Cleaners won greater protection against unfair dismissal and loss of entitlements in a Fair Work Commission (FWC) decision on July 12. FWC awarded the cleaners entitlements they had lost when they were transferred to a new company, after their former employer lost a cleaning contract with two Sydney hotels.
Mel Gatfield, NSW secretary of the cleaners' union, United Voice, said the case was "hugely significant”, not just for the 19 cleaners who have received $70,000 in redundancy payments, but for the legal precedent it sets.
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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he will amend the Fair Work Act to make it possible for the federal government to block the proposed new enterprise agreement for firefighters employed by Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA).
Turnbull said he will introduce legislation in the first sitting week of the new parliament to expand the list of "objectionable terms" that cannot be included in enterprise agreements.
Ten-time Grammy Award winner, US musician Pharrell Williams has cancelled his July 21 performance in Tel Aviv amid conflicting explanations.
Over the past year, the “Happy” pop star has faced sustained pressure from the Palestine solidarity movement. Last year, amid rumours that he would be scheduling a Tel Aviv performance, campaigners urged him not to go.
In an open letter, the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel said that by performing in Tel Aviv, Williams would show himself “indifferent to the suffering of Palestinian children”.
Carlton and United Brewery (CUB) is trying to impose a 65% pay cut on its maintenance workforce.
The 54 electricians and fitters were called to a meeting in a pub on June 10 and told their jobs were terminated. They were then told they could reapply for their jobs with a company called Catalyst Recruitment which is part of the Programmed/Skilled Group.
Five apprentices have been left in limbo with no jobs and no trade qualifications.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) joined waterside workers from around the world on July 8 in actions to highlight the issues faced by wharfies internationally.
Every port in Australia had an action of some description, with most ports taking to the streets to raise grievances about job security, safety and workers' rights.
A July 14 rally in Kolkata against repression in Kashmir.
Hundreds of students, trade union activists, women’s rights groups, lawyers and queer groups gathered at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, on July 14, wearing black bands to condemn the violence being unleashed on unarmed civilians in Kashmir.
With Serena Williams' record-tying Grand Slam victory July 9, her claim to the best athlete of her generation — male or female — seems irrefutable.
But with the celebrity tennis player's Compton-to-Wimbledon narrative, and emergence as an outspoken and defiant champion of the African American community in the US, is the superstar athlete the most iconic since the late Muhammad Ali?
Socialist councillor Sue Bolton convinced Moreland Council on July 13 to reinstate the after-hours Aged and Disability Home Support Services for existing clients as well as new ones.
Bolton said she was enormously grateful to the parents of children with disabilities who spoke up on behalf of all the parents who were unable to come to the meeting or who didn’t think it was possible to fight the cut.
“Those parents put a human face on the implications of a very bureaucratic cut: their stories had an impact on the other councillors”, Bolton told Green Left Weekly.
World Wildlife Fund Australia has bought a commercial shark fishing licence for $100,000 in a move to protect sharks in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and beyond.
The Queensland Government allocates five licences that allow a 1.2 kilometre net to trawl for sharks and other by-catch.
WWF Australia conservation director Gilly Llewellyn said: "It's a new approach to conservation.
"This is an opportunity for people to help stop a massive 1.2km long net from sitting in reef waters and indiscriminately killing almost everything that swims into it.
Limelight Magazine reported on July 7 that a major restructure at ABC Classic FM could see the loss of several programs and many popular presenters.
Quoting senior sources within the ABC, the magazine said the shakeup will see a large number of redundancies, including some of the broadcaster's most high-profile figures, as well the loss of most of its live-to-air presented programming.
Malcolm Turnbull, who has just scraped over the line to claim government, claims he has a mandate to implement all of his unpopular polices. Green Left Weekly asked several community leaders their opinion.
Jeannie Rae, National Tertiary Education Union national president
First, even in liberal, democratic terms Malcolm Turnbull is on thin ice considering he just slipped in.
More importantly, if a policy is wrong whether or not the party that won the election claims they have a mandate to implement it doesn't make it right!
The WA government released its plan for remote Aboriginal communities on July 14. The spin is all about “better living conditions”, “supporting families” and “more opportunities”. However the substance is still entirely about penny pinching and withdrawing resources. Communities will close if it is implemented.
When WA premier Colin Barnett first announced that up to 150 communities would be forced to close, people responded with a massive, international protest movement to save the communities.
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