Government Skills Australia (GSA) is pleased to announce the launch of the online resource www.localgovernmentcareers.com.au. Councils are exceptional places for passionate people to work because councils are passionate about their communities. Councils offer a diversity of career options, job satisfaction, high regard for safety, flexible workplaces and job security because…

An appalling lack of leadership from Government will cost up to 50,000 Australian workers their jobs following the announcement by Holden that it will cease production in 2017, unions said today. ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said the Liberal Government has comprehensively failed its first test. "As a result of Government…

In another shocking announcement from the Federal Government, Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley said today that the Government will be requesting that child care providers return pay supplements committed under the Early Years Quality Fund that was to flow to workers in the sector. Sixteen operators with signed funding…

In 1950, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in order to call attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You can read this item on the ITUC website here Importantly for trade unions, the Declaration provides: Article 23 (1) Everyone has the right to…

The official package agreed in Bali and released with great fanfare on 7 December demonstrates how unbalanced the global trade agenda still is. The WTO continues to be unable to craft trade policies that serve development and are consistent with the most important issues for the world’s poor, such as…

The ASU is alarmed to learn that over $150 million in regional development grants may not be honoured by the new Federal Government. This will have a huge negative impact on the delivery of services and infrastructure to local communities. The ASU, Australia's largest local government union, expresses our concern…

In the lead up to Christmas, Qantas management has decided to announce a profit downgrade to the stock market signalling too that over the next 12 months 1000 positions will go from the Qantas group. As is always the case with media releases, there is no detail about the jobs/positions…

Your ASU National Negotiating Team (NNT) has now had five meetings with Jetstar about our new Agreement and unfortunately we feel like we are marking time and getting nowhere. At our last meeting on 28th November, 2013, we told Jetstar it was time to take our claims seriously and we…

The ASU and ALAEA bargaining representatives together with the National Negotiating Team met with Emirates management on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th November in continuing negotiations for the next Agreement to succeed the Emirates Agreement 2011.  [Download the full bulletin below]    Emirates Bulletin, 5 December 2013

Universal quality public services and decent work are goals of economic development, to which international trade is but a means. Trade treaty rules should not force privatisation, nor interfere with the restoration or expansion of public services, where experiments with private provision fail or are rejected by democratically-elected governments. Trade…