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Pay Up

Pay Up - No More Lip Service to Equal Pay is a campaign of the Australian Services Union (ASU). The ASU is the union of Community Sector Workers.

Community Sector workers are undervalued and underpaid and not properly respected. Their work has traditionally been seen as "women's work" and their wages have been restricted as a result.

In 2010, unions led by the ASU and supported by the ACTU and the Federal Government lodged a test case in Fair Work Australia using the then new Equal Remuneration Laws embedded in the Fair Work Act. The case has impacted the working lives of about 200,000 community workers.

The community sector is largely reliant on government funding to run its essential services and to pay the wages of the workers. Winning the case will prove that these workers are undervalued - but, the case outcome alone will not correct the injustice. Workers need the Government to fund the outcome of the case to make Equal Pay a reality. ASU members and supporters will campaign for the funding and we invite you to get and stay involved.

This case has made history.

 

Equal Pay Day arrives at last Click to collapse

1 Feb 2012: Community workers have today been handed long awaited pay rises in a historic decision by Fair Work Australia in the equal pay case. Read more

Commonwealth and other submissions Click to collapse

On 18 November 2010, the Commonwealth Government made its submission to Fair Work Australia about the ASU's Equal Pay case.

The ASU had a number of serious concerns about the Commonwealth's submission. Our concerns are detailed here. You can find the Commonwealth's submission here.

We continued to negotiate with the Commonwealth about our concerns and made some progress. Other employer groups opposed our claim - all of which shows the opposition that can surface against equal pay. We cannot be complacent - we must campaign continuously about equal pay and so the ASU organised rallies on 10 June 2010 and have again on 15 December 2010. On 8 June 2011 we organised a National Day of Action for Equal Pay. All our rallies were spectacularly successful - you can find photos from across the country on our Flickr site.

More information Click to collapse

Visit the dedicated Pay Up website: www.payup.org.au

Click here for further details about training and information (EIP)

Pay Up on Facebook Facebook (following the win in the Pay Up campaign, this FB Page is now called "ASU Social, Community & Disability Workers")

Pay Up on Twitter

In June 2011, James Allebone of the Brotherhood of St Laurence published a research paper entitled "Valuing care in Australia: Achieving pay equity in the social and community services sector" (click to download). The paper explores reasons for low pay in the non-government social and community services sector and is interesting reading for our SACS members in the context of the ASU's Equal Remuneration Case.

ACOSS support of Pay Up campaign Click to collapse

The Australian Council of Social Service(ACOSS) supports the ASU campaign for equal pay for social & community sector workers.

Read more about their support in the ACOSS online statement, which includes a list of signatories and other resources. You can also read more from ACOSS on the Equal Pay Case here.

ASU Branch websites Click to collapse