18 June 2013

We speak to Charlie Donnelly the National Secretary of the National Union of Workers on union issues in Australia. Charlie gives USi an update on the NUW’s major campaigns including the growing problem of casualisation in the labour market in the logistics sector. In response to this issue the union has launched a brilliant campaign called [...]

12 February 2013

It used to be that when you got a job, it was a job you could count on. Over the last 30 years in Australia, that’s been changing. More and more workers feel insecure even when employed and many NUW members employed in casual positions talk about not being able to plan their future. In [...]

19 September 2012

- By Cindy O’Connor Austerity – Australian style Over 1000 firefighters marched to Parliament this week in Melbourne. Just two years ago one of the worst bush fires in Australia ravaged regional Victoria. Some of these fires were just an hour away from Melbourne. The newly elected State government just announced $66 Million worth of [...]

27 June 2012

By Cindy O’Connor Austerity is rubbish. Even when capitalism is broke, penniless and teetering we have the elites seeking to protect their privilege under the cloak of “civilizing capitalism”. Austerity is the same old rubbish rehashed. Every time union reps here in Australia start collectively bargaining for wages and conditions they hear the same old [...]

27 June 2012

Our trade union video of the day comes from striking firefighters in New South Wales, Australia, who used their fire engines to block city streets, and then hosed down the politicians who were attacking their Workers’ Compensation. A fantastically inspiring action – please watch and share. One of the earliest harbingers of the Arab Spring [...]

22 May 2012

In May 2011 food giant Heinz announced it was closing food processing plants in rural Australia, with the loss of hundreds of jobs that sustained several small towns. Facing the devastation of the their local communities, residents, farmers and workers – members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union – from the Heinz plant came together [...]