Insecure work campaign and report http://www.securejobs.org.au TCFUA campaign for sucessful legislation for outworkers See http://www.tcfua.org.au United Voice for Earlychildhood Educators in Child care Centres Big Steps campaign http://bigsteps.org.au At the ACTU Congress there are a range of other supportive issues for unions. Not exhaustive, but they include… Strong support for Union Aid Abroad APHEDA and [...]
About chriswhite
Chris White now lives in Darwin, Northern Territory. He is secretary of APHEDA NT. He is a Honorary Senior Research Fellow at The Northern Institute Charles Darwin University +61889467169 chris.white2@cdu.edu.au He lived in Canberra from 2005 researching labour law and industrial relations and worked for the union ASMOF and then the NTEU ACT. He tutored in Politics for two years at the ANU Politics and International Relations. He has been criticising WorkChoices, specifically the labour law supressing the right to strike, the repression of building and construction workers, and reporting on the new China labour laws . He writes on social justice challenges. He links into international solidarity for workers and the disadvantaged. He worked for the SA unions for 27 years. First as an Industrial Officer for the Australian Workers Union SA branch. Then he was for 10 years Research Officer/Industrial Advocate for the LHMU, then the Miscellaneous Workers Union SA branch. In 1985 he was elected Assistant Secretary of the United Trades and Labor Council of SA and then in 1998 elected Secretary until 2001. He was on the ACTU executive for 15 years. He represented unions on SA Industrial Relations and Occupational Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Commisions and social justice and employment committees. From 1998 to 2002 he was a Director and Trustee of SA Statewide Superannuation Trust and United Superannuation Pty Ltd. He was active in Socially Responsible Investment decisions. For 10 years he was on the board of the SA Working Womens Centre. For 15 years he was Chair of the Junction Theatre Company. For 6 years he was Ministerial Arts Board member on the State Theatre Company. He was awarded a Centenary Medal Commonwealth Honour for contributions to unions and the community. From 2003-2005 he was a Board member SA Housing Trust Board In 2002 he was on the Offenders Aid and Rehabilitation Services (OARS): prison rehabilitation and restorative justice. For 30 years he was active in the SA East Timor Association and now Patron. Since 1974 he has been a member of the ALP and with SA unions organising in state and federal election campaigns. He has been active in the ACTU Your Rights at Work Worth Fighting For campaign. He was a Post Graduate Research PhD scholar 2003-2006 School of Law, Flinders University researching 'The right to strike', but for personal reasons did not complete his thesis. He was a radical student activist, editor of ON DIT and Secretary of the Student's Union. He completed a Law degree LLB and Arts (Honours Politics) in 1972. He then worked for a year as a law tutor at the University of Adelaide Law School before his career with the unions. He is an advocate and consultant on workforce and social justice issues. contact chrisdwhite@bigpond.com
ACTU on the economy
ACTU Congress Jobs & the Economy Australian unions have been central to the advancement of progressive economic and social policy in the past. Unions have fought for, and secured, vital elements of the social wage, like pensions, superannuation, Medicare, and income for the unemployed. Australian unions have always had a vision for a fair and [...]

US union winning struggles in Ohio and Wisconsin
At the ACTU Congress inspiring reports from two US union activists Shari Obrenski Clevand Teachers Union and Eric Barnes from Wisconsin explaining how US unions are sucessful in mobilising hundreds of thousands in Wisconsin and Ohio pushing back the extreme Republican state anti-union and no collective bargaining allowed attacks. Their campaign extended to mobilisation citizens [...]

Support BHP workers
BHP dispute This ACTU Congress declares its full support for the 4,000 mineworkers who have been attempting to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement at BHP’s seven Central Queensland coal mines for over 18-months now. We note that the while the CFMEU, AMWU and the ETU have been negotiating in good faith BHP has refused to [...]

HSU and rats and rats…
ACTU Congress and HSU. I can assure you that this issue did not dominate Congress despite the media headlines, but had to be addressed. Dave Oliver said unions “cannot tolerate the sorts of things revealed in the Fair Work report into the HSU and that kind of behaviour is not acceptable in our movement”. Unions [...]

Battling corporate Chevron
Chevron Campaign The 2012 ACTU Congress recognises the work of the Maritime Union of Australia and the Construction unions on the Chevron campaign and fully endorses a National and International campaign against Chevron. The ACTU recognises that multi-national companies like Chevron and its contractors are exploiting loopholes in Australia’s Migration Act – loopholes which mean [...]

ACTU on wages
The Wages and Employment Conditions Policy adopted at this Congress reflects our promise to working Australia that unions are committed to lifting real wages for all workers. This promise is underpinned by the fundamental commitment of Australian Unions to improving the position of the lowest paid while continuing to provide career paths to all workers [...]

Howe: ACTU report Lives on Hold.
Extract from Brian Howe’s speech to the ACTU launching his 84 page “Lives on Hold” report: “Australia must pursue universality in labour law. Doing this effectively requires: Expanded definitions of employers and employees; Reforms to better capture indirect employment arrangements like labour hire and dependent contracting; A firmer definition of casual work; and Expanded National [...]

ACTU Congress: day 2
This morning the ACTU released the report of the Inquiry into insecure work headed by former Deputy PM Brian Howe. It is called “Lives on Hold Unlocking the Potential of Australia’s Workforce”. This 85 page report is well worth reading and studying, but more importantly campaigning with unions for the implementation of its recommendations too [...]
IMPORTANT NOTE
About The Author
Chris has worked in the trade union movement for 30 years and researches on left politics, union issues and China labour law. He lives in Darwin.
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