Rights at Work

One million Australian workers now have access to leave to deal with effects of family violence, thanks to union negotiations, ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver announced today. The ASU led the way with the first successful clause achieved in a Victorian council. Attending the White Ribbon lunch in Melbourne today, Mr…

Legislation to be introduced to parliament next week which will streamline anti-discrimination law and make it easier for workers to challenge discriminatory treatment, has been welcomed by the ACTU. ACTU President Ged Kearney said the new laws would offer better protection against discrimination in the workplace and give ordinary workers…

UNI P&M group has launched its Work-Life Management fortnight of action to challenge the long hours and short breaks culture that is being taken for granted in many workplaces around the world. The ASU is an affiliate of UNI and supports this action. You can view this article on the…

The union movement has been at the forefront of many successful campaigns addressing the rights of women in the workplace. Paid and unpaid maternity leave are key conditions in your agreements. More recently, the union movement participated around the country to achieve paid parental leave for all Australians. In light…

Recently Senator Xenophon introduced a bill to parliament that would scrap penalty rates for thousands of workers. Despite hundreds of emails sent to the Senator asking him to Bin his Bill, he hasn't listened and more employers are joining him. Now it's time to tell the Senate direct what individual…

Australians' enjoyment of the biggest sporting weekend of the year is under threat from a push by employers and politicians to create a 24/7 economy and abolish penalty rates, say unions. The ACTU has called on Parliament to reject a push to strip penalty rates from hundreds of thousands of…

One in four young workers are not receiving their legal entitlements to penalty rates, sick leave, superannuation and other conditions because employers are using a black market cash economy to avoid their obligations, according to new research. A survey of more than 1000 workers commissioned by the Victorian Trades Hall…

A media release issued today from Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Bill Shorten has advised: "The Australian Government will urgently introduce an amendment to the Fair Work Act to protect the entitlements of tens of thousands of state public servants threatened by job cuts announced by state governments." Minister…

The Government's commitment to maintain the penalty rates system shows it is on the side of Australian workers who give up precious family and social time to go to work at weekends, say unions. ACTU President Ged Kearney said the Government should be congratulated for resisting the scare campaign being…

Unions are today reminding Australian workers to check they are not missing out on wage increases which should have automatically come into effect at the start of the new financial year. ACTU President Ged Kearney said today had been declared National Check Your Pay Day to educate workers about the…