Women

As the call to action goes, Strong Unions Need Women. Now more than ever it is true that your contribution will mean strong communities can be supported by strong unions. The ASU wishes all its women members and friends a happy International Women's Day for 8 March! The legacy of…

The ASU's success in negotiating the world's first enterprise agreement clause supporting victims of domestic violence in 2010 has been recognised in a recent academic study as an instance of achieving equality measures through bargaining. The study by Professor Marian Baird of Sydney University considered the circumstances around the ASU's…

The ASU is continuing to voice its opposition to regressive changes to superannuation being delivered by the new Abbott Government. Today the Senate Economics Legislation Committee is hearing submissions on the repeal of the Mining Tax, which includes removal of the Low Income Super Contribution (LISC) and a delay to…

White Ribbon Ambassador and ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said Australian Unions will support a special resolution at the ACTU Executive on Tuesday for paid domestic violence leave to be included as a minimum entitlement in the 2014 modern award review. "Australia is already leading the world with over 1.2 million…

Sales assistants, checkout operators, receptionists and clerical workers are among workers set to bear the brunt of the Coalition's attack on superannuation. A Bill, which overturns the superannuation rebate along with the mining tax and other spending measures including the School Kids Bonus and the Regional Development Fund, passed the…

When considering the status of working women, union negotiated collective agreements, policies and services achieve numerous conditions of employment that deliver greater income security and work-life balance to Australian families. Research released by The Grattan Institute in 2012 estimated that a small 6% increase in workforce participation of women should…

The ASU has been liaising with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) about submissions and consultations for the National Review on Pregnancy and Return to Work. We will be making a submission to the Review and we need your help to give them the real picture of what is going…

The ASU joins the ACTU and other unions in seeking a commitment from the Federal Opposition that local government, state government and all other public sector workers will not be disadvantaged by the Abbott Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme. The current scheme introduced by the ALP Federal Government allows a…

ACTU calls for greater emphasis on addressing what matters to women and families as analysis of the two major parties shows women and families fare better under Labor and the Coalition's one policy would only minimally address the major issues. The analysis compared policies around paid parental leave, time to…

The ASU is concerned to have read in this week’s media reports that Abbott is planning to fund his controversial paid parental leave scheme by excluding public sector workers, including local government employees, from it. In effect, council workers, teachers and nurses, amongst many others, would lose out in order…