About: Union Solidarity

Union Solidarity aims to build a mass based united front campaign on the ground to defeat the repressive IR laws. Union Solidarity is a wide network of affiliated community and welfare organisations and unions with the single aim of building a broad people’s movement to beat back attacks on workers, unions and communities.

union solidarity: Union Solidarity
Thursday, July 27, 2006

150 attend Spotlight protest



On Saturaday July 22 150 members of the community attended a rally protesting Spotlight's threatment of their workforce. The rally outside Spotlight's Bayswater store was organised by Eastern Community Action Group.



more info: rally leaftlet | Eastern Community Action Group | list of other Spolight stores

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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Successful rally outside ABCC hearings

On Monday 24 South West Community Solidarity organised a successful community outside the ABCC hearing in Portland. Around 60 members of the community assembled to show solidarity to the union members being "interviewed" by the ABCC. The following day another assembly was organised attracting up to 20 people. Given the conservative nature of the electorate this is an amazing result, congratulations to all who participated.

more info: South West Community Solidarity | Rally outside of ABCC hearing in Portland

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Friday, July 21, 2006

Community claims victory in Save Sunshine Pool campaign.

In a dramatic week of community and union action residents of Sunshine may have forced the State Government and their local council to repair an existing 50-meter outdoor pool or build a new outdoor pool. Campaigners in the Save Sunshine Pool Community Committee are optimistic that as a result of a union supported community picket decent outdoor aquatic facilities are in finally coming to Sunshine.

The local Brimbank council have played hardball with the popular community demand that the existing outdoor pool at the Sunshine Leisure Centre be repaired. Instead the council promoted improving indoor aquatic facilities and filling in the outdoor pools.

On Tuesday 11 July the council tried to blackmail the community by refusing to improve any facilities and in fact directed that the Sunshine Leisure Centre close! After much furious lobbying between unions, local and the state government a way out of the impasse was negotiated. Stage 1 (improving the indoor facilities) would proceed, the community picket would be lifted and a mechanism to improve the outdoor facilities was outlined. On Thurs July 13 the motion to close the leisure centre was reversed.

more info: Save Sunshine Pool Website | motions at last Stand rally

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Uniting Church promote progressive IR laws

The Uniting Church has recently outlined a progressive industrial relations policy for dealing with its employees. Some of the guiding principles guiding the new industrial relations policy are:
  • A belief that people are not simply human resources alongside other resources
  • A workplace that will better enable people to be whole in all their lives
  • A workplace which encourages, as far as possible, a sharing of insights and skills regarding management of the workplace
  • A workplace that encourages the participation of unions and employer organisations.
more...

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Thursday, July 20, 2006

Rally outside of ABCC hearing in Portland

12.30pm sharp!
Mon 24 July and Tues 25 July
Portland Court House
Cliff St, Portland

The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) with all the subtly of the Spanish Inquisition is rolling into Portland. Two union members are going to be "interviewed" by the ABCC (AWU and AMWU). Under the act the ABCC has the power to compel unionists to give evidence with no right of silence or protection against self-incrimination. It is an offence to disclose the contents of the examination and failure to comply with the ABCC can result in a 6 months jail term.

Henry Lawson famously wrote "when a man is jailed for striking it's a rich man's country yet". In John Howard's Australia we can add "when a worker is jailed for talking it's a rich man's country still". We must protest against this fundamental attack on our human rights.

more info: Mark 0427 013 186 | South West Community Solidarity | What's wrong with the ABCC | CFMEU Pocket guide to the ABCC | ABCC compliance orders

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Workers TV on Channel 31



The Union Show
Tuesdays 6.30pm
Channel 31

Ska TV are currently putting to air an excellent weekly show covering union issues. Support this vital show. They inviite email suggestions, questions, inquiries and any and all comment

more info: theunionshow@yahoo.com.au
 
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Huon workers picket for entitlements

Huon Group administrators sacked 122 people from factories in Bendigo, Frankston and Dandenong, last week, and announced $30 million in owed entitlements, for all 600 employees, had disappeared.

Furious employees deserted all three factories after mass meetings, last Friday. NUW and AMWU members set up picket lines and determined to let nothing in or out until sacked colleagues received their full entitlements.

"They've voted to take control of the company's assets until something is sorted out," Dave Oliver (AMWU state secretary) confirmed. more...

Franston Picket: FRN Frankston, 300 Frankston-Dandenong Rd Frankston

Recent events: (wed 19 July)
An application for an s496 order against the National Union of Workers and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union to force members from Huon Corporation back to work, was adjourned late this afternoon (Wednesday July 19). read more

more info: Howard's $30m Rip Off | AMWU | Wed 19 July NUW press release

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Thursday, July 13, 2006

Support CFMEU members facing huge fines

URGENT ACTION NEEDED
Please send urgent messages of solidarity to the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union of Western Australia. jmellor@cfmeuwa.com.

107 rank and file members of CFMEU working on the Perth to Mandurah rail project face individual fines of up $28 000 for taking strike action in February this year. Another 323 workers could face similar fines. Court proceedings are expected to begin on August 12th. more

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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

CEPU protest rally outside Telstra headquarter

Rally outside Telstra’s corporate headquarters

12 Noon on Thursday
13th July 2006
crn Exhibition & Lonsdale Sts
Melbourne

Please come along, bring your banners and help us protest against Telstra Management and Howard’s way!

Telstra Management has notified several hundred employees they are being made redundant. This is not new in a company that has laid off over 50,000 workers since 1996.

What is new is that they intend to get rid of award workers on good wages and conditions and replace them with workers on individual contracts on about $11,000 a year less, with no 36 hour week and 9 day fortnight, and other poor conditions.

more info: Len Cooper CEPU Branch Secretary

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Monday, July 10, 2006

Call to action: Lufthansa’s Global Tele Sales uses IR laws to cut wages

Call centre workers at Global Tele Sales (GTS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Airlines, have been offered individual contracts (known as AWAs) under the new federal industrial relations laws that slash their existing wages and conditions.

The call centre employs 80 people in Melbourne and is part of the Lufthansa multi-billion dollar network worldwide. Despite having a collective agreement that does not expire until December 2006, the Company has offered this substandard deal. more...

send protest emailSend a protest email

more info: Ingrid Stitt (ASU) 9320 6700 | 0418 357 440
Global Tele Sales uses laws to cut wages | newsletter

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Thursday, July 06, 2006

Nation wide action against IR laws

Successful Rallies
Protests have taken place around Australia against the Federal Government’s Industrial Relations Laws. Workers, unionists, church groups and community members rallied to highlight the devastating impact the new laws are having in weakening workers bargaining positions, and stripping them of hard fought rights. more..

What's the next step?
The education campaign against WorkChoices has been extremely successful. Union Solidarity are urging supporters to get active in your local area. The great work of mobilising and educating the community needs to continue.
More Reports
Victorian Trades Hall: Gallery 1 | Gallery 2

Indymedia: Images 1 | 2 | 3
Reports: Perth | Sydney
Regional Centres: Geelong | Wodonga | Newcastle workers march on Spotlight

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Save Spirit of Tasmania III

Hello here are some images from our ongoing rally to protest the sale of Spirit of Tasmania III the Sydney to Devonport Service. Those at the rally are mainly young casuals who live and work in Northern Tasmania.

We made our own placards during our downtime on the ship. The delegates are delivering the petitions to Richard Colebeck our local Senator. Thousands of passengers and locals signed our petition. We protest every week and get on the local TV and in the Tassie newspapers. If you want to join in then drop into the MUA office in Devonport and ask for details.

SPIRIT III Crew

more info: Spirit III sold

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Save Sunshine Pool

pick line fire at nightThe Save Sunshine Pool Community Committee have just set up a community picket line to stop Brimbank Council demolishing the old outdoor swimming pool.

Council started cutting down trees around the pool in preparation for the demolition. The VTHC, CFMEU, AWU and several other unions are respecting picketline established by the local community.

The Save Sunshine Pool group is calling on local residents, community groups, unions, schools and local small businesses for support on the picket line.

If you can help on the picket line or assist in any other way please phone the Save Sunshine Pool Hotline: 0408 521 913.

more info: Save Sunshine Pool Website | Picketline roster hotline 0408 521 913

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Keep the pressure on Spotlight

Workers at Spotlight will be given a pay increase of just two cents an hour in exchange for losing entitlements like penalty rates, rest breaks and overtime.

The Australian-owned chain of fabric and homewares stores employs 6000 workers and rakes in over $600 million a year. But new staff will lose up to $90 a week under the terms of Spotlight’s new AWA individual contracts.

Support the Spotlight staff. Tell Spotlight's owners Morry Fraid and Ruben Fried how you feel about their company's actions. more

Send a message to Spotlight owner | Bayswater action outside Spotlight | list of Spolight stores

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Saturday, July 01, 2006

EMERGENCY ACTION to defend sacked shop steward

Rally at Johnson Park
Geelong
4pm Monday
June 3

March on Kempe Offices

Kempes, a well known Geelong Employer, has sacked another shop steward (the third in 3 years). We must stand up and show solidarity with union activists fighting this company. Kempes are a South African company and in the words of one South African born union member "they made there millions when the black people of South Africa were treated as slaves and would not mind if that was the situation here"

Don't let our union members be intimidated out of standing up for better working conditions. We have to defend our shop stewards. See you there....

more info: John Cameron | camonjo@aapt.net.au | 0414 289 584 | report of demo

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Disclaimer: Articles appearing on www.unionsolidarity.org come from a wide variety of sources. Opinions expressed and reportage of events do not necessarily reflect the position of Union Solidarity or meant to imply endorsed by any group Union Solidarity is supporting at the time of publication.