Every day, we keep New South Wales moving across our roads, railways, buses, ferries and bridges. We lead the teams delivering and maintaining critical transport infrastructure, and we make the complex technical and operational decisions that determine the safety, reliability and performance of the State's network. We are accountable for engineering governance, technical assurance, statutory compliance, risk management and critical safety decisions. We oversee major programs and manage significant public investment. We accept these responsibilities because we believe in public service. But the TSSM employment framework no longer fairly recognises what is expected of us. While remuneration and conditions have improved for Award and Enterprise Agreement-covered employees, the relative position of TSSMs has declined. Many of us now supervise employees whose total remuneration equals or exceeds our own, despite carrying significantly lower accountability. In accepting these appointments, we relinquished flex leave, overtime, travel time, leave loading, professional engineering provisions and other long-standing entitlements. Now, discussions about our future pay and conditions are happening without meaningful engagement with us or our unions. Decisions about our employment should not be made behind closed doors. The solution already exists. Classifications in the RMS Salaried Staff Award and the Transport for NSW Award already recognise the complexity and accountability of many TSSM roles. This is not about special treatment. It is about using the frameworks we already have.

As healthcare workers, we emphatically reject antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamaphobia, racism and all forms of discrimination and hatred. Every healthcare worker, patient, carer and community member deserve safety, dignity and equal access to treatment, care and support - Jewish people, Palestinian people and all communities affected by conflict, violence and war.   Antisemitism is real, harmful, and must be confronted wherever it occurs. That is not what this decision does. What it does instead is import a definition whose own illustrative examples concern the State of Israel and its policies, blurring the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of a government and its policies.   We state loudly and clearly that criticism of the State of Israel, its government, military actions against civilians, healthcare workers and healthcare facilities and speaking out on Palestine is not antisemitic.  We oppose any regulatory framework that could deter healthcare workers from engaging in lawful advocacy for human rights, humanitarian protection, civilian safety, or accountability under international law. Professional registration must never become a mechanism for political silence.   This decision is a dangerous and pernicious attempt to silence health professionals who speak out in support of a free Palestine. It sends a chilling message that doctors, nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, paramedics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, chiropractors, radiographers, dentists, optometrists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, and podiatrists' risk professional repercussions simply for advocating for Palestinian rights and justice. The implications extend far beyond the health sector. This decision raises serious concerns for colleagues working across the disability, aged care, community services, and education sectors, who are increasingly worried that they too could face similar efforts to suppress advocacy and restrict freedom of expression within their professions. We are healthcare workers. We have an ethical duty to speak on the health consequences of war, attacks on hospitals and clinics, and on the denial of care to civilians.  We will not surrender that duty, and we call on AHPRA and Australia's Health Ministers to ensure we are not punished for exercising it.

This is not about the businesses who are trying to do the right thing. It’s about making the playing field level so that good businesses aren’t being undercut by bad faith actors operating in these spaces.   Too often, these operators profit through wage theft, sham contracting, phoenixing and other forms of exploitation, leaving workers out of pocket while honest employers struggle to compete against businesses that cut corners and ignore the law.  Labour hire licensing is a proven reform that helps stop dodgy operators from entering the market and holds providers accountable when they fail to meet their obligations. A licensing scheme creates a fairer playing field by ensuring labour hire providers meet minimum standards and comply with workplace, taxation and safety laws.  It also helps crack down on tax avoidance and phoenixing, protecting public revenue and ensuring businesses contribute their fair share to the services and infrastructure we all rely on.  Honest labour hire providers, employers and workers all benefit when everyone is required to meet the same standards and compete on a level playing field.  We, the undersigned, call on the NSW Government to introduce a comprehensive labour hire licensing scheme that ensures every labour hire provider is licensed, accountable and playing by the same rules.  No licence. No labour hire. 

Every day, social workers and occupational therapists stand alongside nurses in Victoria's public health system. We work in the same hospitals. We care for the same patients. We respond to the same crises. We help people recover, stay safe, and rebuild their lives. Yet we're still paid less. The Fair Work Commission has recognised that allied health professions have been historically undervalued because they are female-dominated professions.  Now it's time for Victoria to act.  Equal pay isn't about asking for more than we deserve. It's about recognising the value of the work we already do and if things don't change and the Victorian Labor government doesnt provide pay parity with our mental health nursing colleagues, 97% of social workers and occupational therapists will leave the public mental health system. Social workers support people through mental health crises, family violence, child protection concerns, homelessness, trauma, palliative care, and complex discharge planning. Occupational therapists help people regain independence after injury or illness, prevent hospital readmissions, support rehabilitation, identify support within the NDIS and enable people to live safely at home. These aren't "extra" services, they're essential healthcare. When experienced allied health professionals leave because they can earn more elsewhere, patients wait longer, services suffer, and communities miss out. We need the Victorian Government to deliver: •  Pay parity with our nursing colleagues where we perform equivalent work and responsibilities.  •  Fair recognition of the skills, qualifications, and value social workers and occupational therapists bring to public healthcare.  •  A workforce that can attract and retain experienced clinicians.  This isn't just about workers. It's about protecting the future of Victoria's public mental health system for consumers, carers and their families.  If you believe every essential mental health professional deserves equal recognition for equal value in the public mental health system, add your name. It's time for pay equity for social workers and occupational therapists.

Thousands of native animals in need of care come to our Zoos, and yet Animal Hospital admin staff who do vital community response and animal data entry work are being cut, pushing that workload onto Vets.   We have world class visitor experience and yet front of house staff will be replaced with digital ticketing machines.   We have informative and beloved school education programs and yet many education staff are being let go. We have iconic grounds that have served generations of visitors, maintained by leading asset managers and maintenance staff yet they too are set to be cut. And these are only a few examples of the impact these cuts will have.  We also risk losing the experience, expertise, memories and conservation legacy that make our zoos so valuable. We must act now to stop this short-sighted restructure, protect skilled zoo workers, and defend the future of Victoria’s zoos before irreversible damage is done.  This is one of Victoria’s most beloved cultural institutions and we must protect it for generations to come.  Now is the time to stand with Zoos Victoria workers and defend the services our community, wildlife and environment rely on. These workers care for animals, respond to wildlife emergencies after bushfires and floods, educate future generations, and deliver conservation work recognised around the world.  Add your voice today: tell Zoos Victoria management stop the cuts, protect every site, and keep conservation at the heart of Victoria’s zoos. Join the campaign to save Victoria's zoos! Email: [email protected]

One Nation say they are the party of workers, but their actions say differently. Time and time again Pauline Hanson and One Nation have voted against our rights at work. She’s voted against: • Same Job, Same Pay laws • The Right to Disconnect • Letting workers openly discuss their pay • Making industrial manslaughter a criminal offence Just last month she publicly opposed a pay rise above inflation for the lowest paid Australian workers on the minimum wage.   The union movement will not let Pauline and One Nation hijack workers’ genuine cost-of-living concerns to erase our hard-fought workplace protections and make it harder for Australians to get by.   Hands off our rights at work One Nation.

Dear Minister, Rail safety cannot be delivered unless workers who do the jobs every day are properly engaged and consulted before safety decisions are made. Poor safety decisions in heavy rail can lead to a catastrophe, including loss of life. Rail safety workers have a crisis of confidence in ONRSR, made worse by ONRSR developing guidance on consultation without consulting workers. I call on you to require ONRSR to: • stop disregarding its functions under the Rail Safety National Law, including its responsibility to work with rail safety workers; • follow its own strategic direction by cultivating strong, collaborative relationships with key stakeholders such as AMWU members; and • withdraw its consultation guidelines and meet with the AMWU and rail safety workers to create a clear, enforceable code of conduct for genuine consultation. ONRSR’s actions show rail safety workers that they are not respected or regarded as stakeholders worthy of engagement. I call on your leadership to fix this approach and ensure workers’ insights are genuinely considered in decisions about rail safety.

Safety In recent years, Wyndham has seen a rise in violent crime. An unstaffed library could provide an easy place for criminal activity to occur. Few safety guarantees are being made about unstaffed hours. These safety issues mean that women, families and anyone vulnerable to racial, homophobic, transphobic or ableist violence may be uncomfortable accessing the library when it is unstaffed. People living with disabilities may not be able to access the space due to rules that prevent their carers visiting with them unless they have a membership as well. With no staff to help in a violent incident or medical emergency there is no guarantee the library is a safe place. Would you trust an empty library, late at night to be safe? Would you be happy to rely on the police or ambulance to arrive in time to help you if something terrible did occur while you were visiting an unstaffed library? Fairness Libraries are funded by your rates and tax dollars and are currently available to everybody during opening hours. By design, unstaffed library hours will not be accessible to all. We want increased library services for all. Not just access for a few! Using the library during unstaffed hours requires a separate membership restricted by age and vague criteria such as confidence using the library independently. Additionally, unstaffed hours will not be available at every library branch – if your local branch does not offer extended hours, you’re out of luck. Membership is not guaranteed upon application and can be blocked for any reason. It requires an induction process and agreement to a separate set of terms and conditions. No guidelines have been provided to prevent discrimination or bias in the selection process. Accessing the library during unstaffed hours may be unavailable to you if: • You are deemed not to meet the membership criteria. • You cannot find time to sit through a lengthy induction during staffed operating hours. • You require any assistance using the library. • Not every library branch will have unstaffed hours so one neighbourhood will have better access than others. Introducing unstaffed hours does not address existing geographic gaps in service within Wyndham or community demand for services requiring staff, such as weekend or evening programming and may be used as an excuse not to ever provide these services in the future. There is a great risk that this project will only benefit a small number of people and you may not be one of them! Is that fair and equitable access? Does it seem like a good use of your rates and tax money? Cheaper, lower quality service Unstaffed library hours are being pitched as an enhancement to existing library services at a fraction of the cost compared to extending staffed hours of service, opening new branches or extending outreach services. But as well as serving a narrower section of the community, the proposal explicitly provides a lower quality of service. During unstaffed hours, the library will not provide: • IT or equipment support. • Assistance dealing with library account issues. • Assistance with any issues accessing the library using your Open Libraries membership. • Access to collection items kept behind the library desk. • Library programs or events. • In-person support in the event of an emergency. Libraries in the future Your libraries are currently staffed for all opening hours and librarians spend all day helping people. One concern industry experts have about unstaffed hours is the potential damage to our industry and what libraries can offer our communities in the future. If politicians begin to believe that libraries don’t need librarians, it’s only a matter of time before staffed services are reduced in the name of cost-saving. After the UK introduced unstaffed hours, over 50% of librarians were replaced with unqualified volunteers – or nothing at all. If you love musical and literacy programs for your children, study assistance for your teenagers and IT help for those of us who find advancing technology challenging to keep up with, don’t let your libraries become just a building with books inside.  You deserve a library that has librarians in it – for every hour we are open. Please sign our petition and/or write to your local councillor to show your support for the people who support you. You can write your own email or use this template: Dear (Councillor’s name) I am writing to express my concern about the proposed Open Libraries project at Wyndham City Council.  My concerns are (include your main concerns here) and I believe that without community consultation there is no evidence that this will be a responsible use of the council budget.  I urge you to listen to your constituents and not support this project moving forward. Signed, Your name • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected]

Open letter from Deakin University staff On the restructure, the resignation, and the obligation to do better On 4 June, affected Deakin staff across two divisions of the University – Academic Portfolio, and Infrastructure and Digital – were presented with proposals for workplace restructures impacting 1,830 positions, with 146 job cuts. Those whose positions were unmatched in the new structures were given until 19 June – the close of the consultation period – to submit applications for voluntary redundancy.  On 9 June, staff were informed by email that Vice Chancellor Iain Martin had resigned, effective immediately, with no reasons given. On 10 June, many staff were notified for the first time of the proposed restructure in an email from the caretaker VC, Matthew Clarke. The nature of the proposed changes, the way in which they have been communicated, and the VC's sudden and unexplained resignation compel us to publicly express our deep dismay at the events since 4 June, and the surrounding organisational context.  The human cost The most serious failing in these events is the simplest one: it has been cruel.  Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Jessica Vanderlelie met with staff online only, presenting a confusing 200+ page document in which individual staff had to hunt for their names on coloured tiles to see if they were facing redundancy. Direct line managers were given no warning or no further information to support staff.  The change documents are a masterclass in strategic fog, replete with corporate language that makes little sense, lacks any evidence-based justification, and fails to acknowledge the human beings affected. People are not tiles on an organisational chart. The fact that this had to be said at all is a measure of how genuinely awful this process is. Massive leadership and governance failure A major restructure affecting nearly 2000 positions requires accountable executive leadership, and yet our VC has departed with no explanation.  Unjustified restructure The MWC documentation provided to staff is literally entirely devoid of any evidence. It is replete with vacuous statements imploring us to be “Vibrant by making space for innovation” and “Confident, connected and future ready.” These are not organisational diagnoses. They are slogans.  There is no quantitative or qualitative evidence provided to support claims around past or future student demands, performance indicators for units, staff or student satisfaction survey findings, or student complaint data. There are no financials. As an academic institution we expect and deserve an appropriate standard of evidence.  Furthermore, there is no substantiation of the nature of the new roles, meaning displaced staff cannot know what kinds of jobs they may be eligible to apply for. All staff – including academics – are in the dark about how the essential work of professional staff will be reorganised.  What we are calling for We are calling on Deakin Council to deliver on their obligations under the Deakin University Act 2009, including to: 1. Order the suspension of the MWC process immediately until a VC or confirmed Acting VC is in place and can be held fully accountable. 1.1. Should a new VC wish to proceed with the proposal, to order the Executive to commit to genuine consultation including: (a) an extension of the timeline for consultation; (b) the establishment of structured dialogue mechanisms, including a working group comprising staff, students and management; (c) empirical evidence supporting the proposed changes; (d) a commitment to meeting face-to-face with affected staff; (e) provision of fit-for-purpose job descriptions for new roles. 2. Involve staff meaningfully in the appointment of new leadership, including the Acting and permanent VC positions.  3. Commission an independent review of executive governance at Deakin. This would examine how a major restructure of this scale was designed, by whom, how it was launched, and how it is being continued under these current conditions of governance chaos. And what accountability mechanisms need to be strengthened, including discussion with those who are responsible and therefore accountable. Deakin has extraordinary staff. Through every previous restructure, through a pandemic, through leadership changes and budget pressures, we have continued to deliver the highest quality research and the highest quality education for students. We deserve to be treated as the institution's greatest asset. We are not opposed to change. We are opposed to change done badly, without evidence, without honesty, and without care for our people who are most affected. * Open letter from Deakin University Student Association (DUSA) DUSA has serious concerns with the University's proposed organisational changes and the inadequate process by which they have been communicated. Notably, DUSA was not formally included in the consultation process, something that should have occurred given the impact this change will have on students. The proposed changes carry significant risks, particularly the shift away from in-house counselling services, which would introduce barriers to access, disrupt continuity of care, and harm vulnerable students. The dissolution of the Disability Resource Centre, which risks diluting specialist expertise at a time when demand is already outpacing capacity, is especially concerning.  These changes are occurring without evidence the proposed model will deliver equal or better outcomes for students, and without the transparent and collaborative process that major decisions of this magnitude require. * Open letter from Geelong Disability Collective and Deakin Disability Neurodivergency Association Disabled students rely on a continuity of support, and disruptions to their established community of care can be detrimental. The lack of transparency and consultation involved in this proposal means it is not possible to determine the scale of impact this will have on the Disabled community.  The proposal is antithetical to the stated targets of the recently updated Disability Action Plan. It fails to embed accessibility and inclusion principles and will erode the quality of currently available supports. The shock and uncertainty caused by how these proposed changes have been communicated is deeply traumatic for those directly affected and demonstrates a disregard for staff wellbeing.

Every Queenslander knows the relief of seeing an RACQ patrol pull up when you're stranded on the side of the road. These are the workers who get us - and our kids, our parents, our mates - home safe, day or night. They're qualified mechanics doing the same skilled trade as RACQ's workshop mechanics, often in far tougher conditions - yet they're paid less for it. That's not a fair go, and it's not the Queensland way. Here's the thing: RACQ is a member-owned club. If you're one of its 1.7 million members, this is happening in your name and funded by your membership. Your club can do better than short changing the people who keep you moving. It takes ten seconds to add your name. Public pressure works - especially on a club that trades on its reputation for looking after Queenslanders. Stand with the patrols and tell RACQ: same job, same skill, same pay.

The NSW government has quietly approved the southern hemisphere's largest data centre at Marsden Park, less than 100 metres from homes in Hassall Grove, near schools, a mosque, and local amenities. Construction is already underway.  It will consume energy equivalent to 140,000 homes. Without intervention, the Climate Council warns electricity prices could rise by up to 26% by 2035.  Western Sydney is already the hottest part of the city. Research shows hyperscale data centres can raise surrounding land temperatures by up to 2°C.  Chris Minns has created the ‘Investment Delivery Authority’, a four-person committee that’s essentially designed to fast-track the approval of data centres in New South Wales. These massive data centres have also been deemed as ‘State Significant Developments’ and can therefore bypass council approval and input from residents. For such consequential infrastructure projects, that will impact water, energy, peoples health, there should have been much more widespread consultation. AI, like any technology, could be used for good, but thanks to political parties that serve capitalist interests, it is being used to line the pockets of private equity firms, help corporations replace human workers, and help the likes of Palantir build a dystopian surveillance state that would make even Orwell weep. The best that the federal government has done to regulate this race to build data centres has been to release a set of in-principal guidelines which have no way of being enforced. It’s a classic way the government can tick a box to look like they’re doing something.  Working-class communities in Western Sydney will pay the price for these data centres in increased heat, noise, water scarcity, and power bills, while private equity firms pocket the profits.

By coming together in union, we can fix the long-standing undervaluation of our skilled and complex work that has kept our wages too low. Fair pay means secure jobs, less turnover, better services and stronger communities. When workers are valued, everyone benefits. We call on governments and employers to support us by: • Backing wages that value our work • Properly funding fair wages • Respecting the skill and complexity our work requires Recently we’ve improved our classification structure. Now it’s time to finish the job and lift our pay. We deserve more than recognition. We deserve fair pay, secure futures and real respect. Add your name and stand with us.