Workers have carried Australia through this pandemic. Many essential workers are still at constant risk of community or workplace exposure to COVID. As we move into the next phase of the pandemic, all workers, including casuals, must have access to Paid Isolation Leave to reduce the risk of COVID spreading, take the steps needed to keep everyone safe and without losing any income. The requirements for workers to test, trace, isolate or quarantine are going to be with us for an extended period, and could increase for people working in frontline jobs if they experience more regular exposure at work. Workers will need Paid Isolation Leave to get us through this next phase of the pandemic rather than rely on depleted or non-existent leave balances. We need Paid Isolation Leave to protect our families and communities, and stop the spread of COVID-19. Paid Isolation Leave is critical to make sure workers or someone they care for can safely test, isolate or quarantine – and keep their families, communities and workmates safe.

Australia needs to be vaccinated as soon as possible. But we’re running last in the race to get it done. We won’t reach the required levels of COVID vaccination without more vaccine supplies and a faster roll out. We can’t rely on a system where workers have to get their jab on weekends or during lunch breaks. Monash University allows full-time workers to get vaccinated on work time. But it won’t pay casuals to do the same. No worker should have to choose between getting vaccinated and paying the bills. The latest plan from the Morrison government will see 2 million jabs per week being administered from September. We need paid leave to attend vaccination and recover from routine side effects. Last year workers in our Union campaigned for and won paid pandemic leave and one day a week carer’s leave for staff caring and home-schooling. This year, together, we can win paid vaccination leave. But we need to work together. We need a strong voice to demand nation-wide paid vaccination leave. We need it for the University, and we need it for our colleagues and students. Sign the petition for paid vaccination leave. Join your union.

The Titanic’s owner, Louis must pay our stolen super and wages back now. Wage theft is a crime in Victoria, our fellow union members fought hard to make that the case. We will report our employer to the Victorian Wage Theft Inspectorate to make sure he can’t get away with stealing from us or any other of his future workers. Louis employs a lot of young workers at The Titanic Williamstown. We don’t want them to think that it’s okay for employers to treat us so badly. We want younger workers to know that this is not acceptable and that they’re entitled to stand up for themselves and demand to be treated with respect at work. That’s why we’ve come together in our union, and why we’re fighting back. Louis, you ignored us when we contacted you individually. Have we got your attention now?

NECA CEO Oliver Judd is opposing wage rises for low-paid electrical apprentices. Judd, a former corporate lawyer, wants to block increases for hundreds of apprentices employed by Electro Group Training in NSW and the ACT. The ETU has negotiated an enterprise agreement that will deliver modest improvements to wages and conditions for our NSW and ACT members at group trainer Electro Group. These apprentices have previously been subject to basic award conditions. NECA is not a party to the EBA, in fact NECA group training is the main competitor to Electro Group. Yet despite this, Judd has asked the Fair Work Commission to block registration of the Electro Group EBA. The NECA CEO, who was paid over $250,000 in 2020, seeks to stop apprentices benefiting from a union EBA they spent months negotiating. ETU members at Electro Group fought hard to get their union EBA. If Judd gets his way, Electro Group apprentices will be stuck on some of the lowest wages paid to any group of Australian workers.

In historically male-dominated occupations such as blue-collar trades, amenities for workers are often an afterthought or not provided at all. When they do exist, they are often very unhygienic, unsanitary, far away from the worksite, locked or in an unsafe location. The effects are worse for women who have a wider range of needs for bathroom amenities such as menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding and more. The laws that regulate bathrooms and amenities in workplaces MUST be updated to force companies and workplaces to follow the rules and provide good amenities for ALL workers. The more support we have in this campaign, the more likely we’ll be able to force positive change and make our workplaces safer and more inclusive for everyone.

Hutchison Ports Australia have disgracefully sacked respected Indigenous worker Kevin “Bones” Kelly from their Port Botany terminal. Hutchison has never accused Kevin of any wrongdoing. They say Kevin is not fit to perform his duties, but they have no medical evidence to support this claim. Kevin’s own doctor cleared him for work after a few weeks on workers’ compensation. After he was cleared, he carried out full duties without issue for 11 shifts before he was stood down and then sacked. Kevin is one of many workers recently sacked by Hutchison’s at Port Botany, including a high number of Indigenous workers. Hutchinson’s poor record of Indigenous worker promotion and retention indicates that it is a company rife with systemic racism. Thomas Mayor, National Indigenous Officer of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) said: "There was no genuine reason for sacking Kevin and Hutchison have a record of disproportionately sacking Indigenous workers. There can only be one word to describe the company's management, and everyone should learn the truth of it. Hutchison Ports is racist." Kevin was a world champion boxer. He is respected across the maritime industry and across the community. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Maritime Union of Australia until he is reinstated – We call on Hutchinson’s to reinstate Kevin “Bones” Kelly, end the sackings and end the systemic racism in the company’s management! Paul Keating, Sydney Branch Secretary of the MUA said: "I have known Kevin for many years. He is a good friend and greatly respected by his comrades on the waterfront and across the MUA. This sacking is utterly unjust. In all my years as a union official, I have never seen the treatment of a worker by an employer in this way. The MUA will not stand for this from Hutchison or any employer. The MUA expects reinstatement immediately."

Coles in-store Butchers have completed an apprenticeship and have extensive product knowledge. Butchers and Meat Packers inform customers on best cuts of meat for a particular receipt and how to cook, prepare and handle that meat. All this will be gone as Coles will now have it’s product processed at a third-party facility and will be brought to the store either gas flushed or cryovaced. In-store butchers and Meat Packers will be replaced with a store service rep that may not have ever worked with meat before or for that matter may not have ever cooked a leg of lamb before. When the public seems to want to know more about their food, and prepare their own food, Coles have decided to offer less. This is a shameful move that shows Coles cares more about profits than people. The only thing going DOWN DOWN at Coles will be the service…. Sign the petition and send Coles a clear message that this is unacceptable. At the height of this pandemic, these workers were putting food on our tables. What Coles is doing is wrong…. Help these workers get a better deal. Authorised by Matthew Journeax Acting Federal Secretary AMIEU 39 Lytton Road East Brisbane QLD 4169

Supermarket workers are risking the health of themselves and their families to keep warehouses running, shelves stocked and fuel pumps running. Coles and Woolworths should not pocket sky-high profits made off these essential workers' backs without recognising workers' sacrifices. In an email to Coles workers, the Chief Operations Officer, Matt Swindells, said "Finally, this week you will have heard that Coles is awarding a discretionary pay increase of 2.5% for all our wages-paid store team members. All team members covered by the 2017 Enterprise Agreement will receive the well-deserved increase from 6 September 2021 and you’ll see it in your payslips as of Wednesday 15 September." What is well-deserved is pandemic pay that is adequate (2.5% doesn't keep up with inflation which lies at 3.8%) and recognises the incredible sacrifice of working with the Delta variant spreading in the community.

*update* National Cabinet is due to meet on August 27 and apparently discuss this issue however we will keep this petition up until our demands are met. Your voice matters. Please share this petition widely. Scott Morrison has said we must ”learn to live” with COVID-19 once we reach an 80% vaccination threshold of adults. This leaves 36% of the population unvaccinated, including most young people under 16 years old. The health toll on young people could be a disaster. Learning to live with the virus poses an unacceptable health risk until all ages under 16 are vaccinated. The National Plan and vaccine thresholds must be updated and include young people. We are concerned about young people returning to school unvaccinated for the following reasons; 1. Compared to previous variants, the delta variant is more virulent in young people. The Western Australian AMA former President Andrew Miller in WA Today states "The other real worry is that about 40 per cent of kids still have symptoms at four months, and 7 per cent have disabling physical or mental issues at six months, which can lead into long COVID syndrome." 2. Compared to previous variants, the delta variant has a 10-15 times higher transmissibility in young people. To date, young people are disproportionately affected. In Victoria, 45% of infections are in children and teenagers. In New South Wales, the figure is 30%. (22/8/21) Note these disproportionate infection rates are occurring in the context of remote learning in Victoria and NSW. Concerningly in the regional area of Shepparton, where school remained open for some of the current statewide lockdown, every school has become an exposure site and is now closed with multiple children, young people and their families now infected. The infection rates could rise further if students return onsite before being vaccinated. Unlike most workplaces, once students return to classrooms, social distancing will be practically impossible. Furthermore, adequate air ventilation, filtration and monitoring infrastructure, at this stage, does not exist. 3. The Doherty report was written before the recent evidence that indicates that the transmissibility of the Delta variant is much higher in young people. The Doherty model's rationale for excluding young people in their vaccine quotas rests on the assumption that "[e]xpanding the vaccine program to the 12-15 year age group has minimal impact on transmission and clinical outcomes for any achieved level of vaccine uptake". This is outdated.  More recent epidemiological modelling indicates that the necessity for heavier social distancing measures will be reduced if 5-15 year olds are included in the vaccination strategy (McBryde et al. 2021). Both the NSW and Victorian Chief Health Officers have recognised that young people are now a vector for broader community transmission. 4. As school staff we are acutely aware of the mental health challenges that students face under lockdown. However, returning students to onsite learning as a predominantly unvaccinated group and into an unsafe environment is not a solution.

Victorian and South Australian arts workers are stranded in NSW with their work cancelled or finished and no way to get home. Their applications to return home have been ignored or rejected without reason. They are now facing many more months of separation from their loved ones, with no job, income, or guaranteed accommodation. Sign the petition to bring them home. Jasmine Vaughns I am in the cast of Come From Away and travelled to Sydney for this work on the 25th of May. Shortly after opening the season I was stood down on the 25th of June due to the latest COVID outbreak. I applied for an exemption to return to my home/Victoria three and a half weeks ago. I was denied last night and am now going through the taxing process of re-applying all over again. My reason for doing so is that my mental health has suffered greatly being isolated here in Sydney. Suffering from anxiety and panic disorder I need to return to my home to be in the care of my partner and family. I get COVID tested weekly, have had my first dose of the vaccine and provided all documentation and evidence I could to support my application, yet still was denied. My only reason for being here was for work, and now that it can no longer continue currently, I simply wish to go home. Zelia Kitoko I travelled from Naarm to Gadigal land in January 2021 to commence a contract with Hamilton Australia. I was stood down as of June 26 2021 due to covid restrictions. My mother in Melbourne has been unwell and I am her only child and carer. I have not been able to return to her after many attempts and 6 weeks of waiting with minimal communication or clarity. It's been very invalidating and incredibly stressful to be stuck here without any consideration. Deirdre Khoo I'm a new performer in the industry. I moved to Sydney from Melbourne in early May for a temporary contract with the Darlinghurst Theatre Company for the tour of ONCE. My contract in Sydney was meant to go to early August, and a tour to regional NSW and Melbourne was going to happen after. A few weeks after the NSW stay-at-home orders, the company was stood down after seeing no possibility of the production going ahead. By this time the Victorian borders had shut for anyone ins NSW. I have not only lost my capacity to generate income, but also lose the ability to get back home to Victoria, where I am a resident. My accommodation in Sydney ended as per originally arranged, and I have moved into a colleague's nan place, who have very graciously opened their arms to me in this time of need. I am still covering partial rent and entirety of bills in Melbourne, while also providing a small amount to make up for my costs at my current accommodation. While this financial struggle does not come to me as large an issue in this time as compared to many, I have been experiencing anxiety and my mental health has been exponentially deteriorating from the lockdown. This is because I am unable to return to my place of residence and be in my own space, even after declaring that I will strictly follow the Victorian health orders to self-isolate and avoid contact with the Victorian community for their wellbeing. Andrew Coshan I am an Actor who travelled to Sydney on the 30th of May to begin rehearsals for Merrily We Roll Along at the Hayes Theatre. We were four days away from opening night when the lockdown which began on June 25th meant we had to postpone. At this point it was only meant to be for a week, so we planned to move opening night seven days later. But as the lockdowns got extended it became obvious that we could not plan when lockdown would end, and we were officially stood down on July 27th. Because we were now out of contract, we could try get back to our home state, but by this point the Victorian border was closed. I have now spent over eight weeks in this lockdown. I have stayed in NSW over three weeks longer than I ever planned to. I have tried, and am still trying to get back to Victoria, but have so far only been denied entry to the state that I call home. I have never lived in Sydney before. I don’t have family in Sydney. And I now feel like a burden on the associates that I’m staying with, but I have nowhere I can go. Kathleen Moore I take work in traveling theatre shows because they provide very good salaries and when in work, I am able to help pay for the hefty mortgage and bills my husband and I are responsible for.  Performers’ contracts are generally very short, and do not provide consistent pay throughout a year. Therefore, I need to be able to make my proper salary when I am employed, in order to help save money for the time when I am not under contract and the show closes.  The Victorian Government not only has a duty of care for its Residents who are currently within Victorian borders, it also has a duty of care for those working Victorians stranded away from their loved ones and homes. Bring Victorian workers HOME!

A Single Agreement wipes a clear baseline from the current Professional Staff Agreement, effectively forcing a fight to simply include existing conditions which have been stripped through simplification. Act NOW to show your support for continuing to use separate agreements at UTS. If a Single Agreement is made in this round of bargaining the prospect of returning to Separate Agreements in the future are slim. Your signature matters, as does the signature of colleagues you refer to this page. Petitions delivered directly to university managements have worked before to protect staff conditions.

I’m a proud union member/supporter of the public sector. Public servants dedicate their work to providing quality services and support to our communities. When you won the election in 2017, you asked public servants to support urgent budget repair, and accept a wage increase of $1,000 per year. Now, we are asking you to support them. We are asking you to support the WA public sector that keeps this state running.