The Guardian • wage theft
Issue #2056
HALF THE SKY
Decades of struggles have seen women make some progress in closing the wage gap, but they still face considerable barriers to achieving wage equity and...
Read moreCommonwealth Bank wants staff to vote for more wage theft
The unrepentant wage thieves at the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) are set to push ahead with a vote on an enterprise agreement that will further erode the basic entitlements of staff.
Read more
Issue #2190
Unpaid overtime? Look to Marx
Legally, the working week in Japan is 40 hours, but good luck finding anyone who puts in less than 46 hours on the job. For...
Read moreWage theft laws come into effect in Victoria
Last year, the Victorian parliament passed a law making wage theft a crime. On the 1st of July this year, that law came into effect.
Read more
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...
Read more
Issue #2070
HALF THE SKY
Will Labor’s bill help working women? E Lennon Workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, has tabled a bill aimed at tackling several issues faced by workers...
Read more
Issue #2004
Morrison plan for workers 6.5 times those for bosses committing wage theft
Under Morrison’s latest attack on construction workers an individual worker would be subject to fines more than 6.5 times higher than those faced by an...
Read more
Issue #2035
Restaurateur first to be criminally charged for wage theft
The Australian labour movement is on the precipice of a major win for workers’ rights in the form of a criminal case brought against a...
Read moreSocialism and capitalism: a tale of two approaches to enforcing environmental laws
It is no secret that in some societies, certain harmful activities go unpunished. For example, in the framework of a capitalist society, white-collar crimes are...
Read more
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...
Read more
Issue #1968
Wage raise a good start but not enough!
Last month, the Fair Work Commission increased the minimum wage by 2.5 per cent – raising it to $20.33 an hour.
Read more
Issue #2089
AWU wins $30k backpay
If anyone thinks wage theft is a thing of the past, they should think again. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) has reclaimed $30,000 for two...
Read more“THE INEQUALITY VIRUS”
“COVID-19 has been likened to an x-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies we have built.”
Read more
Issue #2071
DINGO
Mining transnational BHP, at one time known under the jolly capitalist moniker of The Big Australian, has admitted to deducting annual leave from staff entitlements...
Read more
Issue #2068
DINGO
Trade union federations in the EU have called for affiliates to support French trade unionists who are being prosecuted for taking collective action during recent...
Read more
Issue #2041
Make wage theft a crime
Last year Monash University launched an extraordinary bid to avoid repaying millions of dollars in wages allegedly owed to sessional and casual staff. The University...
Read more
Issue #2094
‘Number One wage thief ’ fined $75,000
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has called for urgent reform after Melbourne University copped a $75,000 fine over threatening to punish two casual academic...
Read more
Issue #2102
Deakin University admits wage theft after two years of denial
Deakin University has finally admitted to engaging in multimillion dollar wage theft after denying underpaying staff for two years. In an email to all staff,...
Read more
Issue #2194
KFC: Would you like cash with that?
Tens of thousands of KFC workers across Australia are being urged to sign up for the KFC class action before registrations close on 26 June...
Read more
Issue #2047
The ghost of the ABCC lives on
The federal Labor government might have abolished the union-bashing Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) but its dirty work has been taken up by the...
Read more
Issue #2142
One in five young workers victims of wage theft
Around 400,000 Australians – one in five workers aged under 25 – are paid below the legal minimum wage for their age, according to ACTU...
Read more
Issue #2067
Wage theft costing workers nearly $850m a year
A fresh analysis of wage theft by the McKell Institute has revealed Australian workers are being underpaid nearly $850 million a year, ripping more than...
Read more
Issue #2088
DINGO
Unpaid overtime isn’t going away any time soon. Health and care service workers do an average 28 hours unpaid care work at home and live...
Read more
Issue #2190
Julie Bishop resigns as ANU Chancellor
Julie Bishop recently resigned as Australian National University (ANU) Chancellor. Bishop is a former politician, Foreign Minister, Deputy Liberal Leader, and former lead lawyer for...
Read more
Issue #2057
Union action reveals $2.6 million in underpayments
“Trade unions are … critical for workers under capitalism” (CPA Political Resolution, 2022) Industrial action by Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) members at Taronga Western Plains...
Read more
Issue #2190
DINGO
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) says it is aware of a recent ABC report which exposed ‘Aussie Gigs’ as a sham booking agency...
Read more
Issue #2171
Deakin University admits underpaying staff almost $3 million
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has welcomed Deakin University’s pledge to backpay casual staff underpaid almost $3 million. The university announced it would start...
Read more
Issue #2165
What a driver’s win against Uber means
In September 2025, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) ruled that Mohammad Shareef Hotak, an Uber driver, had been unfairly treated when Uber ‘deactivated’ him, meaning...
Read more
Issue #2172
DINGO
In South Australia, more than 94 per cent of low-paid health support and disability support workers have voted to accept a historic wages deal from...
Read more
Issue #2207
DINGO
Leaders of the BRICS group of nations met in New Delhi last week with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and United States trade...
Read more
Issue #2081
Seven weeks work on no pay
Despite record-low unemployment, Australian employers are still managing to steal more than 280 hours from their employees each year. That’s the finding of the Australia...
Read more
Issue #2056
BHP wage theft
BHP has admitted underpaying mineworkers US$280 million (A$430 million) since 2010 due to wrongly deducting leave on public holidays. The Mining and Energy Union said...
Read more
Issue #2131
Wage theft a criminal offence
As of 1 January 2025, wage theft is now a criminal offence across Australia. Due to legislation passed by the Albanese government and pushed by...
Read more
Issue #2186
Systemic wage theft in NSW cruise industry
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has revealed that systematic wage theft from taxpayer funds occurring in and alongside the NSW Cruise industry at publicly...
Read more
Issue #2192
Flag of convenience ship found paying less than half of standard pay
The International Transport Workers’ Federation Australian Inspectorate (ITF) has revealed that Vietnamese and Indian seafarers on board the MSV ATN GLORY are being grossly underpaid,...
Read more