The Business Council of Australia’s failure to produce a shred of economic evidence to justify the Turnbull Government’s corporate tax cuts under questioning from the ABC shows that this policy is not designed to do anything other than hand cash to businesses and, bizarrely, the United States’ Internal Revenue Service.…

Your National Negotiating Team (NNT) have met twice with Qantas since our last bulletin, on 28th April and 11 May 2016. At our last meeting we finally talked about the wage freeze. Qantas says their key claim is the wage freeze. In their 2nd and 3rd Qantas bulletins to staff…

This is a critical year when local communities are experiencing the negative impacts of significant budget constraint imposed by all levels of government. Nevertheless it is a time when investment in services and infrastructure is of utmost importance to the resilience of local communities. For this reason the ASU is…

Barely eight days after it was announced, the Turnbull Government’s internship plan is in tatters, with employment law experts questioning the legality of its Youth Jobs PaTH program under the current legislative framework – potentially blowing a $478 million black hole in the budget. According to legal advice received by…

Unions will today continue their fight for a $30 a week increase to the minimum wage at the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review. The Government and industry groups have continued their opposition to the increase. On the ABC’s Q&A panel on Monday night, Australia witnessed how out of touch…

Since our last bulletin we have had 2 meetings with the employer representatives on 26th April and 5th May and we have been to the Fair Work Commission on 29th April 2016. There is no doubt we have been putting in a lot of time trying to bring some of…

The ACTU today warned that the PaTH internship program unveiled in yesterday’s budget not only poses a serious risk for young people and inexperienced workers, but could also undermine Australia’s entire wage system. Instead of employing a worker on the minimum wage, businesses would be able to access a pool…

In his first budget Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he is a cruel conservative. Tonight in Canberra, ASU officials and staff have been on hand to witness Turnbull’s first budget to give you a rapid overview of how it will affect the communities we work and live in. This cruel budget…

A coalition of civil society groups, led by Australian Council of Trade Unions President Ged Kearney and spanning the aid, women’s, environment and social service sectors, as well as unions, have come together to urge the Federal Government to deliver a Budget that protects the living standards of all Australians,…

At meeting #6 for your new Enterprise Agreement, Ministerial and Parliamentary Services (M&PS) reported back on a unanimous request of Unions and Bargaining Representatives to consider a 3% interim pay increase in recognition of the significant disadvantage to staff of the current 2 year pay freeze. The 5th and 6th…