Rights at Work

Be in no doubt that the Federal Government's full scale Productivity Commission Inquiry into Australian workplaces will be a megaphone for big business. They will be loudly making the case for winding back our rights at work: from removing unfair dismissal protections, cutting wages, bringing back individual contracts, attacking penalty…

Thousands of concerned Australians will be marching tomorrow Wednesday 4 March in support of our rights at work, defending Medicare, for affordable university degrees, fairness for the vulnerable and numerous other reasons. What will you #March4 with the ASU as we participate in the rallies across the country? We're urging…

The Federal Government's brazenly ideological attacks on workers suffered a humiliating setback yesterday when the Senate voted down the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill. ASU members played a huge part in this by lobbying cross bench senators through out 2014 and 2015 - we thank you for your actions…

Unions have ensured that thousands of Australians suffering from asbestos related diseases will continue to be properly compensated, said the ACTU. After campaigning by unions and asbestos victim support groups, the NSW government has agreed to lend the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund an extra $104 million to cover a shortfall…

A breakthrough has been made at the International Labour Organization following two years during which employers at the International Labour Organization brought the UN body's global supervisory system to a standstill, in an attempt to eliminate decades of ILO jurisprudence supporting the right to strike. Click here to read this…

Australian Unions are lodging a claim with the Fair Work Commission to give more than four million Australian workers who are covered by an award the right to return to work after parental leave either part time or on reduced hours. The ACTU will lodge the new claim for family…

A new survey of more than 43,000 people shows working Australians feel anxious about their living standards and are deeply dissatisfied with the Abbott Government's policies and the direction it is taking Australia. The ACTU surveyed 43,188 union and non-union members across all industries, in all states and territories, between…

Queenslanders have sent a clear message to the Newman and Abbott Governments that they will not sit back while health, education, public services and workers' rights are attacked. ACTU President Ged Kearney said nurses, teachers, doctors, paramedics and public servants were just some of the tens of thousands of Queensland…

Despite the fact the scope of the Productivity Commission's Inquiry reveals the Federal Government's obsession with workplace relations is alive and kicking, Australian unions will use the inquiry into workplace laws to make the case for significant improvements in Australian's rights at work and, of course, to fight any attack…

The Abbott Government has sent a clear message it intends to put the interests of the big banks ahead of working Australians by attacking industry super funds - the best performing area of the superannuation industry. "It's astounding that new Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's first public comment on superannuation is…