Mater has made it clear that many of the current employment conditions aligned with those nurses and midwives from Queensland Health will be removed or reduced. Examples include removal of Nurse/Midwifery Unit Managers from the classification/generic level statements, restrictions around the payment of continuing Professional Development allowance, pro-rata access to Long Service Leave after 7 years and reduction of payment for working on public holidays. The proposed rate of pay for work performed on public holidays is below the Nurses Award 2010 and Nurses and Midwives (Queensland Health) Certified Agreement (EB8). As an organisation that is funded by the State in a way that is consistent with the funding of public sector health services for the delivery of health services to Queenslanders, it is our view that Mater should preserve working conditions aligned with those of Queensland Health. Mater nurses and midwives have not received a wage increase for almost 2 years and the organisation has refused QNU’s request to pass on a pay increase by way of an administrative increase while the negotiations are finalised. Furthermore, the organisation has threatened its nurses and midwives that if the agreement is rejected by them at ballot, the Mater will remove the back payment offer from the table. As the Mater continues to receive funding from Queensland tax payers for the delivery of public health services, the organisation should be held accountable to pass on those taxpayer funds to the nurses and midwives providing the care.

Queensland Unions stands in solidarity with the doctors, nurses and health care professionals of Lady Cilento Children's Hospital who are refusing to release Baby Asha without a safe environment for her to return "home" to. Nauru, and Manus, are not safe places. The Australian union movement says ... #LetThemStay

Support a #justtransition for the Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley community has powered Victoria for almost 100 years, and deserves to be supported through the inevitable transition of our energy system. This means new employment opportunities as the inevitable closure of Hazelwood Power Station looms closer. Help avert a manufacturing crisis #supportmanufacturing At the same time, Victoria is facing a manufacturing jobs crisis, especially as the car industry closes over the next two years. Make sure no-one is left behind in the #energytransition It should not just be the rich who are able to benefit from energy efficiency and clean energy technology. #equality. Households who can benefit the most from lower energy bills should be supported to access these options. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions #climatechange The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transform our economy so that it is sustainable is growing more pressing every day. The State Government’s own operations make a significant contribution to carbon pollution, and the government can lead by example in reducing emissions from its own buildings. This would also have a long-term benefit for tenants of public housing, whose energy bills would be reduced, giving a tangible boost to their disposable income. Encourage the cooperative economy and more secure work #securework Earthworker is a community initiative established by unionists and environmental activists to help Victorians work their way out of the climate crisis. It is committed to providing decent, secure work in factories owned by workers to manufacture the renewable energy technologies that we so badly need to transform our future. More information can be found at: http://earthworkercooperative.com.au/ In the UK, the Labour Party is pushing for the right for workers to buy out enterprises, and States in the US are legislating to support worker co-ops. The worker cooperative model can be the basis of new jobs and a just transition in places like the Latrobe Valley and Geelong, where old energy-intensive industries are under threat. Earthworker already has all the required factory machinery in a factory site in Morwell, Latrobe Valley. The project has the intellectual property, experience and skills in manufacturing and installing solar hot water systems across Australia, and is in the process of setting up the Morwell factory. With a sizable order of solar hot water systems for public housing, this first cooperative factory could be up and running quickly, with this kick-start, building itself into a long-term and community-sustaining cooperative business – the first of many across Australia. The Victorian government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring local content in Government Projects, and growing employment opportunities in renewable technologies can be achieved in partnerships with organisations like Earthworker

After three masked men stormed the store with a knife and a hammer, stealing cash and cigarettes, the employee was made to finish his 8 hour shift. He received no compensation for his two weeks recovering from the ordeal and when he tried to return to work, was told he no longer had a job. 7/11 have show once again that they are in contention for Australia's most disgusting employer. Video from Channel 7 here: https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/30646183/store-worker-held-up-during-armed-robbery-fired/#page1

The article in Fairfax was shocking. Kmart and Target should know better than to source their products from factories where workers are exploited. Many workers in these factories are paid less in a week than Australians earn an hour. These big companies make massive profits and need to know that Australians won't accept these dodgy practices. It's these sort of dodgy practices that meant over 1,000 workers died when a clothing factory called Rana Plaza collapsed in Bangladesh. For more information check out the article in Fairfax: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/target-and-kmart-sell-2-school-uniforms-but-at-what-cost-20160112-gm4n1y.html

The Baird Government has been turning a blind eye to the massive rise of violence in our hospitals and its time we took a stand. Every day front line medical and emergency workers including nurses, orderlies, doctors, paramedics and other hospital staff are being harmed on the job and security officers have very few powers to stop it. Hospitals are places you go to get better but all too often we are seeing casualties coming from our casualty wards. This is not good enough. No one should have to go to work and be confronted by violence. We are calling on the Health Minister Jillian Skinner to review hospital security as a matter of urgency and give security officers the legal authority to protect the public, the patients and the staff at your local hospital.

My name is Diwakar. I clean offices in the city. I’m grateful for the work – but when my colleague was promised $15/hour, then sacked and never paid at all for the work, it broke me. This exploitation and bullying of us cleaners is rife. Some of it is downright awful: being underpaid like workers at 7-Eleven, or no pay at all for back-breaking hours, no annual leave. Sometimes companies hide records of us even working for them to protect themselves. But what makes it even worse – right now people fear being deported just for saying anything about the exploitation, bullying and abuse we're suffering. So we're forced into silence, and those breaking the law keep getting away with it. That's why I'm pleading with the new Ministerial Working Group to help protect vulnerable foreign workers to grant amnesty to workers who speak out about abuse and exploitation. Please help by signing my petition. It's terrifying to speak out, so I really need your help.

While Treasurer, Joe Hockey accused everyday people of being "leaners" and criticised expecting mums as being "double dippers" for accessing paid parental leave (he said it was "basically fraud"). Under his two budgets as Treasurer, Hockey cut billions from essential support services, education, hospitals and the ABC and SBS, amongst many other public services and supports. Now, having left Parliament mid-term, he will draw two salaries. It's time for (former) politicians like Joe Hockey to practice what they preach.

All workplace injuries and deaths are preventable. Everyone should come home safe and healthy from work at the end of the day. The eight deaths in November 2015 were: November 30: A 41-year-old man working at a poultry farm at Lethbridge, near Geelong, was struck by a forklift late at night. November 22: A 49-year-old farmer was found late in the evening underneath a quad bike on a property at South Purrumbete, east of Cobden. 19 November: A 42-year-old man fell to his death while removing a downpipe from a two-storey home at Hamlyn Heights in Geelong. 12 November: A 25-year-old refrigeration mechanic was electrocuted while doing maintenance work on an air conditioner at a factory in Braeside. 12 November: A 29-year-old worker was killed at a business in Keysborough when a piece of equipment fell off a forklift and crushed him. 10 November: a 76-year-old farmer was crushed by his tractor after it rolled over at Loch, in South Gippsland. 9 November: A 64-year-old contractor died in an explosion at a housing development site at Harkaway in Melbourne’s outer east. 4 November: A 76-year-old farm worker was electrocuted while maintenance was being undertaken on a pump at a farm at Anakie, near Geelong.

The deal that was done on ChAFTA is inadequate. This agreement is a threat to Australian jobs, safety and sovereignty. Without giving effect to these commitments, CHAFTA and any future agreement will seriously undermine Australia’s national interest.

My name is Ron and I am a hospital orderly at Royal Perth Hospital. Colin Barnett has recently made a decision to cut 1,500 jobs from our hospitals and my job is one of the ones that could go. A first class health system relies on having enough skilled professionals like myself and my colleagues to ensure all Western Australians receive the best possible healthcare. Cutting jobs in our hospitals puts patients at risk. Western Australians deserve better.

The Electrical Trades Union is serious about workplace safety. It is a matter of life and death. We know that licensing of high-risk trades, health and safety training and right of access for workers' representatives are crucial to a good safety culture. Extending these basic protections to workers in the offshore oil and gas industries could be the difference between a tragic loss and a happy future for thousands of Australian families.