The Guardian • wages
How Harvey Norman buys the press
Open a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times, or almost any other Nine-Fairfax newspaper, and you will see pages of advertisements for furniture retailer Harvey Norman.
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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 #1999
UWU welcomes Vic govt sick pay guarantee
This morning’s launch of the Sick Pay Guarantee scheme in Victoria has been warmly welcomed by the United Workers’ Union (UWU). The scheme which guarantees...
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Issue #2042
GLOBAL BRIEFS
GERMANY: Air traffic came to a virtual standstill on the 17th February with around 2340 flights cancelled. The strike affected almost 300,000 passengers. Germany’s flag...
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Issue #2003
Amazon Labor Union bolsters against Bezos backlash
US Amazon workers and union organisers are hard at work on and off the clock fighting back against the multi-billion-dollar transnational corporation. Earlier this April,...
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Issue #2022
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic: socialist construction 1921-1941
This is part two of a series on the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was a founding republic of the Soviet Union (founded in 1922)....
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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 #2035
WEASEL WORDS
TAX tæks/ We all know what a tax is, don’t we? The government needs money, so they take a slice of your salary, or maybe...
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Issue #2021
DINGO
All the contradictions. The official unemployment figure is 3.4 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Workers were told that once unemployment...
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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 #2035
The problems of privatisation and why publicly-owned services matter
The ACTU does a good job of explaining issues to the converted. However, they should use some excellent scientific studies to inform the public of...
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Issue #1999
TWU wins enforceable rates for couriers & Amazon flex drivers in landmark decision
The Transport Workers’ Union has won a landmark determination that means couriers will receive significant improvements to their enforceable rates of pay – including world-first...
Read moreSick 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 #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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Issue #1982
Nurses and midwives deserve better working conditions
Two weeks ago, a petition with over 50,000 signatures called for Australia’s nurses and midwives to receive a COVID disaster payment for their work during...
Read moreWages going backwards
Back in 2019, the then-federal finance minister Mathias Cormann admitted that low wage growth was part of the government’s economic architecture. Combined with their ideological...
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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...
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Issue #2016
Leaked files reveal the extent of Uber’s aggressive government influence
Documents, text messages and emails leaked from ridesharing giant Uber have revealed the extent of the company’s influence on politicians, journalists and corporate executives. In...
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Issue #1990
Public Sector Alliance action
Earlier this year, six unions – CPSU/CSA, SSTUWA, UWU, RTBU, and HSU – allied to form the Public Sector Alliance (PSA).
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Issue #2026
Workers in unions prevent Apple employees being squeezed for excessive hours and low pay
The workers that bring you the “Genius bar” at Apple have made a clever move: they’ve joined their union. Apple tried to rush though a...
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Issue #2020
DINGO
Banks and insurance companies raked in billions according to financial year end of interim results, with CEO pay increasing by tens of millions of dollars....
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Issue #2036
New year’s greeting from the president
It feels like only a few months have passed since I wrote a season’s greeting for 2022. It was the year our 14th Congress, delayed...
Read moreStriking aged care workers take on Southern Cross Care SA
Striking aged care workers are taking their fight direct to Southern Cross Care headquarters in inner suburban Adelaide today, the latest in a series of...
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Issue #2018
DINGO
On the back of a decade of campaigning by unions for ten days paid family and domestic violence leave, the Albanese Government has introduced legislation...
Read morePay rises, job security, and a fair outcome for wharfies secured at Patrick Terminals
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) is pleased to advise that at the 11th hour, an in-principle agreement with Patrick Terminals’ management has been struck...
Read moreUnions join to give voice on job casualisation and COVID-19
It was great to see so many people joining together to listen and give voice to the major problems of casualisation and the pandemic that...
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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 #1997
On the formation of the CPA Logistics and Manufacturing Branch
The Communist Party of Australia Logistics and Manufacturing Branch is proud to announce its formation. We are an industry-based branch of the Communist Party of...
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.
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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 #2066
GLOBAL BRIEFS
YEMEN: Five United Nations officials who were kidnapped in the country 18 months ago have walked free, the UN said last week. In a brief...
Read moreThe fight continues
Fifty-five years ago, on 23rd August, 1966, about 200 stockmen and their families walked off the Wave Hill cattle station, owned by British Lord Vestey, in protest at the appalling wages and conditions they were forced to endure.
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Issue #2013
DINGO
The federal Treasurer delivered an address to Treasury staff last week, informing them that the government would oppose wage claims and use available legislation to...
Read moreFremantle council workers win
The recent attention to trade union activity is unsurprising; victories of the unions bring admiration for workers but worry the capitalist elites.
Read moreUnionists protest as Better Read Than Dead management renege on deal
Workers at Better Read Than Dead have recommenced industrial action after management reneged on an in principle deal reached in July this year.
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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 #2003
May Day 2022: WORKERS DEMAND CHANGE!
Australian and international workers’ struggle is taking the demand for change to the ruling class who always put the weight of any crisis back onto...
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Issue #1991
Year in review
2021 has been a year that has intensified the elements of the class struggle we have been experiencing since the pandemic arrived in Australia in 2020.
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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 #2032
A peace & peoples’ budget
Annual budgets are a mirror held up to the class divide. The income and expenditure sides of the budget come down to priorities. The budget...
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Issue #1997
Why the WA newspapers fight matters to all of us
In our democracy, we value the principle of one person, one vote. We would be outraged if the richer you are the more votes you...
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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 #2001
Aged care workers yet to receive their bonus payment
A survey of 1000 aged care workers conducted by the United Workers’ Union (UWU) has revealed that ninety-seven per cent of aged care workers are...
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Issue #2023
DINGO
In July, the second asylum boat turn-back to Sri Lanka under the Albanese Labor government highlighted the fundamental breach of human rights involved in such...
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Issue #2003
CPA members support workers robbed by Probuild and Frasers Property
Members of the Communist Party of Australia in Sydney attended a multi-day picket held by CFMEU workers demanding the wages they’re owed by Probuild and...
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Issue #2045
International Unemployment Day
6th March marks International Unemployment Day. Unemployed workers have for centuries borne the scars of class war. Since the rise of capitalism in the 16th...
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 moreJobKeeper used to profit the corporations, not help people
The purpose of JobKeeper should have been to help keep the working class employed during a once-in-a-century pandemic that devastated the global economy. However ...
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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 #2010
DINGO
On 3rd June 1992 the High Court of Australia recognised that a group of Torres Strait Islanders, led by Eddie Mabo, held ownership of Mer...
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Issue #1977
Truckies in fight of their lives
Seven thousand Toll drivers are in a battle to save their jobs and working conditions.
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Issue #2023
Class collaboration won’t deliver for workers
Practice, time and time again, has shown class collaboration doesn’t deliver for workers. Efforts by social democracy to water down class struggle through the introduction...
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Issue #2018
ABCC stripped to bare minimum
The moves to abolish the anti-worker Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) are underway. Last month, the Albanese government reduced the powers of the ABCC “to...
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Issue #2024
Remove Alan Joyce
Throughout the pandemic Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has consistently proven himself to be the walking embodiment of corporate greed. Alan Joyce took in $5,575,000 –...
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Issue #2030
RAFFWU members strike at Apple
Members of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) went on strike in the first nationally co-ordinated industrial action in retail in Australian history....
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Issue #2034
Pampas workers reject crumby deal
More than fifty pastry and pie makers at Pampas in Melbourne commenced an indefinite stop work on Monday last week in a fight for job...
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Issue #2049
DINGO
The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report into mesothelioma was released today. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer in the mesothelium –...
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Issue #2024
“Put children before profit”
Tens of thousands of early childhood educators walked off the job across the country to take part in rallies and marches on 7th September. More...
Read moreA 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 #2003
May Day – Demand real change
Without strong, militant unions workers are powerless. The trade union movement has been targeted by successive governments to the point where industrial action is outlawed...
Read moreDemand secure well-paid jobs & full employment
Workers need a substantial wage rise now to meet day-to-day necessities.
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Issue #2063
Rugby: Class Struggle at the Heart of the NRL
One of the more high-profile industrial disputes this year has been between the National Rugby League (NRL) and the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA), as...
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Issue #2010
Public sector workers walk off on Perrottet “proposal”
Tens of thousands of public servants walked off the job in a strike defying the Premier’s inaction, posturing, and insulting behaviour. The Public Service Association...
Read moreBudget alternative: For peace and genuine security
As the cost of living soars the number of working poor is on the rise and more and more families are turning to charities for...
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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 #2023
Nurses strike for better pay and conditions
Earlier this month, Nurses and midwives across NSW went on strike for 24 hours, while maintaining life-preserving care. The demands are simple: The NSW Nurses...
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Issue #2015
The devil in the details of the “housing crisis”
In part one, we revealed that approximately one-fifth of households surveyed by the 2021 Census own nearly fifty per cent of the total amount of...
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Issue #2059
DINGO
The Retail Supply Chain Alliance – a coalition of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, the Australian Workers’ Union, and the Transport Workers’ Union...
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Issue #2006
VOTE THEM OUT
The Coalition Morrison government has got to go. On Saturday 21st May vote them out! The Communist Party of Australia rejects the undemocratic electoral system...
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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.
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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 #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 #2002
Budget 2022-23 – CLASS WAR
The budget announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is a pre-election, last ditch, vote-buying exercise from the Morrison government. Voters struggling with rising prices and falling...
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Issue #2043
DINGO
New research from Australia Institute economist Dr Jim Stanford has confirmed that excessive corporate profits are the main driver of inflation, not wages. The research...
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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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Issue #2010
Energy prices explode: capitalism in crisis
Consumers face soaring energy costs as Australia’s gas and thermal coal exporters rake in windfall profits. The incoming Labor government has inherited the legacy of...
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Issue #2051
GLOBAL BRIEFS
SUDAN: Doctors Central Committee has reported that the number of people killed in clashes between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rose...
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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...
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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...
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Issue #2043
Gender pay gap
While figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing that Australia’s gender pay gap is narrowing, women still receive, on average, $472 per...
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Issue #2047
DINGO
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) members at the ABC have secured big wins after reaching agreement with management for their new EBA. The deal...
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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 #2057
GLOBAL BRIEFS
NORWAY: A new report commissioned by the Norwegian police into a deadly shooting during Oslo’s annual LGBT Pride festival last year blasted Norway’s domestic security...
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Issue #2019
Promising: Workplace reforms on the horizon
In an honest assessment, the Albanese government has come out the gate with a series of important industrial reforms: an increased minimum wage, paid family,...
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Issue #2045
Attack on aged care workers’ pay
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF ) (Victorian Branch) has lodged bargaining disputes in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) against eight private aged care...
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Issue #2058
Employer scare campaign
A coalition of eight major business groups including the Master Builders Association, National Farmers’ Federation, Business Council of Australia, Council of Small Business Organisations, and...
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Issue #2069
Equal Pay Day 2023
On Equal Pay Day (25th August), the NSW Teachers’ Federation is calling on the Minns Labor government to “Honour The Deal.” In July, the Government...
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Issue #2060
Migrant worker protections
Unions have welcomed the Albanese government’s announcement of new measures to protect migrant workers from exploitation. The government’s proposed package of measures includes new criminal...
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Issue #2069
Can you guess what these numbers represent?
Two. One million, thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine. Thirty seven. We won’t leave you in suspense. Two is the number of years since the...
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Issue #2043
Employers threaten to withhold aged care wages
The country’s largest union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), has raised concerns that some aged care providers are trying to short-change underpaid nurses...
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Issue #2057
DINGO
A major survey conducted by McKell, the Transport Workers Union and TEACHO sheds light on the harsh reality faced by food delivery, rideshare, and AmazonFlex...
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Issue #2049
MAY DAY
The international working class continues to commemorate the struggles and gains achieved over 134 years since the first May Day commemoration in 1889 which remembered...
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Issue #2050
Coles bargaining 2023: Not down down
RAFFWU, the Retail And Fast Food Workers Union is bargaining for members at Coles. Workers at Australia’s second-biggest supermarket chain can sign up to have...
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Issue #2040
Early Childhood Educators – RAISE OUR WAGE!
Early Childhood Educators are demanding a 25 per cent wage rise to address a sector-wide worker crisis that is forcing centres to cut back and...
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Issue #2053
The facts about wage rises and inflation
There has been no shortage of news headlines, big business and government warnings that a wages breakout will cause inflation: “Teachers’ rise a risk to...
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Issue #2071
Trade union and workers’ rights
Over the decades the rights of trade union delegates and trade union officials have been eroded, making it increasingly difficult for them to represent and...
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Issue #2050
May Day 2023: What do we march for?
1889 is a long way behind us, and the first May Day commemoration honouring the workers killed and wounded in the Haymarket confrontation in Chicago...
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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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Issue #2043
“Wage-price spiral” myth
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe expressed concern that workers would get much higher pay rises in response to inflation, which he claims...
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Issue #2080
Crying over pennies
While the Closing Loopholes Bill is not perfect, it would go some way to making sure that workers doing the same job would be paid...
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Issue #2050
Fight back!
May Day is just eight days away from the federal budget. All we hear from Treasurer Jim Chalmers are attempts to soften up the electorate...
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Issue #2055
Firefighters rally for wage justice
On Thursday 25th May, several hundred members of the United Firefighters Union of WA and their supporters, principally from other trade unions, marched from the...
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Issue #2070
THE BIG RIP-OFF
In the face of the big rip-off of Australian workers, the Albanese government’s attempted makeover of the industrial relations system continued on 4th September, when...
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Issue #2073
Working future? – Cancel AUKUS
Last month the Labor government released its white paper on employment, Working Future (WF). Its stated objective is “sustained and inclusive full employment.” It has...
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Issue #2058
Dancers act
For the first time in more than a decade, dancers at Australia’s premiere national dance company, the Australian Ballet, are taking protected industrial action in...
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Issue #2058
Labour hire = Super exploitation
Labour hire has become a business model where workers are paid less and denied rights that other workers have. The Albanese government plans to address...
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Issue #2056
Restore real wages
The Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) decision to award a 5.75 per cent wage rise for those on minimum award wage rates was higher than expected...
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Issue #2057
NOT FOR PROFIT!
The aged care system is in crisis. Successive governments have seen old people as a “problem” that costs ever-increasing amounts of money. Once someone is...
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