Actu
Bill Kelty made a memorable speech last week. Addressing the ACTU Congress Dinner in Sydney, the legendary ACTU Secretary who helped shape the Accord in the 1980s and 1990s, explained why he became a unionist.
“It was the underdog you always sided with in our family,” he told a hushed audience that included former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.
“The Aboriginal on death row, the Gurindji people, women not getting equal pay. It was Australia of whom you were proud, but not the Australia who sang God Save the Queen.
Continue reading "Deep down we’re all unionists, even the haters" »
It’s usually best to avoid putting too many statistics in a post but reading the ACTU’s report on insecure work the statistics speak volumes so bear with me if you’re interested.
Almost a quarter of Australian workers, or 2.2 million people, are in casual employment. Women (25.5%) are much more likely to be in casual work than men (19.7%).
According to the report: “Over half of all casual employees are ‘permenant casuals’ in that they have long-term, ongoing and regular employment but, by virtue of being a casual, have non of the basic entitlements associated with ongoing employment.”
Continue reading "An insecure workforce makes for an insecure society" »
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Bruce says:
A British politician once said if people have to choose between freedom and sandwiches they will take the sandwiches. A contemporary adaptation of that might be if people have to choose between Australian made or cheaper foreign imports they will choose the imports, and the long term consequence of that… Read more »
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Simon says:
@BruceS - an insecure workforce also makes for an insecure economy . . . Read more »
He turned up on the stage of the Sydney Convention Centre yesterday looking like he was outfitted by a tailor legally barred from using the endorsement “bespoke”, and with a hairdo a trainee mate might have tended to.
He had started on the shop floor unencumbered by a university degree, and yet there he was prepared to give advice to political queens and business emperors.
He was available to help shape a $1.5 trillion economy when at his peak earning years he might have taken in just a bit over $90,000 annually.
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Daz says:
Newsflash to all members of the political class! Most, ordinary, average Australians find it hard to stomach, let alone like, any of you. We simply tolerate you the same way we do a used car salesman when it’s that time. Not just this current mob, but collectively all of you,… Read more »
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Jolly says:
Jordan, as a former Labor supporter, I find the present Gillard labor reprehensible in more ways that you can imagine. When one finds corruption, treachery, blatant lies, and rotten morals, one must be brave enough to change allegiance and kick Labor out. Blind loyalty (like the one we have for… Read more »
Strap yourself in, and stock up on supplies, because if you thought politics had become a bit exhausting the Prime Minister gave us a not so subtle reminder yesterday that, barring something unforseen, we’ve still got a long way to go until the next election.
Ironically, Julia Gillard delivered this wake-up call with a speech that sounded suspiciously like a campaign launch. It’s no secret the real campaigns now begin well out from when the starter’s gun is fired five or six weeks before an election.
But Gillard’s point was clear when she addressed the ACTU Congress in Sydney yesterday. She’s remembered she’s a Labor Prime Minister and she’d like even a half-decent shot at the next election.
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Malcolm says:
@brian Thanks for asking but I’ll have to disappoint you, Brian. I’m not sure how much success you’ll have using this as a dating site, but best of luck. Read more »
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Brian Taylor says:
can I have some of what you’re smoking dumbbo? Read more »
There are just 1.83 million members of trade unions in Australia, roughly 18.4 per cent of the national workforce. Take out the heavily unionized public services and the proportion is 13.2 per cent. That means about 1.3 million out of 10 million workers in all areas are employed in private companies and are in trade unions.
It’s these 1.3 million workers - a scrap of the dwindling union membership - that the Opposition will be targeting today with claims that the entire union movement is led by self-indulgent shonks who have been wasting their money and their trust.
There will be indications of this having happened in one trade union, but all will be painted by the Health Services Union brush. The Fair Work Australia report on the Health Services Union has been bouncing around the bureaucracy unloved and unwanted but today will be released to those most eager to embrace its 1100 pages of findings.
Continue reading "Union movement trying to fight off HSU disease" »
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Georgina Goodenough says:
Did you also join your local Branch and help organise? Encourage more of your workplace to belong? Employers only negotiate when they have something to lose. A Govt that knows not everyone in their workforce is unionised, knows the union’s ability to annoy them is limited. The ANF knows this.… Read more »
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Gerard says:
I actually think that the union members themselves have to take a lot of the blame here. That the unions are simply a front for the Labor Party is hardly a secret. Five minutes of research into the organisation they’re handing over money to would reveal that the unions are… Read more »
Sometimes a change creeps up so stealthily that you hardly notice how far it’s gone. That’s how I feel about insecure work, something that used to be restricted to small part of our workforce, but has now spread, like the crown of thorns starfish, to trap millions of Australian workers.
Today, the reality is that 40 per cent of Australians are in some kind of insecure work.
That’s the combination of people who are casual (which is a quarter of the workforce alone), on short-term or other contracts, and in labour hire, as opposed to the normal definition of permanent jobs – with all the conditions and entitlements that come with them – that were the norm until a few years ago.
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limp wAbbott says:
If d.ckwank abbott gets in, he’ll only promote workchoices so watch out. In a worst case, we’ll all just have to start up a business ourselves. Read more »
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SME hater says:
Yeah its shit when all you get is casual work. Tell ‘em to shove it and come to oz. Read more »
You can’t understand the history of social progress in Australia without understanding the union movement.
Unions have been the way in which ordinary Australians have made their voice heard in Government.
The way in which workers from shearers and nurses to factory workers have got together to build a common cause and combine their strength.
Continue reading "Unions are still giving ordinary Australians a voice" »
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John Livers says:
Joining a Union is a great way to gain a louder voice in wanting better rights and treatment, but you have to join the right union. Not all unions succeed in gaining better welfare for their members, and they leave members hanging. Read more »
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luis neto says:
tony albanese gets a wage increase to over $8 million plus a year but thats ok the ceo’s get massive pay rises nobody cries about it the low income families ask for $26 a week the acci the employers the states start complaining its outrageous the unions are destroying the… Read more »
I’ve got a confession to make: I’m not a climate scientist. Nor am I an economic modeller. I am the president of the ACTU, representing every Australian union and nearly two million Australian workers and their families.
In that capacity I think I have an important role to play in the climate change debate. Our members and their families have a big stake in this debate because they are the ones who have the most to lose if we don’t get it right.
Their job security and income security must be protected as we change our use of carbon; but more profoundly we should resist inaction, because this is an even greater threat to their jobs and their income.
Continue reading "Climate change is real, and someone must pay" »
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Each year the debate over the minimum wage seems to be dominated by people who’ll never have to live on it: economists, politicians, business lobbyists, and, I have to be honest, union
leaders.
We can all forget that a dollar means different things to different people. That for one of the 1.4 million Australians on a low wage an few extra dollars a week can be the money that keeps the lights on, pays the rent or buys new shoes for a fast-growing child.
Last week the ACTU lodged its minimum wage claim - $28 extra per week for a full time worker.It’s not a big ask when you think of the rise in electricity prices, fuel costs, rents and other expenses.
Continue reading "Why our poorest workers deserve an extra $28 a week" »
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The real workers says:
@ JT Thanks for your opinion, but we DID take responsibility. We had children young and decided at 27 to go back to uni. I studied media and my wife education. Your disdain for the artists of the world does you no favours as a person either. Never watched tv… Read more »
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ZSRenn says:
@ Get it rite Here is a story for you that says Interest Rates will rise it is only a matter of time as to when http://mozo.com.au/interest-rates/articles/it-s-a-case-of-when-not-if-interest-rates-rise-experts-say/800314491 Perhaps you might get it rite @ Ptom perhaps you might look at this link which gives CEO’s a $211,000 Average income. http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Chief_Executive_Officer_(CEO)/Salary… Read more »
Kevin Rudd has a big political problem. Tony Abbott has thrown him off balance with a couple of short jabs and he is struggling to regain its composure.
Tony Abbott has achieved this by punching at the key failures of the Rudd Government. It has changed the dynamic on the ground all of a sudden.
Labor’s marginal seat holders who just months ago were dreaming of an easy victory in the campaign this year are now talking darkly about the PM’s performance and wondering whether Julia just might be better. They are demanding some action to turn this around. They want something done to stop Tony Abbott and his momentum.
Continue reading "Labor’s IR scare campaign: can the souffle rise twice?" »
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thanks Ev's says:
Thank-you Evan Findlay, how nicely put. I couldn’t have said it better. Read more »
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Fog Badger says:
John A Neve 0529pm, I agree there is no difference, but the ALP likes to consider itself the “workers’ ” party (what ever that means). Surely you wouldn’t suggest that isn’t true? Evan 0557pm, Thanks. Just in case that comment was taken the wrong way, I didn’t say that the… Read more »
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