Marchers descend on the golden arches
Dozens of protesters rallied outside the McDonald’s restaurant in Brisbane’s Queen Street mall – the largest McDonald’s in the southern hemisphere – on 12 January. They were protesting a recent statement made online by the restaurant’s franchisee, Tantex Holdings, threatening to ban worker...CONTINUE READING
Win for coalminers in Wollongong
Coalminers at the Wongawilli Colliery in Wollongong have scored an important victory against labour hire and casualisation using good old-fashioned strike action. Before the strike, which began on 14 January, labour hire firm CAS Mine Services employed the entire 100-strong workforce at th...CONTINUE READING
Brisbane ferry workers take on Transdev
Brisbane ferry workers docked their ferries and walked off the job for 48 hours on 6 December, following a year of failed negotiations with their employer, Transdev. They walked off again for 24 hours on 20 December and have flagged further industrial action in the new year. All sections o...CONTINUE READING
‘Now it’s our turn’: teachers strike in South Australia
Teachers and school support staff in South Australia staged a very successful strike on 29 November, staring down a state government determined to trash their hard-won conditions, security and essential services in schools. After a rally last month, 77 percent of Australian Education Union...CONTINUE READING
Farm workers fight wage theft
A new study published by the University of New South Wales highlights widespread wage theft and exploitation of migrant workers in Australia. According to the report, Wage Theft in Silence, almost a third of temporary migrants earn $12 per hour or less – roughly half the legal minimum for...CONTINUE READING
Perth bus drivers take on Transdev
“Labour shouldn’t be treated as a commodity!” This is the rallying cry of Perth bus drivers who for the past month have been engaged in a campaign against public transport contractor Transdev. The campaign started in early October as enterprise bargaining stalled after months of negotiatio...CONTINUE READING
‘There’s a lot of angry men up there’: wildcat strike hits the Pilbara
Around 200 fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers at Rio Tinto’s Nammuldi iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region walked off the job on 12 November. They were demanding to be paid for the almost two-hour travel time between their remote accommodation camp and the mine site. The casual l...CONTINUE READING
Fighting for jobs at Sydney University
University of Sydney staff are fighting to protect jobs and working conditions in the information technology, human resources, campus infrastructure and finance help desk services. In August, the university released a proposal to centralise the four services into one corporate-style call c...CONTINUE READING
Call centres getting organised
Young people have come to expect the worst from working life. For many of us, our first experience of work is in the hospitality industry, where we are lucky if we are paid legal, award wages. Workers aged 20 to 24 are the worst unionised of any age group in Australia: only 7 percent belon...CONTINUE READING