The Sunshine Coast waste contract is going up for tender this year and our local garbo's are at risk of being forced to do the same job for significantly reduced pay and conditions. Our Garbos work hard and are fellow rate payers with families to support. Our Garbos have been essential workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping our streets and our communities clean at a time when that has never been more critical. They should not be punished due to an administrative decision by Council.

We believe companies who use surveillance technology to spy on us in our trucks are using this type of surveillance to invade our privacy. It should not be the intention to use this technology to discipline drivers instead of its intended purpose, as a safety measure. We spend days at a time in our cabs. They are our desks; they are our bunks. We eat, sleep, and breathe in our trucks and ask for respect when it comes to our privacy.

It is time for the visits to resume and the AMC, we haven’t seen our loved ones for nearly 4 months. The updates on the Corrective Services website was virtually non existent, the department also fell very short on updating the prisoners. Although prisoners are in there to be punished for crimes committed they should still have the basic right of contact with loved ones and the reverse is also true we have a right to see our loved ones. Whilst I understand it was necessary to cancel visits at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, Since there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in Canberra for 7 weeks I am at a loss to understand this as an excuse. Hiding behind this excuse is somewhat cowardly and not validated by the governments reported statistics or perhaps is it a case of the government simply not reporting them publicly. It seems the COVID virus has become the scapegoat for anyone not to fulfil their commitments and responsibilities this includes individuals, the corporate sector and the Government entities. I simply cannot believe that the government did not have contingency plans in place for just these situations. Then to declare you have no idea when the visits will recommence is ridiculous and quite frankly treating us as idiots and unworthy of the truth. The government has had dates and updates for business reopening, and social activities to recommence. I am simply appalled, angered and extremely upset by your handling of this situation I believe my civil liberties and human rights are being violated along with those of the inmates. Your duty of disclosure and transparency is non existent or are we so low on the Priority list you simply don’t care. May I remind you as a government department and elected member of the legislative assembly ultimately you are answerable to the people and this includes inmates and their loved ones. The mental health of all involved is taking a battering I know mine is.

The University has made clear that it intends to carry out restructuring which will see workers across the University made redundant, and has made no promises to retain casual and fixed-term staff, hundreds of whom have already lost their jobs. Senior management have not made the case that any of these job cuts are necessary and should open up their books so that the university community can see the real extent of the financial crisis. This is key information that staff and union representatives need in order to fully assess any change plans proposed by the University.

Will you join the fight to save hospitality jobs before it’s too late? Join us today and add your voice as we call on the Morrison Government to protect hospo jobs and provide a secure income by: 1. Immediately extending JobKeeper until hospitality gets back on its feet 2. Expanding JobKeeper to ALL hospitality workers regardless of employment or visa status. 3. Lifting the rate of JobSeeker so that those that who lose their jobs aren’t forced into poverty while finding another job JOIN YOUR CAMPAIGN TODAY TO PROTECT & REBUILD HOSPO!

As the town has grown the park is no longer only used by children to play on the play equipment. Many residents currently use the area for outdoor exercise and social sporting activity, often bringing their own equipment to compensate for the lack of facility. A full sized multi-purpose court and other outdoor exercise equipment will enable residents of all ages a more active community space.

SDA Organiser Aleks Velanovski has been raising safety issues at Bunnings Footscray West throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. When Aleks raised the issue of customers coming into the store after being tested for COVID-19, he was told that the testing site could not be moved because Bunnings wanted it to stay. Test recipients continue to come into the store after they are tested. This incredibly dangerous behaviour puts workers’ safety at risk. It has become clear that the only solution to this problem is the complete removal of the COVID-19 testing site.

For years the Liberal Government has been cosy with the banks and their super funds. Scott Morrison voted against a Banking Royal Commission 26 times. But when we finally got one, it showed the truth: bank-owned corporate super funds gouge the life savings of working people to line their executives’ pockets. They charged fees to the dead, duped people into whittling away their life savings, and broke the law thousands of times. Now, the Morrison Government has just passed new super laws that will leave many workers and their families significantly worse off in retirement. The proposals are called Your Future, Your Super. We’re calling it Your Future, Bank Super. Because these laws are designed to funnel as much money as possible to corporate bank-aligned super funds. The laws will: - Pin three million workers to dud funds, potentially for life - Make it harder for workers in high-risk industries to get adequate insurance - Exclude a whole bunch of poor performing corporate products from performance testing, and - Put profits paid out to bank shareholders on the same level as your financial interests. In effect, these laws will be a free-kick to the banks. Let the Morrison Government know that they will not get away with this attack on your retirement.

The Social and Community Services sector is growing and will be vital to supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our community in the COVID recovery and as we enter a recession. The sector relies on a pipeline of Social Work and related degree graduates to fill critical roles in its workforce. The workforce is predominantly a female workforce and low-paid. Already, there are workforce shortages in this essential sector. The Government’s proposed fee increases in Social Work and related fields will only further exacerbate these workforce shortages – in both recruitment and retention – that exist in this critical sector. It will disproportionately impact women who work in this sector, creating barriers for both entry and career advancement. The Government’s proposed fee increases for these degrees also overlooks recent State and Commonwealth Government initiatives or inquiries that have set or recommended minimum degree standards for employment in the social assistance sector.

Universities have become more and more like corporations than education institutes because of consistent ideological attacks on education under liberal governments. Due to that, there has been an over reliance on international students funding the tertiary education sector. With the COVID19 Crisis shutting down borders, universities are in a significantly difficult place when it comes to running them. The Tertiary education sector is the third largest sector in the country, however we are on the verge of losing hundreds of jobs, just before a major recession, unless the government commits supporting these institutions. We are calling on all of the Liberal/National government, as well as ministers Dan Tehan and Josh Frydenberg to commit to supporting this sector, and supporting Australian Jobs.

Most paid parking schemes have a free period of 2-3 hours, and then charge for every hour thereafter. This means that almost no customers pay for parking, but staff have to pay for every shift they work. Full-time workers in shopping centres will have to pay hundreds of dollars per month if these shopping centres start charging for parking. Sign the SDA’s petition to #KeepItFree!

Affected workers desperately need adequate financial support from the Government, particularly those who work in the hardest hit sectors of hospitality, retail and aviation. These lockdowns are a direct result of the failures of the Morrison Government, and while the vaccine rollout continues to flounder there will be millions of workers who will need support. Without proper financial support, workers are left without money to get by, and they won't be able to spend in their local communities. Denying workers JobKeeper isn't just cruel, it's also bad economics. Scott Morrison must urgently reinstate JobKeeper. Workers need financial support they can rely on.