Over the past decades universities have come to rely upon casual and fixed-term staff to perform essential teaching, research and service roles. At La Trobe University over 70% of staff are not on ongoing contracts. University workers on casual, sessional and fixed-term contracts are bearing the brunt of cuts universities are making in response to COVID19-related revenue deficits. On 16 April 2020 La Trobe University communicated to all staff that due to from 1 May 2020, casuals will only be retained if they are deemed “essential”. This has led to significant job losses and loss of hours for causal staff, with many more still waiting in limbo to be informed about the future of their positions. We condemn the sacking of casual staff. Casual redundancies are projected to potentially save LTU around $1 million, less than 1% of the projected revenue deficit of $120-150 million. Casual redundancies will therefore have only a marginal impact on addressing overall revenue deficit, but the loss of these positions will have a number of significant impacts including on: • the mental health & financial wellbeing of LTU casuals who have lost their jobs and who face the uncertainty of potentially losing their jobs. Many casuals will face considerable financial hardship, especially given the ineligibility of university workers to access JobKeeper. • the student experience and the quality of teaching and learning at La Trobe University, given that the loss of causal jobs necessarily will translate to larger class sizes, the cutting of subjects, especially electives and the reduction of student services; • the workload of remaining staff at La Trobe University who will invariably be asked to pick up additional work to compensate for cuts; We, the undersigned, condemn the sacking of casual staff at La Trobe University and call on La Trobe University to recognise all the work casuals do is essential and protect their hours and conditions during this difficult time. Those of us who have ongoing roles commit to not taking on work that would otherwise be allocated to casual or fixed term staff – recognising that doing so harms the quality of our teaching and/or research as well as enabling the University to take work from our most precarious colleagues.

A leaked department letter has revealed that the Morrison government is demanding (un)employment agencies be proactive about scheduling appointments with unemployed workers — despite mutual obligations being suspended until 1 June. This has given the green light for agencies to ramp up their bullying tactics to force unemployed workers into pointless appointments and claim government commissions of up to $377 per initial appointment. The government must stop handing over billions of dollars to private corporations to punish the unemployed. The AUWU demands that this punitive system — already deemed not fit for purpose by both employers and the senate — be immediately scrapped and replaced with a genuine employment service, run by public servants, that actually helps unemployed workers through this crisis More details: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/05/11/coronavirus-jobseeker-mutual-obligations-letter/ We know the privatised employment services system is grossly punitive. The data shows payments were suspended 2.7m times in 12 months, but only 654,000 official "demerit points" were handed out. This adds up to roughly 2 million unfair penalties being dished out to unemployed workers every year by privately owned agencies. A 75% error is a national disgrace. This unfair compliance regime has had a catastrophic impact on the lives of unemployed workers. It's a national disgrace that, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, this system continues to drive everyday Australians into poverty, homelessness, mental distress and even suicide.

On the 3rd of April, Maribyrnong Council secretly sent termination letters to 150 employees from libraries, community centres and the aquatic centre. They did this without talking to the staff, their supervisors or their union beforehand. Some staff were told they had been sacked by being asked to hand back their keys at the end of their shift. Maribyrnong Council is the only Council in Australia to sack workers. When asked for justification, they claimed that they believed it would allow the workers to access centrelink if they were sacked. Despite being informed that this is not correct, they have refused to rescind the terminations. Most of the staff who were terminated knew that they may lose hours, but the termination letter came as a cruel shock. It would cost nothing for Maribyrnong to rescind these wrongful terminations, and they should do so immediately for the well being of the community.

I'm Brendan, and I'm an injured worker. After 25 years as a specialist mental health nurse, I experienced a major workplace injury in August 2018. As a mental health nurse and someone who has been injured at work, I know first hand the affects it has and I'm asking for change to support other workers who get hurt at work. For the first time in over two decades, I found myself unable to work and having to deal with the loss of identity, income and meaning that is bound up in that. At the same time, I was having to navigate the bureaucracy of Work Cover. It just doesn’t work for workers. Its primary objective is to get you back to work or off their books as soon as possible. They don’t really care what anxieties or stresses may result. Injured workers face loss of income, loss of identity and isolation - and so do their families. Health and Wellbeing plans are a necessary step to manage the increasing mental health injuries suffered by workers in this country. It was a chance conversation that I had with my union in 2019 that led to the very first Injured Workers Day taking place this year, in 2020. I spoke to my union about the stress and invisibility I felt as a newly injured worker, and how I felt the union movement needed to do more to support people like me. They agreed, and we've worked together build this new movement. Injured Workers Day has existed in Ontario, Canada since 1983, lobbying for visibility for injured workers and changes to their workers compensation scheme. They too are hosting a day of online action on Injured Workers Day, and we’ll be a part of each other’s events. In some ways, the limitations placed on us all by the coronavirus has made it easier to build international solidarity around this important issue. Injured Workers Day will take place on Monday June 1st, LIVE on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/injuredworkersday/ The event will be all about connecting with, and empowering injured workers across Australia. The first year of this new movement will be about bringing injured workers out of the shadows and enabling them to develop and lead a public conversation about what’s broken in the system, and what needs to change. I also want June 1st to be seen as an important reminder, at this time of massive change in industrial relations in Australia, that the union movement is a collective that embraces all workers- people from all backgrounds, workers who’ve been injured, and workers laid off or impacted by the coronavirus. I recognise the impact of the coronavirus on workers across Australia, both due to loss of jobs, but also the injuries faced and loss of workers' lives resulting from this pandemic. Many Australians who experience mental health issues are experiencing increasing symptoms due to the social isolation measures currently in place; and mental health workers are under increased pressure due to the high acuity of illness and limited community supports available to people. The Coronavirus pandemic forced us to adapt Injured Workers Day to a day of online action. By this time next year, my hope is that we’ll have built an organised movement with a clear set of demands, and an agenda for political change. I hope next year we’ll be able to assemble in person- in protest and in solidarity, as we chart a way forward to fix a broken system.

Importantly, online learning does not favour the majority of students for a number of reasons. Our zooms have been crashing, many of our seminars and tutorials are reduced to online forums, attendance is low, and pracs and labs can't take place. Simply, we aren't receiving the same level of education - how can we be expected to receive the same grades? Although no one could have foreseen COVID-19 occurring, La Trobe University need to account for the difficult circumstances we now find ourselves in. We need fair policies regarding WAM and grading - and we need them now!

In light of the current crisis the public health system is facing, workers volunteered to roll over their current enterprise agreement, keeping the status quo, so that everyone can focus on delivering services and keeping the community safe. Lucas and the Liberal Government have refused - in favour of attacking workers’ current conditions, including job security. We call on the Treasurer to support essential workers who have been working tirelessly during this crisis by agreeing to rollover the enterprise agreement with a wage increase. This action would provide essential public sector workers with the certainty they deserve and allow the Government to continue focussing on the health and wellbeing of South Australians during these unprecedented times. Sign the petition NOW.

The loss of these skills will be detrimental to the future of the Deakin as the COVID - 19 pandemic subsides. This is a once in a lifetime event and requires a once in a generation level courage and imagination to support those who make Deakin Worldly .

These software programs require students to download external software onto their computers, and films students undertaking the exam. This presents a serious breach of privacy, and of the civil liberties of university students. The security measures in place to protect these recordings are also unknown. As the largest youth political group in the country, NSW Young Labor and the NSW Labor Students Network believe that we should take a stand against this unacceptable invasion of privacy. That's why we are asking for your support, to send a message to universities across the state that this is unacceptable.

More than a million people are estimated to have become unemployed in March and April, because of public health measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. On 27th April 2020 the government began paying the “COVID 19 Supplement” to people receiving Jobseeker (previously Newstart) payments, Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance. This is the first increase of these payments for 26 years. The government has confirmed that the COVID-19 supplement is temporary and will end in October 2020. If the Jobseeker payment reduces in 6 months, new claimants and people previously trying to survive on the low rate will be facing a dire situation. Politicians from both sides of Parliament, independents, business groups and welfare organisations have called for the increase to extend beyond six months, citing the increased unemployment rate and the uncertain effect of the pandemic on the economy. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/25/calls-from-within-coalition-to-keep-higher-jobseeker-rate-after-coronavirus-crisis?fbclid=IwAR2Uwvv7vMx5YkNs_aHRqit7kz0TseirJeiHzjEeclAgpkHscH-ppLM4F18 Please support the AUWU’s call to #KeepTheRate

As COVID-19 changes the way we live and work, it’s essential that everyone has access to safe healthcare. Yet there are tens of thousands of people living in Australia without access to Medicare. People who have to make the choice between risking deportation or seeking urgent medical help. They know that hospitals and doctors can report them to the Department of Home Affairs if questions are raised about their visa status. With borders around the world closed and international flights costing upwards of $5000 per person, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are forced to face impossible choices. The Morrison Government’s cruel directive that temporary migrants should just ‘go home’ forces thousands of people to make impossible choices, through no fault of their own. In the midst of a global pandemic, people must be able to access essential healthcare without fear of deportation and family separation.

If you were a member of MOVE bank on 1st March 2020 you should be feeling pretty concerned right now The directors of MOVE Bank have, on your behalf, rejected a merger proposal from Auswide Bank that would have put thousands of dollars into the pockets of every MOVE member , many of whom are Union members, families, and friends. Auswide Bank is an ASX-listed regional bank based in Bundaberg and has branches right across Queensland from Brisbane to Townsville. WE SAY: It is for MOVE’s members, not the directors, to decide the future of MOVE.

The TWU seeking fairness in the transport Industry. During this pandemic, if bus drivers are required to self-isolate and are not sick OR if bus drivers are affected by Covid-19 they should be entitled to the same special leave provisions extended to drivers employed by the NSW Government. All bus drivers whose employer is contracted to Transport for NSW should be treated the same and offered the same protections during this pandemic. TWU Buses – Delivering results for all bus drivers in NSW.