Health workers are the backbone of the Victorian health system during this COVID pandemic. They are overworked. Their workplaces are chronically understaffed. The hard work of Victoria's private health workers deserves to be recognised with a $3000 payment. So let's send a strong message to ALL Victorian private health employers. Sign this HWU petition to voice your support for all private health workers to receive a $3000 Winter Surge and Retention Payment from their employer.

In the decade since Qatar was awarded the right to host the World Cup, exploitation and abuse of these workers has been rampant, with workers exposed to forced labour, unpaid wages and excessive working hours. At the heart of the abuse faced by migrant workers is Qatar’s ‘Kafala’ system of sponsorship-based employment which legally binds foreign workers to their employers. Other factors linked to the abuse of mi-grant workers are high levels of worker debt caused by illegal and unethical recruitment practices, the late and non-payment of wages, barriers to obtaining justice when rights are violated, the prohibition of trade unions and the failure to enforce labour laws and penalize employers who abuse their workers. In past campaigns, FIFA sponsors have been asked to reconsider their support – with no result. Some of the sponsors, including Coca Cola, have issued statements condoning human rights abuses anywhere in the world and underlined the trust in FIFA in addressing those. One reason brands are unlikely to take drastic action is simply the pay-off from being a World Cup sponsor. Several are also long-term sponsors, with Coke involved with FIFA since 1974. Pressing FIFA on a PR campaign seems like a very soft measure. However, it is a measure that allows sponsors to take action with real impact without compromising their business interests. In Australia alone, Coca Cola employs more than 3.000 workers in 9 manufacturing sites. Since 2018 Coca Cola developed a Human Rights Action Plan and published several Human Slavery Reports. If Coca Cola takes these self-commitments seriously it should take its responsibility as FIFA World Cup sponsor and act now.

For the last two years, the Queensland Rail Shift Roster Team has been made to work in a small unassuming room off the main control room in Queensland Rail's Rail Management Centre located at Bowen Hills. In the original building designs, this room was designed as a storeroom or a meeting room. Senior QR Management thought it appropriate to stick the Shift Roster Team in this room and expect them to work on a rotating 24/7 roster in unsuitable conditions. The room stinks. It is too hot in summer ( it is pretty typical to reach 30+ degrees), it is too small to permit proper social distancing, and in general, it is not exactly comfortable for three people to work in. After two years of trying it alone with Management, the Team have asked the RTBU Office to help them TEAR DOWN THE WALL! For context the wall is non-structural, the office next door is vacant most of the time, and by increasing the space for the Roster Officers they will be able to include an additional Shift Officer in their team to assist with their heavy workloads. But we need your help, we want to make it clear to Queensland Rail that cooping our Members into a tiny, unsafe, and uncomfortable room for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is not good enough. We want the Shift Roster Office Team to know that they have the full support of our Union in this fight and that they have the collective strength of our Union behind them all the way in this fight.

Kiama Municipal Council are proposing to sell Blue Haven Care, its aged care facility and independent living units. The original decision was made without any community consultation, and rather than rebuilding the asset that creates profit for the community some in the council seek to sell the asset off. This would lead to the loss of half the council’s employees and an insecure residential environment for close to 400 elderly residents. This action is deplorable and we seek the intervention of the State and Federal governments to ensure the service remains viable and in public hands and that financial assistance is provided to enable the ongoing viability of the service. Further, this petition also seeks that Kiama Municipal Council not take any action that could lead to the sale of Blue Haven Care without first engaging in a formal process of community consultation so the views of the public are heard.

Staffing is so stretched in Mildura that Ambulance Victoria has been flying paramedics from Melbourne into Mildura to respond to emergencies. More and more community members are complaining that they are unable to receive an ambulance when they are in need. This means community members are needlessly suffering because of Ambulance Victoria's understaffing issue. “Nightshifts are the worst…we simply don’t have enough ambulances at night.” – Mildura Paramedic Increasingly, Paramedic Crews from Ouyen and Robinvale are being sent to Mildura to assist with workload, leaving the towns uncovered for dangerously long periods of time. It's not unusual for patients to wait extraordinary amounts of time for an ambulance in Ouyen and Robinvale. Paramedic crews are also being split and having to respond in unequipped ambulances just to meet service demands which is risky for patients and paramedics alike. “I'm exhausted from the workload… we just can’t keep up.” – Mildura Paramedic When our healthcare workers are fatigued, overworked and split up, they are at risk of making clinical errors. The Mildura community deserves to receive timely emergency care from paramedics who are not stretched to their limits.

Nursing staff at Regis Aged Care have expressed through recent rallies that management’s proposed Enterprise Agreement is an insult, and strips away many of our hard-fought working conditions. Regis nursing staff already get paid less than other providers, yet management’s proposed wage increases – just 1% for some, and 2% for others – are cuts in real wages of more than 3 to 4%, given the recent 5.1% increase in cost of living. Adding to this insult, management wants to cut so many of our working conditions and refuses to address understaffing and excessive workloads. We work so hard to care for our residents in extremely difficult circumstances. The least management can do is treat us with respect by providing fair wages and conditions. If management don’t significantly improve their offer, the majority of staff are likely to vote NO to the proposed Enterprise Agreement.

Without high quality schools, TAFEs, hospitals, transport and essential services our state will go backwards. But high quality services require good quality jobs and the NSW Government just isn't providing them. More buildings won't fix this. Ambulance ramping times are increasing, there are critical staff shortages across our health system and there is critical shortages of teachers, especially in STEM areas which Australia’s economic future relies on.

In Victoria, the largely unregulated private rehabilitation services mean that working people are often confronted with re-mortgaging their house, taking out loans, or withdrawing their superannuation to pay for services that can cost up to $30,000 per month. Victoria’s rehabilitation system is mostly inaccessible for working people, as most stays are between 3 months and 12 months. In Australia it takes an average of 20 years for a person to seek assistance for addiction due to shame and stigma and this is a trend that is appearing across all shop floors and all industries across the State It’s clear that the current system of treatment isn’t working and requires fresh ideas and methodologies for providing suitable treatment to working people and their families and funding models that work both for patients, employers and the government. We are proposing a tri-partisan collaboration with Odyssey House for a 28-day inpatient treatment facility funded and owned by the trade union movement after an initial investment from the Andrews’ Labor Government coupled with the establishment of an outreach and outpatient service, inclusive of toolbox talks for delegates, health and safety representatives, organisers and working people from all sectors with the support of trade unions, employers and the government. We need innovative, sophisticated solutions to complex issues such as addiction. We know that we have the most cost-effective, fit-for-purpose model for working Victorians to ease the burden on our already overcrowded healthcare system. Workplace support and early intervention are crucial in supporting workers combating addiction and mental health struggles. The opening of The Crossing will change the lives of workers struggling with addiction — as well as those of their families, their workmates, and their community.

Wage theft and exploitation are facts of life for migrant workers. Many have to make the impossible decision of tolerating abuse or risk losing their visa, which results in many choosing to put up with exploitation to avoid deportation. Employers in Australia have far too much coercive power when dealing with migrant workers which allows abuse to occur. The Migrant Workers Centre has found that 53% of workers surveyed were forced to work overtime, whilst 27% confirmed they could not say no to unsafe work. These statistics are far higher than any other grouping of workers and this needs to change. The incoming Australian Government has a golden opportunity to address this as we welcome migrant workers back to Australia post COVID. Send them a message by signing that you too want greater protection and justice for migrant workers.

The Agreement containing wages and conditions for teachers and support staff in Tasmanian Catholic Education expired last September. Following detailed member consultation the Independent Education Union sought to commence negotiations with the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office for our next Agreement in November 2021. Since then? Very little has happened. After months of delay the TCEO agreed to meet ONCE per month, ONLINE, for a maximum of TWO HOURS. When we offered to fly Melbourne-based members of our bargaining team to meet for detailed in-person negotiations, the TCEO refused on the grounds of COVID-safety, while their own employees in schools across the state continued to turn up in person to their high-contact workplaces every day. Meanwhile, the TCEO has outright rejected almost every claim made by the IEU, while seeking to reduce existing protections around hours of work. This is not good enough. It’s time to get serious. FIND OUT MORE: www.ieuvictas.org.au/tasmanian-catholic-education-bargaining-campaign

Monash University is one of Australia’s largest universities, with a reported surplus of $416 million in 2021. The University’s Strategic Goals say Monash will deliver “education of the highest international quality.” But Monash University cannot deliver high-quality education if it continues to erode the working conditions of its teaching staff. No staff member should be forced to decide between delivering a quality education to their students, and working without pay. We, the undersigned, petition Monash University Council to recognise that staff working conditions are student learning conditions, that consultation with students is vital pedagogical work, and that tutors must be paid for scheduled student consultation separately and in addition to the “rolled up” tutorial rate. Our demands are: - That the University backpays casual academic staff for student consultations conducted separately to tutorials, and the 2-hour minimum engagement where applicable; - That the University immediately directs all Faculties, Schools and Departments to pay Teaching Associates for all scheduled student consultation, rather than treating this consultation as ‘associated’ tutorial work; - That the University does not unfairly transfer this workload onto permanent academic staff; and - That Vice Chancellor Margaret Gardner issues a formal written apology to all affected staff. SIGNED: Ben Eltham, NTEU Monash Branch President Bernard Keo, NTEU Monash Branch Committee Giles Fielke, NTEU Monash Branch Committee Scott Robinson Kai Tanter Sofie Onorato, NTEU Monash Organiser Ishka De Silva, Monash Student Association (MSA) President

There is currently very limited capability to safely perform Specialised Rescue. (this means Trench Rescue, confined space rescue and rope rescue) The rescue capabilities in the Ballarat region need to be addressed as a matter of urgency due to the fact that: • Emergency management in Victoria is unable to safely rescue victims in a timely manner • Firefighters and first responders are being exposed to a Workplace Health and Safety Risks, both physical and mental This has been an issue since at least 2014. Timeline: 2014 United Firefighters Union (UFU) notifies the Napthine Government and all MPs that there is an issue around insufficient specialised rescue capabilities, particularly in the Ballarat Region. Operations were carried out in an extremely ad hoc manner, with equipment (planks etc.) being purchased from hardware stores. There was two Provisional Improvement Notices (PIN) put on the Ballarat City trench rescue operation and WorkSafe got involved. In response, the CFA essentially got rid of their trench rescue operations entirely in Ballarat. They just took it off the list of capabilities, failing to solve the problem. 2018 On 21 March 2018 one man was killed and another seriously injured after a trench collapsed in Ballarat. Tragically the second worker died in hospital the following day. The two men, Charles Howkins and Jack Brownlee, were working constructing sewer at the site when the collapse occurred. 26 March 2018 (2 days later) The UFU sent a letter to the Minister for Emergency Services. The UFU received an email from the Minister acknowledging receipt of correspondence. Nothing further was ever communicated. July 2018 Trench Victim’s Families wrote to the Minister to bring the issue to their attention. 2022 Victim’s Families wrote to State Labour Government Ministers and MPs to inform them that there is still no specialised rescue capability in Ballarat. From 2014 to 2022 - The UFU and FRV Personnel have been raising concerns requesting resolution of this gap in capability. The problem has still not been resolved. Throughout this entire period, first responders have continued to attend to specialised rescues, but without the resourcing they need. It is quite simple what Ballarat needs: 1. Equipment An Appliance for Specialised rescue; there are 2 purpose-built units sitting in Melbourne. They were built 8 years ago and have never been deployed, they just sit around gathering dust. There is space at the Lucas Fire Station to permanently house one of these units. 2. Staff Enough trained firefighters to provide a specialised rescue team on all shifts. (10 Crew to cover all 4 shifts, and a reliever shift) 3. Training Ongoing specialised rescue training. 4. Mapping Mapping of local area resources to see if other agencies and organisations could assist with expertise, equipment and resources through MOUs.