Le Bon Ton is a New Orleans-style bar in Collingwood and one of Melbourne’s hottest late night venues. The bar closes at 6am on weekends and staff often don’t finish until even later. But whenever you work, you don’t get penalty rates. I worked for the owners of Le Bon Ton for more than a year and like countless other workers I wasn’t paid penalty rates either - I got paid a flat rate of as little as $18 per hour. In total, they stole about $5000 from me. Lots of others are also owed thousands of dollars. Will and Mick Balleau didn’t care if I couldn’t pay my rent. They’d you give a free beer at the end of your shift and reckon that makes it all right. They made me speak to their accountant who promised me the money. They even sent me a spreadsheet confirming I’d been underpaid by thousands and promised they'd pay me in the next pay run. But they never did. They were betting on me not knowing how to get my money. I finished working for them three years ago and I'm still waiting to get paid. What this is, is theft. But hospo bosses just keep getting away with it. I want to see these wage thieves held to account for how they treat their staff. The watchdog needs to take serious action against these guys. https://vimeo.com/319264816

Nearly 80 Australian seafarers have been sacked by BHP and replaced with exploited overseas visa workers. These should be Australian jobs for Australian workers, but Scott Morrison's Government chose BHP's profits over the jobs of locals.

Whilst the ANU has made great strides to tackle the complicated issue of providing accommodation for a growing student population, there are still many pressing and urgent issues for postgraduate students that must be addressed. There are still postgraduate students being exploited by predatory landlords, skipping meals to pay for the bare necessities, and sleeping rough in the library and their offices to ensure that they have a safe place to sleep at night. In recognising that the ANU is providing additional accommodation for students in the upcoming years, it is not merely enough to have this accommodation available, it also needs to be accessible, affordable and adequate. Additionally, to meet the first-year guarantee, second- and third-year students will need to seek accommodation off-campus in a city that was just named the most expensive rent market in Australia.

The Fair Work Ombudsman must investigate Dinner By Heston and take strong action against venues like these that use salary-based arrangements to underpay their workers. The law is clear: Employers must keep an accurate daily record of start and finish times, of the hours worked, and breaks taken, and have them signed weekly by employees. Employers must also do a reconciliation to see if staff have been underpaid. And if there is a shortfall, the employer must pay the difference. We are calling on the watchdog to enforce the law at Dinner By Heston. They must ensure these workers are paid for every hour they work and are paid back all their stolen wages.

The NRMA is buying up transport and tourism companies nationally. Recently, the NRMA began purchasing ferry services on Sydney Harbour in NSW. At one of these ferry companies - My Fast Ferry - management have been deliberately forcing their workers to accept below minimum conditions, and robbing them of their rightful pay rates. Workers at My Fast Ferry can earn as little as half the pay as those doing the same work, on the same boats, on the same harbour. Their only mistake is to work for the NRMA. The workers and their union – the Maritime Union of Australia - have requested that the NRMA do the right thing and treat their workers with the respect they deserve. Sadly, NRMA has decided to dig in behind existing practices, and continue to treat Ferry workers like second class citizens. How can you trust a company that behaves like this?

Melbourne’s famous Degraves Street is a den of thieves. We are demanding the Fair Work Ombudsman conduct raids up and down the street. Lawyers for Hospo Voice, the hospitality union, analysed payslips and rosters of workers at five venues with underpayments totalling $50k and award breaches that include below-award wages, non-payment of shift and public holiday penalty rates, superannuation and leave entitlements. Wage theft at these Degraves Street venues has been uncovered: Degraves Espresso, RMB Café, Xpressomondo, Little Cupcakes and The Quarter. Employers are getting rich by gaming the system. They know the chances of getting caught are remote and the worst they have to fear is being forced to pay back stolen wages. That’s why hospo workers fought for and won a commitment from Premier Daniel Andrews to criminalise wage theft if he is re-elected.

Professional and academic staff are integral to the quality of our education. Research higher degree and undergraduate students will both be negatively impacted by this proposed restructure, as already pressured staff are put more under the pump with increased workload and reduced support. FUSA Student Council would also wish to acknowledge the huge financial and emotional burden on staff and their loved ones that comes with job insecurity.

Every worker deserves a secure job they can count on. But even when a collective agreement provides for casual conversion, companies like Bulla ignore and break the rules. Frankie had been a loyal employee at Bulla’s Derrimut cold store , employed as a casual and working full time hours every day for 12 months. He had been told by Bulla that after 6 months work, he would be made permanent in line with the EBA conditions. Having a young family to support, this was very important to Frankie. After 6 months of casual work had passed Frankie asked for conversion. He was ignored. After waiting for 12 months he spoke to the delegate, and management finally handed him a contract. The offer was for a seasonal short term role, not the full time job he was entitled to. Frankie was given just 48 hours to sign the contract. The following day he politely raised the issue. Bulla’s response? 'We are no longer offering you a contract, and your employment is terminated effective immediately.' He was escorted off site past his shocked workmates for asking a fair question. Stand united in support with Frankie and against companies that have too much power - all workers deserve a job they can count on!

By forcing unemployed workers out onto rural farms, Scott Morrison is stripping Australian citizens of their right to freedom of movement. This will create a deeply segregated society - one where only certain, privileged citizens have basic workplace rights and freedoms. Over the past few months, Morrison has continued to trample on the rights of unemployed workers. He has taken away their rights to appeal unfair penalties made by private employment services providers; he has stripped their rights to a 'reasonable excuse' for not attending activities and appointments; and he has significantly expanded the coercive and dangerous Work for the Dole program. Australians who have become unemployed - due to no fault of their own - are being systematically branded as second-class citizens. Scott Morrison's plan will not create one single job for unemployed workers. It will only punish them for his government's own failure to create enough jobs. Let's send Scott Morrison a clear message - Create Work, Not Punishment!

Max (left) was underpaid $7000 in hospo on the Sunshine Coast and sent threatening letters to stop him claiming his wages. Andreas (middle) was paid $10/hr cash in hand at a restaurant in Sunnybank and couldn't recover his wages because he didn't receive pay slips. Sulu (right) was underpaid $13,000 over two years packaging ready made meals. Young workers are more likely to experience wage theft because we are often unaware of our rights at work, can find it hard to speak up and don't know where to seek help. In Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, 60% of businesses don't comply with the law, with most contraventions relating to wage theft. But hundreds of these cases will never make it to court, because the current legal system is expensive, lengthy and stacked in favour of bad employers who underpay their workers. If you've experienced wage theft or know someone who has contact the Young Workers Hub on 0448 681 116. Let's end wage theft!

Big banks can’t be trusted with workers’ money. Banks have been forced to refund or compensate their customers $480 million in the past two years. They have engaged in reprehensible behavior that includes robbing the dead, deceiving the regulator, rigging markets, giving dodgy advice, forging documents and breaching laws that stop people laundering money and financing terrorism. In contrast, our union-won industry superannuation is reputable and accountable to members, and it consistently delivers better returns for members than any bank super fund. Industry super is strong. It’s the big banks that are broken. Big banks have no place in super and should be banned.

The National Union of Students is calling on the Federal Government to increase commonwealth income support programs such as Newstart. It’s been 24 years since any government has increased the payments for newstart. Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot, there were only 3 rental properties in the country that were affordable for students under Newstart. Under Youth Allowance there are only 2 affordable rental properties. The NUS and Anglicare Student Housing Survey in 2017 reported that: - 82% of working students said that the amount of time they spend at work hurts their studies. - 85% of students do not believe that Centrelink provides them with enough to live and study Former Prime Minister John Howard has even admitted the freeze on NewStart has gone on too long. We are joining with organisations such as the Everybody's home campaign and ACOSS to raise the rate of Newstart and fix youth homelessness and poverty.