Health care workers are at high occupational risk of contracting COVID-19, and are overrepresented in serious cases. Preventative measures, including provision of and education about the use of personal protective equipment, is only effective if it is fit for purpose - masks that allow unfiltered air entry and exit exposes health care workers, their colleagues, family members, and care recipients to increased risk.

Standard DSP only has a $174 per fortnight allowance for earning beyond the DSP payment. For every dollar after that, the recipient loses 50c in every $1. The effect of this is to reduce the hourly wage in earnings to around $10 per hour. This legislation, which creates a two class disability payment system, is discriminatory. We need to join together and demand that the Government provide all DSP recipients with the same level of benefits. This must be addressed immediately. If you also want a copy and paste letter to forward to your local minister, please feel free to use the following… To minister , I have recently become aware of an unfair and unjust practice of the Australian government paying 2 different disability support payments (DSP). The standard DSP is income and asset tested and restricts recipients to being renumerated for their employment to around $10 gross/hour maximum. The second category is reserved for those classified as ‘legally blind’. As this payment has no income or asset restriction, all money earned from employment is retained. As disabled people face enormous struggles in their day to day life, whether their particular disability is legal blindness, or some other disability type, all should have the same set of access to a fair pay for work undertaken. As a society we have long ago moved toward equity and as such all should be granted the second DSP. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Sincerely,

The working class of Indonesia are opposing attempts by the Government of Indonesia to introduce the Omnibus Bill on Job Creation that seeks to exploit the present Covid-19 crisis in order to reduce wages, remove entitlements and erode workers’ rights in Indonesia. The government of President Joko Widodo is arguing that this bill which aims to rewrite 79 laws to deliver greater foreign direct investment, support economic growth and create job opportunities for Indonesians. But the reality is the Omnibus Bill will only harm working people and the environment. It must be stopped.

It's important we show the University that we don't want them supporting these destructive industries. They don't care about our futures and are actively responsible for endangering them. The University of Melbourne can't be sustainable when it continues to fund the destruction of our planet. Full divestment would send a powerful message to these companies that they are no longer welcome on our campuses and that it's time to start investing in a sustainable future.

It’s not fair to expect CBA workers to take a cut in their sick leave entitlements going forward in order to accommodate an increase for their colleagues who are on less favourable Commsec contracts. Nor should they have to sacrifice their sick leave safety net to pay for extra leave days with strings attached. Everyone at CBA should get 15 sick leave days per year in the 2020 agreement. CBA Group employees who currently get 10 & 12 days should have their sick leave increased in line with their colleagues.

The slap-on-the-wrist fines that these companies get are not enough. Dodgy companies that cut corners and put their workers, the community and the environment at risk should lose their operating licences and be closed. These fires have deadly consequences and we need urgent action to hold these corporate criminals to account.

On Friday 1 August, at a socially-distanced protest organised by the University of Sydney Education Action Group, two activists were arrested and fined $1,100. NSW riot police arrived to break up a crowd of less than 50 students and staff, who were gathering on their own campus, in a socially distanced, masked demonstration against the University's push to fire casual staff, push through redundancies and cut subjects. What is more concerning than this blatantly cynical attack, under the guise of public health, on the right to protest? Probable collaboration between University of Sydney security who the Education Action Group alleges called the NSW Police to disperse the protest. The protest was a small gathering of less than 50 people, outdoors, with all participants wearing masks & gathering in groups of less than 20. This is a blatant and outrageous attack on the free speech of students and staff. And it comes at a time when university management's around the country are drastically slashing subjects and jobs. The university is meant to be a place where students can discuss and debate ideas, not just in an academic sense, but also relating to the real world. Collaboration between university management, security and the police endangers students and creates an atmosphere of censorship and the crushing of dissent. How can students pursue an interest in social justice or political issues if at any time, armed riot police may be called on them at the request of security? Can we expect when classes return in second semester, when cafes are open, and students are expected to return to laboratories and libraries, that any display of political opposition can expect to face repression from University security and the NSW police? Students will continue to show our opposition to attacks on our education and the working conditions of our teachers in socially responsible ways. We call on Vice Chancellor Michael Spence to guarantee students the right to protest at the University of Sydney, without fear of repression.

My name is Ranjan. I’m a 53-year-old asylum seeker from Sri Lanka. I have worked at Polytrade Recycling in Dandenong, Melbourne, since 2017. On 23 July, I was sacked by text message. My supervisor told me that I’m no longer needed. This happened on the day I took sick leave. Two days earlier, I became unconscious at work. I was taken by ambulance and the bill was paid by Polytrade. I had to take sick leave to do further tests on my chest. When my union representative contacted the human resources manager, the manager claimed that I spoke with a colleague about lodging work cover claim and that’s one of the reasons behind my dismissal. In 2017, Polytrade received a government grant of over $500,000. Meanwhile I was underpaid by $7 an hour. Only after we joined the Australian Workers Union did Polytrade lift our pay to the required minimum under the Waste Management Award. But I’m still owed tens of thousands of dollars from the underpayments. I rely on my job to pay my rent, bills, food and support my family back in Sri Lanka. I want my job back. And I want all Polytrade workers to have secure and safe jobs with fair pay. Please sign this petition.

Thousands of us are still being stalled in negotiating a rent reduction, and are facing eviction in coming weeks. At the end of September the much needed Jobseeker and JobKeeper payments will be slashed. At the same time, the COVID19 Omnibus eviction moratorium is set to end. For those of us who were already struggling to stay afloat we will be expected to live on $3 a week. While we’re expected to stay home, we need to make sure we have a secure home to stay in. The COVID19 pandemic demands long term solutions. Deferring the problem only exacerbates the crisis. Time is running out. #ExtendTheMoratorium #RentReliefNow #Nooneleftbehind

Ovato workers have fought long and hard to secure the pay and conditions they have on site. Some Ovato employees have been with the company for over thirty years. Workers have been doing their best to support the company through the pandemic, agreeing to reduce their hours in good faith, only for the company to turn around and attack their pay and conditions. Workers are feeling angry, betrayed, and lied to. They've been let down by a company they gave their loyalty to.

In the middle of a global pandemic and an economic crisis that's only getting worse the government is misleading people on Centrelink payments about pointless and punitive 'mutual' obligations activities. It's not safe. Right now there are no penalties in place for refusing to do most mutual obligations, however people can be forced into a job they don't want and the government has given job agencies license to bully, harass and lie to people. This has made many JobSeekers confused and distressed, and many are doing activities against their will when they don't have to. We have called a strike to protest this behaviour. Go here for more information about your right not to do 'mutual' obligations right now: https://auwu.substack.com/p/how-to-participate-in-the-auwu-mostrike

We need to show the University that our voices are important. Sign the petition, and join the fight.