The Australian Building and Construction Commission has started Federal court proceedings against the AWU, an AWU Workplace Organiser and 55 rank and file members. The ABCC is alleging that more the 55 individual workers from Liberty OneSteel took unlawful industrial action last year by attending an ACTU Change the Rules rally. The affected members work in a steel manufacturing plant in Noble Park, Victoria’s manufacturing heartland. That the ABCC can go after steelworkers who are neither building nor construction workers just goes to show that the ABCC is a politically motivated agency not about improving the construction industry. We need safer workplaces, not fines. No-one should die at work but construction workers are being killed on the job and the ABCC spends its time on politically motivated fines for workers they say attended a rally. The ABCC is a hopelessly politicised, biased and compromised agency that is acting outside its jurisdiction and abusing its power. It must be abolished in the interests of democracy. These are unjust laws, these laws don’t protect Australian workers, and they don’t protect construction workers. The ABCC has to go. Authorised by Ben Davis, State Secretary, 685 Spencer Street West Melbourne VIC 3003.

International students and all migrant workers are being ripped off far too often by dodgy employers. This is just a taste of what bosses should expect if they steal from international students and all other migrant workers including refugees, asylum seekers, working holidaymakers and temporary visa holders. It's stories like this that prove why we need to change the rules to stop endemic wage theft and stop dodgy bosses from ripping off all workers.

Problem: There is huge pressure to deliver community infrastructure. Government needs adequate internal capacity but also needs industry to have the skills and staff to deliver the government’s projects. The engineering skills development process is broken. While government has lost capacity, the private sector often lives hand to mouth relying on winning projects and then headhunting to deliver on those projects. This model is not sustainable or desirable and inevitably leads to cost blowouts and delays. Solution: Government procurement is a major driver of economic activity. Procurement can also be used to drive better workforce development outcomes, by encouraging construction companies and consulting engineer firms to develop the next generation of engineers

Young people will inherit a dying planet because of government inaction on climate change. At the same time, investment in tertiary education is lower than it is in Trump's America, leaving students with increasing fees and debt. Young people also face an increasingly insecure and casualised workforce when we graduate. And our generation is the first to be worse off than our parents, with the cost of living and housing prices becoming untenable. Students on income support live way below the poverty line, and workplace exploitation of young people is rife. Scott Morrison's Liberal government has no vision for the future of young people. That's why we're telling Scott Morrison we'll be voting him and the Liberals out on May 18. NUS will be throwing parties in Sydney and Melbourne, and demonstrations in other cities across the country to call on young people to use their voice, and show ScoMo our power and young people and students come the election. Join us here: bit.ly/scomoparty

This is not good enough. We work hard and deserve to be safe, have a living wage and to be afforded decent working conditions. We are a large community and seeing this is scary, it could happen to any of us and there should be real support. If workers are injured we have to pay any medical costs, and will not receive any pay while we are unable to work. For workers here on a visa, it is unlikely travel insurance will cover an injury sustained while working. There's no compensation if you get hurt and you can be out of work for months if you have a crash. In a survey by the Transport Workers Union, 46.5% of riders said they or someone they know has been hurt while working as a food delivery rider. Riders have no physically safe workplace. We shouldn’t have to struggle for no sick pay, no workers comp, and barely enough money to live on. It's not fair, and UberEats needs to take responsibility. Sign the petition if you agree!

We, members of the Independent Education Union, call on the Tasmanian Government to respect workers in public education and across the public sector in Tasmania. Proposals tabled by the Will Hodgman government so far do not adequately address the workload, pay and resourcing issues in Tasmanian public schools. Tasmanian teachers are the lowest paid in Australia, while Support Staff earn on average $25,000 a year and in some cases rely on Centrelink payments to make ends meet. Due to excessive workloads, almost half of teachers say they can’t meet the individual learning needs of students. Educator burnout is high and the best and brightest are being lost from the profession. We support members of the AEU and other public sector unions who in the face of their government’s failure to deliver a decent offer have been left with no option but to take stop work action on 2 and 3 April. Premier Hodgman, it’s time to show some respect for public sector workers, the backbone of Tasmania.

Public transport has been chronically underfunded for decades, suffering cuts to staffing and a lack of investment to keep pace with population. Staffed stations have always played an important role in our community to ensure children can get to school safely, provide security at night, to simplify ticketing and customer enquiries, minimise vandalism and ensure our public transport network is accessible for all users. It is important that we raise our voice now to ensure commuters are treated with dignity and our network receives the support it deserves now and for the future!

If the Federal Coalition Government fails to immediately commit to fund community mental health programs for at least 3 years and fix the massive funding gap that has caused this crisis – the whole community is going to suffer. Thousands of experienced mental health workers will lose their jobs. Tens of thousands of people with mental health issues will be left without any support and nowhere to go. It’s a crisis, and it’s happening now. Sign the petition and share. We need every signature to call on the Government to fix this crisis. It cannot wait.

Heaps of workers in the hospitality industry are employed as casuals. Bosses think this means they can treat and pay us however they like and then sack us the second we question their dodgy practices. There is no job security and no respect. Pretty much all of Joe’s staff are casual, and they prey on the fact that we are students, young workers, or migrant workers like me. They paid part of my wages in cash and part into my bank account and they kept some for themselves. They didn’t provide payslips so it was nearly impossible to keep track of what I was being paid. Dodgy employers like these guys must be held to account. Hospo Voice members are standing up and demanding every hospo employer pays us our correct legal wages. We are asking customers to only support venues that respect their staff. Join me and fellow workers to condemn Joe’s Shoe Store for the disgusting way they treat their staff.

The first game of the first round of the season is one of the biggest and most exciting nights on the AFL calendar. Why do Carlton continue to get rewarded with this fixture when they continue to perform poorly?

Public holidays have immense social value. In an increasingly busy world where workers are working more and more hours, public holidays are more important than ever. We all need the chance to rest and have time with our families and friends. Tasmanian workers are now the lowest paid in the country, and we have less full day state wide public holidays than a number of other states and territories. But the Hodgman Liberal Government has recently proposed cutting some public holidays from Tasmanian public sector workers. They are also conducting a review in apparent secrecy with no consultation with unions or workers. Any review of Tasmanian public holidays must not result in a loss of public holidays for workers in any part of the State. A genuine review of public holidays should look at all options including whether we have enough public holidays and what is in the best interests of workers.

If employers continue to be bound by the current arrangements, they will soon be unable to continue delivering key services. We’ll see large-scale job-losses, loss of expertise, disruption of services to clients and a high potential for reduction in the quality of services. Without this support, Victoria’s disability sector will likely fail to retain the skilled and committed workers required under the NDIS, potentially resulting in widespread market failure across Victoria. We need to see an investment of $46 million over 3 years, to deliver the quality NDIS that people with disabilities so rightly demanded. This represents just 7 cents in every dollar that the Victorian government will contribute to the NDIS in a single year – but the impact will be huge.