National Union of Workers

New Campaign Campaigns

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  Support the Coles Somerton workers fight for fair redundancy!

  Workers at Somerton Coles warehouse need a fair redundancy package of 4 weeks - the same as other Coles sites, no less! NUW Members will be taking protected industrial action outside Coles HQ in Glen Iris where community supporters will also be invited to gather and send a message to Coles until we win a fair deal. Unity is Strength! #ChangetheRules so workers have the ability to collectively bargain across sites and industries. We should not have to fight for fair pay and conditions separately across multiple sites when we are all working for the same company. "It's ridiculous. Every Coles site should have one EBA and be done with it" - NUW delegate Andrew

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  Australia wants Fair Food!

  Workers on farms across Australia are currently forced to work long hours, often 14 or 16 hours and even up to 22 hours a day. Many are paid cash payments; as low as $4 and commonly $12 or $14 an hour, while the minimum wage is $21.61. These workers pick and pack the fresh fruit and vegetables that we buy at the supermarket. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NjOjNAShnQ Many producers use dodgy labour hire contractors to try and cut costs. These labour hire contractors routinely steal workers wages, provide them with substandard accommodation for exorbitant fees, and seek sexual and monetary favours for visas or preferential treatment. Workers who speak up are ignored, silenced or have their employment terminated. All this is happening while the Big Supermarkets engage in 'price wars' during the ad breaks we watch on TV. As a duopoly, Coles and Woolworths have incredible buying power. Competition among producers to supply the supermarkets is immense. Coles and Woolworths exploit their market position to demand that producers supply products at lower and lower cost. Coles and Woolworths claim their Ethical Sourcing Code of Conduct ensures that fresh food products are ethically produced. The reality facing workers on these farms proves that this is not true. When producers are confronted with the choice between complying with codes or losing a supply contract with a Big Supermarket, they choose to cut corners. Even after extreme exploitation and slave-like conditions were exposed on Four Corners in May 2015, workers are still fighting for justice on many farms around Australia. Without workers being able to actively participate in their union and speak up about conditions on farms, codes of conduct will never work. Workers who produce our fresh food are putting out a call to clean up the supply chain, a call for a Fair Food Agreement to immediately outline standard conditions and rights that workers can collectively enact.

  6,612 of 7,000 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Yakult workers deserve a fair pay rise, not a kick in the guts!

  Workers deserve a fair pay rise, the cost of living is increasing and wages are not. Yakult is making millions of profits and workers are struggling to keep up. This is a kick in the guts!

  256 of 300 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Save Secure Jobs in Tasmania!

  Edith Creek workers and their families deserve to know whether they will have secure jobs for 2018 before Christmas. While Murray Goulburn is working through what its future looks like, workers at Edith Creek have already been told they are not part of that future. To give Edith Creek workers security and hope going forward it’s important that Murray Goulburn sell the factory site and equipment to a new owner committed to continuing dairy manufacturing and secure jobs in the region.

  257 of 300 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Amazon workers deserve jobs they can count on

  Amazon is coming. We expect Amazon will be open for business in Australia on October 31 and we need to make sure that, from day one, Amazon workers have a job they can count on with fair wages and conditions.

  361 of 400 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Respect our reps! Reinstate Henare!

  A job you can count on is important to everyone in our community. Every worker should be treated with respect and be able to speak up for union rights and a fair deal. Henare, one of our delegates at Lite n' Easy, has been stood down from work and asked to leave immediately with no written reasons. This happened only 2 days after standing up for a fair pay rise. Members are hard-working, but would struggle to afford the products that the company make without a fair pay rise. As a company focused on family, and healthy living, Lite n' Easy management have put undue stress on Henare and his family. Members' rights to stand up for a fair deal should be respected, and it is unacceptable that workers are intimidated for working collectively. We work so we can plan a life for ourselves and our families, and make contributions to our communities. We all need a job we can count on to do this. Having worked at Lite n' Easy for 5 years, Henare's a valuable member of the team and active NUW Delegate. To restore faith in the pay negotiation process, it's important that Henare is immediately reinstated and that further targeting and attacks on staff for speaking up stop!

  606 of 800 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Send an SOS to Asahi

  A secure, permanent job in regional Australia means a lot. It means you can apply for a home loan, start a family, send the kids to university or just plan a holiday once in a while. A secure permanent job in regional Australia means you can put down roots and start planning a future. In fact, secure, permanent jobs are essential for regional communities to survive and flourish. The Albury-Wodonga community embraced multi-national Asahi setting up a factory in their region three years ago. But now, over 50 % of workers at Asahi in Albury-Wodonga are still stuck in insecure casual work. Many of these casual workers have been loyal to Asahi for over two years. It is time for Asahi to show some loyalty back to these workers and to the Albury-Wodonga community by providing 40 workers with permanent jobs. Workers at the Asahi factory in Albury-Wodonga are currently negotiating their new workplace agreement. Casual workers at Asahi want to live with less stress and want to feel valued at work. That's why a key claim in negotiations is 40 new permanent jobs for casual workers at Asahi. You can support them by sending a letter to the Asahi Group CEO in Japan to help build support for these regional workers. When casual workers were asked how a permanent job would improve their lives, they said: “I could apply for a home loan”, “start a family”, “put kids through university” or just “go on a family holiday”. A permanent job means you are “valued at work” and “less stressed” at home. Importantly, a permanent job will allow workers to put down roots and start planning a future in Albury-Wodonga. Use this message to send your letter. You might want to personalise the letter; maybe you live in the region, or you have also experienced casual work, maybe you know one of the workers - there may be a number of reasons that this is important to you - add your own message and let Asahi headquarters know why they should ensure 40 new permanent jobs in Albury-Wodonga.

  690 of 800 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Give me my job back

  I’ve been a loyal worker in Kmart’s Truganina Distribution Centre for over two and a half years. Even though I was engaged through a labour-hire company as a casual, the work was regular and reliable. I get on well with my co-workers and manager, and have never had any problems or disciplinary issues at work. I am in my 50s, with a family and the regular work at Kmart has meant a lot to me because it can be hard for older workers to find employment. I thought that after years of hard work and good service this was a steady job and I organised with Kmart to take my first holiday in years, even though I knew this was unpaid because I’m a casual. After my well-earned break, which was approved by my employer, I did not hear from Kmart about shifts. When I called them, I was shocked to be told there was no more work and that I would need to return my security pass. When I tried to find out why, I was told that there was no more work, even though since that time Kmart has engaged a number of new casual labour-hire employees in roles I could easily be performing. I want to go back to work at Kmart. 200 of my co-workers have already signed a petition on site to ask Kmart to bring me back to work, but the company has refused to listen to them. Because of my status as an agency casual, I am left in a legal limbo – despite my service I have no legal claim to reinstatement, even though I have been sacked for taking a holiday, which would be illegal if it happened to a permanent worker. This has left me feeling stressed, has been hard on my family and I just want to go back to work at Kmart.

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  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Justice for Empire Rubber workers!

  NUW members in Bendigo recently won a protracted legal case to get entitlements they were owed paid to them following the collapse of Empire Rubber in 2006. However of the $4.5 million win, workers will never see a cent. Nothing. All because corporate law firms are swallowing the win up in fees. LCM Litigation Fund Pty Ltd and Piper Alderman have pocketed 91% of the win, $4.1 million dollars, while their clients have been told they will never see any money and there is nothing they can do. NUW member and former Empire Rubber worker Shane Hogan is owed $15,000. His wife Tracy has said that “To get a letter saying that it’s all been eaten up in fees is very disappointing.” “A lot of people who were laid off did not gain employment afterwards, so they were really relying on getting that money”. Members refuse to accept this gross denial of justice. We are calling on Piper Alderman to waive their fees and give their clients the money they have won. The Law Institute of Victoria’s code of ethics calls for lawyers to “advance their clients’ interests above their own” and to “charge fairly for their work”. Clearly Piper Alderman have failed in their ethical obligations to NUW members at Empire Rubber. In pocketing the cash and failing to meet ethical standards, Piper Alderman undermines the integrity of the justice system to serve the needs of workers. Piper Alderman and LCM Litigation Fund: give workers their money back so justice is closer to being served!

  118 of 200 Signatures

  Created by National Union of Workers
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  Justice for Wayne Fowlie

  Companies are meant to pay super payments into either default funds or employees nominated super funds 4 times a year. Norseman Gold PLC did not pay Wayne Fowlie's super payment into his super fund for a year. The result of this was that when Wayne died he did not have life insurance which is a standard part of most Super arrangements including Wayne's. Norseman Gold did the wrong thing, they lied to Wayne, his payslips said that the company was paying his super entitlements. Yet a judge recently decided that Norseman Gold PLC were not liable. Wayne's family not only lost a husband and father after he was killed in a mining accident but then also had to deal with the cost of the companies treachery. Its not right and Norseman Gold should do the right thing and pay out the entitlement of the life insurance policy.

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  Created by Syed Kazmi