unions

The Guardian • unions

Issue #1957

Gilda Chacón

“The physical disappearance of our dear colleague Gilda Chacón Bravo constitutes a sensitive loss for the Cuban and International Trade Union Movement.”

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Issue #2021

US rail union leaders warn: corporate greed will delay your holiday gifts, again

US: Crunch. And a shortage of everything. That’s the warning rail union leaders are sending to consumers as the nation approaches the holiday season. Expect,...

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Issue #2021

Public sector alliance rally – WA

In Western Australia there has been a campaign of industrial activity over the past six weeks by more than ten trade unions who make up...

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Issue #1953

Perth International Women’s Day 2021

IWD 2021 was celebrated in Perth at Perth Trades Hall on Monday, the 8th of March.

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Issue #2017

What is happening in Sri Lanka?

For many outside of Sri Lanka, the political situation inside the nation can be difficult to understand. We interviewed Bimal Rathnayake, a politburo member of...

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A person in festive costume, Carazo, Nicaragua. Issue #2065

Nicaragua: the path to independence

The years under neo-liberalism in Nicaragua saw trade union rights stripped away, collective bargaining agreements junked and, as trade union strength waned, living standards plummeted....

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Issue #2021

Chile after the coup

It has been nearly fifty years since the infamous coup in Chile on 11th September 1973. The world became aware of the heinous birth of...

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Issue #1953

Union demerger a loss to the union movement

Earlier this month, delegates from the mining and energy division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) convened and voted to break away from the super-union.

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Strikes in Scotland. Issue #2054

Five months of industrial action

While the nightly news broadcasts cover the strikes and violent clashes in France, the five months of continuing union industrial actions across Scotland have gone...

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Issue #2038

Stop the War

LONDON: The first ever Stop the War Coalition trade union conference held last weekend looked at how to build a bigger peace movement – and...

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Issue #1998

“RATIOS NOW!” – Rally report Melbourne

On Tuesday, 1st March, over 100 workers, unionists, and community members gathered at the front of Gladys Liu’s office in Burwood, Victoria. Their mission was...

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Issue #2005

New initiatives to address national care crisis a massive win for women workers

The union for aged care workers, early childhood educators and disability support workers has welcomed today’s announcement that an Albanese Labor government would deliver ground-breaking...

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Issue #1978

From the Accord to the IR Omnibus Bill

Over the past forty years, since the implementation of the Accord agreement between the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Australian Labor Party (ALP), wages and salaries have not progressed.

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Workers Won't Pay for the Crisis Issue #1946

2021 A year of struggles

Welcome back to all the Workers’ Weekly readers. We will have to fight for a better year for all ensuring that workers don’t pay for the crisis.

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Issue #1955

LETTER – Struggle to unite all workers

Some are celebrating as a victory the removal of some of the clauses in the Omnibus bill on industrial relations. The ACTU and other union bodies are claiming victory, and certainly, some onerous provisions have been removed. The organised sector of the working class has had some benefit but the attack on all workers has continued.

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Issue #2007

How unions are building queer-friendly workplaces

If you haven’t guessed from all the corporations suddenly adorning their websites and shop windows with rainbow flags, today (17th May) is International Day Against...

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Issue #1954

ACTU CALLS for GLOBAL SOLIDARITY ON PANDEMIC

The ACTU stated that “[t]he pandemic has highlighted the world’s stark social and health inequities".

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Issue #2069

GLOBAL BRIEFS

JAPAN: Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings Co is selling department store chain Sogo & Seibu Co to a US investment fund, even as the...

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Issue #1958

May Day: Fight for the right to strike

May Day 2021 is a time to take the struggle to the streets; to show the full strength and might of the working class; and take back the losses of recent decades.

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Issue #1951

A New Accord?

“Governments create the environment that enables business to prosper and create new jobs,” said Anthony Albanese in a speech to Queensland TAFE earlier this month.

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Issue #2036

Build the fightback

Decades of privatisations, job cuts and wage suppression and more recently the cuts masked by measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, have taken a huge...

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Issue #1996

Anti-AUKUS webinar provokes conservative contempt

Last week, the Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition (SAAC) hosted the Resisting AUKUS and War on China webinar.

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Issue #1998

Stronger together, divided we fall!

If it has not already become apparent to the average punter, the Australian working class has been involved in some intense industrial actions across the...

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PEACE NOTES Issue #2049

There is a slogan “Peace is Union Business” which remains significant today. Workers in their trade unions have a unique capacity to work for peace,...

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Issue #2006

Teachers’ Federation rally – Sydney

“MORE THAN THANKS”, the message that over 15,000 teachers had for the NSW government and specifically for NSW Premier Dominic Perrotet at Hyde Park on...

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Issue #2027

Multi-employer bargaining win under threat from ALP sell-out

The Albanese Labor government has committed to introducing multi-employer bargaining following a deal with the Business Council of Australia (BCA) at the Jobs and Skills...

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Issue #1957

Vale Gilda Chacón-Bravo

It was with great sadness we received the news in Australia of the passing of comrade Gilda Chacón on the 8th April 2021.

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Issue #2039

DINGO

How to fund endless war? That is the question. That ‘tis better to grab workers’ retirement funds to build Australia’s military industrial complex and pour...

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Issue #2040

DINGO

“Exhausted,” “struggling to cope,” “let down,” “dangerous,” and “overwhelmed” is how nurses have described working conditions at the prestigious St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Darlinghurst...

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Issue #2080

Albanese in Tuvalu

Anthony Albanese’s return from Beijing, via Tuvalu, was accompanied by much fanfare. The media largely focused on what has been presented as a triumph of...

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Issue #1950

What will Labor’s job plan deliver?

Labor Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese raised the expectations of many in the trade union movement with his announcement of Labor’s Secure Australian Jobs Plan

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Issue #2013

Anti-protest laws affect us all

Earlier this month, NSW police bungled a raid on Blockade Australia activists in the Colo Valley, in Sydney’s north-west. Activists at the remote camp noticed...

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Worker up high on power cables. Issue #2065

Baking in inequality – a stunning betrayal

The federal government has been accused of a stunning betrayal after it signed off on a Labour Migration Agreement that will see 400 temporary visa...

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Issue #2023

Jobs and Skills Summit: dangerous illusions for workers

Workers and their families are looking for real change – real wage rises, secure jobs, safe working conditions, with adequately funded and staffed health and...

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Issue #2040

Australian Strategic Shipping Fleet Taskforce progress

The Australian Shipping, Strategic Fleet Taskforce – established by the Albanese Federal government to advise on the implementation of its pre-election promise to revitalise Australian...

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Issue #2041

Mass protest to defend UK workers’ right to strike

Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, and train drivers walked out over pay in the largest coordinated strike action for a decade...

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Issue #2004

Boot the Coalition out!

The Coalition government has comprehensive plans to destroy militant trade unions and give employers arbitrary powers and unfettered rights over workers in the workplace. The...

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Matildas playing. Issue #2068

The Matildas’ collective power

From their first kick-off against Ireland in the World Cup, the Matildas were playing to win not only the World Cup, but respect for women’s...

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Issue #2070

DINGO

As temperatures climb, and heatwaves become more common, it’s worth remembering that unions achieve and enforce protection against heat. As a comrade in the Rail...

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Issue #2080

DINGO

Bunnings will stop selling engineered stone from the end of this year after succumbing to pressure from construction workers. The CFMEU has been urging the...

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engineered stone Issue #2079

ACT’s strong position on silica a beacon to the nation

The ACT Government has positioned itself of the right side of history by unambiguously supporting a total ban on engineered stone products, according to the...

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Front view of a large Qantas plane. Issue #2069

Qantas: Robber Baron

As the stench around Qantas grows stronger, CEO Allan Joyce has made a hasty retreat, abruptly resigning on 5th September, his $10.8 million pay-out firmly...

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Looking out of a passenger window at the Qantas logo on the end of wing of the plane. Issue #2071

The coming storm

In an important win for union members, the High Court of Australia last week ruled that Qantas’ sacking of 1700 ground and baggage workers was...

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Girl with Palestine flag painted on her face. Issue #2080

Israel: stop bombing hospitals and stop killing kids

Unionists For Palestine is an Australia-wide cross-union group of rank and file union members. We are organising actions in support of Palestinian liberation. Each group...

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Crutches. Issue #2055

Injured workers kicked off compo

The Australian Services Union has turned the spotlight on the Victorian government’s proposed cuts to the workers’ compensation scheme for injured workers. These changes would...

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