Chris is a labour law researcher, specialising in China and the right to strike. He spent 27 years in the SA union movement. Chris now lives in Canberra. More →
On 9 September 1910, four State unions formed the Australian Builders’ Labourers’ Federation, with Tasmania following in November and West Australia joining in 1966. Humphrey McQueen will publish a broad brush history of the Federation in April next year, titled We Built This Country, builders’ labourers and their unions, 1780s to the future (Ginninderra Press). [...]
In Australia, we’re in a pretty lucky position when it comes to dealing with multinational companies. Just this year we negotiated a world-first nation wide agreement with the anti-union company FedEx. It’s important we stand together, not just at home, but in other countries. Because some multinational companies take advantage of foreign labour laws and [...]
The Best Hated Man in Australia The Life and Death of Percy Brookfield 1875 – 1921 by Paul Robert Adams Book review by Chris White During our tweedledum-dee election I read the biography of Percy Brookfield – a conviction left labour politician. Historian Dr Paul Robert Adams takes us through Brookfield’s exciting story – the [...]
South African Public Sector Strike Highlights Society’s Contradictions Patrick Bond The two major civil service unions on strike against the South African (SA) government vow to intensify pressure in coming days, in a struggle pitting a million members of the middle and lower ranks of society against a confident government leadership fresh from hosting the [...]
From the AMWU The ongoing health of manufacturing industry is one of the top priorities for the AMWU no matter which party governs in Australia. Every member – rightfully – expects us to maximise our efforts to work with government to defend and grow manufacturing. When the Labor government had to deal with the global [...]
Don’t vote for candidates who do not committ to new labour law rights for delegates. Lobby your candidates now. Make sure your union campaigns for this reform. From the YR@W campaign Charter of Delegates Rights Elected union workplace delegates are the volunteers who are crucial to ensuring we all have rights at work. Delegates are [...]
Follow in this election Your Rights at Work http://www.rightsatwork.com.au/Home/Campaigns/WorkChoices-Never-Again.aspx
AMWU on why we need to re-elect the Labor Government. 1. Securing workers entitlements: For the past 20 years the AMWU has fought for our members who have lost entitlements when their company collapsed, such as Ansett, ACL Bearings, Forgecast etc. We’ve fought for a scheme to protect workers entitlements. After a long campaign, Labor [...]
WorkChoices. Never Again Campaign Tony Abbott hasn’t come clean about the Liberals’ industrial relations policy. The new ACTU president, Ged Kearney, is going around Australia talking with workers about their concerns at this election. We’ve written to Mr Abbott asking him to tell the Australian public what exactly he has planned. He’s changed his position [...]
