Union Show on 3CR 855AM - Saturday at 7.55am

Reproductive rights are workers’ rights There’s power in the union to win them!

ILO Campaign to end people trading

Big CEO and director payouts are greedy & hypocritical as workers suffer pay cuts
22 September, 2009 | ACTU Media Release Greedy, hypocritical and unjustified is the only way to describe the $11m termination pay for outgoing Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon and the $4m paid to outgoing Boral CEO Rod Pearse says ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence. “Both companies have seen dramatic falls in profit in the past year and there is no business case for these exorbitant payments,” said Mr Lawrence. “At the same time that workers are losing their jobs and having their pay cut, too many CEOs and company directors have still got their snouts in the trough. “It is as if the Global Financial Crisis never happened. “The mess

Politicians should do more to limit executive pay and support low income workers
24 September, 2009 | ACTU Media Release Politicians should do more to limit outrageous executive salaries and bonuses and support low income workers say unions. The 3% pay rise for federal politicians announced today amounts to an increase of more than $75 a week for the average backbencher. It contrasts unfairly with the pay freeze imposed on more than one million low paid workers by the so-called Fair Pay Commission, said ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence. It also highlights the failure of Federal Parliamentarians to pass a new law last week that would help limit excessive termination payouts for chief executives said Mr Lawrence. “A $75 a wee

AWU calls for urgent disaster relief for Mt Lyell mine workers
Media Release from the AWU 24 September 2009 The union representing stood down workers at Mt Lyell mine in Queenstown is calling tonight for immediate Government assistance for the hundreds of workers affected by the temporary closure of the mine. The union was briefed by Copper Mines of Tasmania today about the status of the remediation works at the mine site. In that meeting the company was unable to nominate when the mine would re-open. Nearly 200 underground workers employed at the mine have been forced to take annual or unpaid leave for a month. AWU Assistant Secretary Robert Flanagan said today that when the original incident occurred on

Govt changes to health & safety laws to favour big business at expense of workers’ safety: uni
25 September, 2009 | ACTU Media Release Unions are gravely concerned that changes to national workplace health and safety laws to be released today (Friday) will favour big business at the expense of workers’ safety. The biggest overhaul of workplace health and safety laws in the nation’s history will move one step closer but unions are worried the changes will put workers at risk of lower safety standards. Proposed uniform health and safety laws are expected to be released for public comment following a meeting today of all State, Territory and Federal Govt Workplace Relations Ministers. Unions have been campaigning hard against the proposed ne

Workplace victims groups join with unions in call for stronger health and safety laws
Family members of people who have died at work have joined with unions to lobby the Federal Government over new health and safety laws. In a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, leaders of victim support groups in Victoria, NSW and South Australia have urged stronger health and safety protections to prevent more families suffering the heartbreak of workplace deaths and injuries. The letter says that proposed changes to workplace health and safety laws fall well short of providing world’s best practice. Signatories to the letter include Deanne May, from Industrial Death Support and Advocacy Inc (Victoria), Cheryl Romer, convenor, the Workplace Tragedy Fam