Anti-war and peace networks are organising a national protest outside federal MPs’ offices, demanding an end to AUKUS and the billions being wasted on a new arms race. Pip Hinman reports.
Electrical Trades Union (ETU)
If anything reflected Bernie Neville’s view on the working class, it was his often-repeated phrase: “No surrender!” Dave Riley reflects on the life of a militant unionist.
The Maritime Union of Australia and the Electrical Trades Union are opposed to the nuclear-powered submarines as part of a military alliance with the United States and Britain. Kerry Smith reports.
Workers at Downer Group’s Pakenham East Rail Depot and Stabling Yard, who have been on strike for secure jobs, are yet to settle a new enterprise agreement. Sue Bolton reports.
The Scott Morrison government has made it clear it has no vision or desire to prepare Australia for the global energy future.
After 25 years, it is clearer than ever that privatisation of electricity in Australia has been a disaster for people and the planet.
In the early 1990s, prior to privatisation, energy prices in Australia were some of the lowest in the world and had been dropping for decades. That trend was sharply reversed following privatisation. Today, households are paying skyrocketing prices and growing numbers of Australians are now living in “energy poverty”.
The Victorian branch of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has decided to withdraw its financial support for federal Greens MP Adam Bandt and formally rejoin the Labor Party.
The branch disaffiliated from Labor in 2010 over the then-Kevin Rudd government's refusal to dismantle the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
The union representing workers at the ageing Liddell power station has welcomed AGL Energy’s plan to transition it to a clean energy hub, even as pro-coal Coalition MPs called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to amend competition laws to force AGL to keep it as a coal-fired facility.
Electricians working on the Sydney Opera House renovation scored a win on October 9 after they stopped work over asbestos on site. SafeWork NSW issued a Prohibition Notice to builder Laing O'Rourke banning work on ceilings where friable asbestos was identified.
It ordered the main contractor Downer to conduct an independent inspection of the site.
This meets the demands raised by Electrical Trades Union (ETU) members who walked off the job on October 6.
ETU organiser Stewart Edward said the victory came because of strong collective action by union members.
Kone lift workers have won a 16% pay rise after a six-week campaign.
About 200 Kone employees voted to accept in principle the much-improved company offer.
The breakthrough came after ETU and AMWU members took five four-day and one six-day stoppages over six weeks.
Workers will soon receive a 5% increase in pay backdated to March, with instalments of 4.5%, 4.5% and 2% to follow annually.
In a big development in industrial dispute involving Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) and the 55 maintenance workers it has sacked in Melbourne, the contractor at the centre of the dispute, Programmed Skilled, has broken its contract with the brewery.
The 55 workers were sacked in June — then offered their jobs back with a 65% pay cut. The company brought in unskilled scab labour, with the sacked workers, backed by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), picketing the Abbotsford factory.
Production and distribution workers at Carlton & United Breweries' (CUB) Abbotsford plant in Melbourne brought the site to a standstill for three hours on August 25, threatening further action if 55 sacked workers were not reinstated.
Two hundred members of United Voice and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) at the brewery held a stop-work meeting to condemn CUB's sacking of its maintenance staff and raised concerns about the impact this has had on safety standards.
Ergon workers in Bundaberg walked off the job in response to the company's plans to axe front line jobs in the region and across the state. This follows a similar walkout in Atherton on January 15 over the same issue.
Electricians and linesmen from the Bundaberg depot walked off the job on January 20 in response to the company's decision to outsource more work at the expense of permanent frontline positions.
More than 800 workers gathered in Bicentennial Park on August 23 to protest against the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement in a rally organised by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).
ETU National Secretary Allen Hicks told the crowd Chinese companies need invest only 15% in a project worth at least $150 million to be able to bring in workers from overseas who are not subject to labour market testing.
For as little as $22.5 million, a Chinese investor in a joint venture with an Australian company can avoid paying Australian wages and conditions.
