News

ACTU: Paid Maternity Leave more crucial than ever

Paid maternity leave will be even more crucial for parents and their newborn babies as they face job insecurity and financial uncertainty as a result of the global financial crisis, says ACTU President Sharan Burrow. "A ...

Public services vs private profit: What can be done?

Organised by Power to the People--a coalition of ALP members, unions, the Greens, Uniting Church groups, Socialist Alliance, Solidarity and environmental and community groups that formed to oppose the sell-off of the power industry in New South ...

US Unions and the Barack Obama victory

After eight years of an administration hostile to unions, America’s union members helped bring about much-needed change by electing Obama and working family-friendly candidates up and down the ballot. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says Obama is a ...

ACTU: Millions working under precarious conditions

Tougher safeguards and new industrial relations laws with a strong independent umpire are needed for workers exposed to the global financial crisis say unions. A report released by the Workplace Research Centre shows millions of workers remain vulnerable ...

TAFE Privatisation plans?

The New South Wales Greens say they have obtained documents which show state governments are planning to privatise the TAFE system. Greens MP John Kaye says the Council of Australian Governments discussion paper reveals a plan to ...

Want the best public schools for our children?

Public schools have a vital role in ensuring every child gets a high quality education. But they are under-resourced. Teachers and parents are joining together to convince the Federal Government to invest more in our public schools. ...

ACTU: Paid Maternity Leave a must in 2009 Federal Budget

A government-funded paid maternity leave scheme is more important then ever with Australian families now facing great economic uncertainty in the wake of the global financial crash, unions say. "Most families instantly lose one entire salary when ...

Sydney Cleaners Celebrate Anti-poverty Day

Sydney’s office cleaners celebrate International Anti-Poverty Day as contractors sign on to reform the contract cleaning industry After a two and a half year battle Sydney cleaners watched a majority of NSW contractors commit to implementing the Clean ...

Sydney Peace Prize: Patrick Dodson

Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson is the recipient of the 2008 Sydney Peace Prize for his “courageous advocacy of the human rights of Indigenous people, for distinguished leadership of the reconciliation move-ment and for a lifetime of commitment ...

ABCC: Blind eye to employer unlawfulness

The anti-worker bias of the Australian Building and Construction Commission has again been exposed by the acting chief justice of the Federal Court who has found the ABCC turning a “blind eye” to dishonest employer behaviour. In ...