Issue #1997

High Court rulings on employment a double-edged sword

In early February this year, the High Court of Australia decided two cases that radically alter the way that courts and tribunals assess whether a...

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Issue #2012

Workers win historic wage increase in Annual Wage Review

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has struck a strong middle ground with a 5.2 per cent wage hike announced on 15th June. The minimum wage...

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Issue #2019

Bail laws are not fit for purpose

In early August, the Final Report of the Inquiry into Children Affected by Parental Incarceration was tabled in the Victorian parliament. The Report made damning...

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Issue #1983

Massive delivery delays cripple Melbourne, Sydney

With demand up thirty per cent from last year, Australia Post has been experiencing long delays in Victoria and New South Wales due to extended lockdowns in Melbourne, Sydney and regional areas in both states.

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