Local Government services in Victoria are in crisis because of chronic underfunding by the Allan Labor Government. Council workers across metropolitan Melbourne are under constant threat of outsourcing and have seen their real wages cut by between 7-12%. High rates of vacancies and turnover are endemic across the sector, and workers are more exposed than ever to occupational violence and unsustainable workloads.   This also means lower quality services for the broader community. It means understaffed libraries. It means graffiti being left up for weeks and subcontracted street sweepers racing through too many streets and leaving rubbish behind. It means youth workers preventing crime by providing vital early intervention services losing their jobs.   Our communities can’t afford a race to the bottom.

Our workplace laws need to catch up to the reality we're living and working in 2026. If you support changes to protect our work from the damaging new aspects of AI and workplace surveillance, think long service leave should follow you and not your boss, and want those who can to be able to work from home, sign this pledge.

Rocks statement  “"My name is Rock Idugboe. I am 29 years old, born in Nigeria, and I came to Australia at the age of 13 from a refugee background. Australia has given me safety, opportunity and a future — and I have never taken that for granted. I have worked hard to build a stable, responsible and respectful life. Today, I am an expecting father, preparing to welcome my child into the world. I have a partner who relies on me, a mortgage to meet, and financial responsibilities that extend beyond my own household. My mother is unwell and only able to work part-time, so my siblings and I contribute to paying her mortgage to ensure she remains secure. Family responsibility is something I carry with pride. Losing my job without notice and without proper cause has been devastating. It has placed sudden and immense pressure on me at a time when stability matters most. I have always done my best to be educated, diligent, respectful and easy to work with. I have approached my work and my life with integrity, professionalism and consideration for others. To be dismissed in this way has been deeply disheartening. Not just financially — but personally. I have consistently tried to move forward in this country with gratitude, respect and a strong work ethic. I believe in fairness. I believe in accountability. And I believe that people deserve to be treated with dignity. This situation has been incredibly difficult, but I remain committed to rebuilding, providing for my family and continuing to contribute positively to my community."”

The Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) is seeking to ignore the nearly 19,000 staff who signed a Statement of Support for fair bargaining last year – a clear majority of the 35,000 staff that the VCEA has claimed work in Victorian Catholic education. No good explanation has been provided for this anti-worker stance, and this continued denial of our basic rights is causing deep concern amongst staff in Catholic schools right across the state. As educators, we don’t want to have to take industrial action – but as workers, we know that the internationally-recognised right to do so is what gives us power at the bargaining table, and that without this right we are negotiating with one hand tied behind our back.  

A lot of Victorians in all sorts of industries can’t work from home - but our whole community wins when those who can work from home are given the option. It means fewer cars stuck in peak hour traffic and less congestion on public transport. Local small businesses benefiting from increased lunchtime demand. Families with someone around to pick up the kids up after school. That’s why I support moves by the Victorian Government to legislate a right to work from home for two days per week for people who are reasonably able to do so. I want all politicians, and all Victorians, to get behind this simple proposal that will improve the lives of millions of Victorians and their families.

When injured workers go through the WorkCover system, they can face disbelief, delays, intrusive surveillance, and adversarial processes when they are at their most vulnerable. Oftentimes, instead of being supported to recover and return to work safely, injured workers are forced to fight for treatment, income, and dignity. A meaningful Code of Injured Workers’ Rights would set clear, enforceable standards, ensuring workers are treated with fairness and respect, supported in recovery, and not retraumatised by the WorkCover system itself. 

Local government workers deliver essential services our communities rely on every day. But councils are increasingly replacing secure, ongoing jobs with labour hire and rolling fixed term contracts. In some councils, labour hire workers now make up almost one in ten staff, often doing the same work as directly employed council workers but for less pay and fewer conditions. At one Council, ongoing employees are working side-by-side with labour hire workers on $18 less an hour. At the same time, many workers have been trapped on rolling fixed term contracts for years - in some cases for more than 10 years - creating constant uncertainty and undermining their ability to build careers, support their families, and invest in their workplaces. Insecure work doesn’t just hurt workers, it hurts communities. High turnover and lost experience weaken local services and make it harder for councils to build strong connections with the people they serve. Communities deserve stable councils staffed by workers who are supported, trained, and able to build long-term knowledge of their local areas.

Hate doesn't deserve a big screen!  The One-Nation-endorsed 'A Super Progressive Movie' presents itself as an edgy satire whilst really trafficking in hate.  As the Australian Classification Board describes, "The entire film is full of crude humour, which trivialises the fight for equality and issues, including the rights of minority groups and those facing discrimination, including First Nations people, the LGBTQIA+ community, differently abled people, etc." Screenings previously scheduled at Parliament House have already been cancelled on the grounds that "events held at Australian Parliament House are accepted, among other requirements, of not being likely to cause offence to any part of the Australian community." Workers are entitled to a safe workplace. Hosting this film and the attendant rally of 700+ One Nation supporters will threaten that. Stand up for workers at Village Cinemas, patrons of Crown Casino and the entire affected community that Pauline Hanson's campaign of hate and division will target. Come out to the Refugee Action Collective's rally this Thursday at 5:30pm, Jeff's Shed on Clarendon St (opposite Crown Casino) 

Myuna workers are local people with mortgages, children in local schools, and deep ties to the Lake Macquarie community. The mine supports not just 300 direct jobs, but thousands of others including contractors, transport workers, small businesses, and services that rely on stable, well-paid work in the region. When a major employer like Myuna closes, the damage does not stop at the gate. It flows through families, communities, and the local economy.  Workers are being asked to live with uncertainty while Origin continues to profit from running Eraring, a power station that was once publicly owned and now supplies essential electricity to NSW. A just transition means planning, certainty, and fairness, not silence and delay. Communities like ours deserve better.

Wages in the community services sector have not kept up with the value or complexity of our work. Then, if it wasn't bad enough, in 2025, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) proposed to change the classification structure in the SCHADS Award. The FWC proposed a 9-level classification structure modelled on the Aged Care Award. These changes could have caused 73% of workers to face weekly pay cuts ranging from $179 to $930 across various sector roles. There are up to 130,000 workers employed under the SCHADS Award. 46% of those workers faced losing over $200 per week. According to ASU surveys, 40-50% of workers would be forced to leave the sector due to financial stress if the FWC proposal was adopted. So, we fought back. We held members meetings, site visits, stunts and rallies! We gained media attention right across the country and grew significantly as a union with thousands of workers getting engaged in the campaign right across the nation. The FWC will likely make its final decision in around March. Any FWC decision will not be implemented immediately. So, in the meantime, we are running our campaign for pay increases for the community services sector.  We know that when we fight, we win. We’ve done it before. We won pay increases of 23% to 45% to the minimum wages in 2012. Let’s stand together in 2026 and show everyone why we must be valued!

Healthcare workers at the Launceston General Hospital are being hit with an almost 70% increase in parking fees. This isn’t a small adjustment – an extra $520 a year is a massive cost increase on people who already struggle to find affordable, reliable parking just to get to work.   What makes this even worse is the timing. During bargaining, workers have missed out on wage increases because the government has refused to put a fair offer on the table.    In the last 12 months, healthcare workers have faced growing wage disparity with the mainland, seeing the gap for their wages widen from 5.92% to 9.8%.     For many healthcare workers, parking isn’t optional. If you’re on early shifts, late finishes, or rotating rosters, public transport often isn’t a realistic alternative. That means this decision becomes a direct cost-of-living hit for the very people who keep our hospital running.   Healthcare workers deserve respect and fairness, not another financial burden. The government must act to commit to treating workers properly by covering the fee increase and maintaining the arrangement with workers of parking costing $3 per day.

Carnival is ultra-profitable, owned by one of the wealthiest men on the planet.  He has a personal wealth estimated to be $15 BILLION Australian dollars    Carnival has three ships ‘Home Ported’ in Australia. Across all 3 Australian ships Carnival flies in workers from poor countries, picks them up from the airport and puts them to work on Australian ships on short-term contracts.  Crew aboard these ships are often working 300 hours (or more!) per month, being paid as little as AUD $2.50 an hour. This is some of the most extreme labour exploitation ever seen in Australia, floating right under our noses. The Ships Officers live in luxury, with personal staff and salubrious cabins.  Crew have awful, cramped living quarters, with poor quality food and water.  Sometimes crew under deck don’t see daylight for weeks at a time. Crew are trapped in a cycle: hired for just a short contract, then sent home with no income, no security, and no promise of future work, praying for the next contract. Carnival gets away with this because Australian labour law doesn’t apply to these ships, and because there are no Union Agreements covering them.   The Maritime Union of Australia is calling on Carnival to do the decent think and sign an Agreement that delivers basic pay and conditions for these hard-working people.