Stick Together

Workers fight for work life balance at Qube in Fremantle.The United Services Uion  talks about the Union reaction to possible privatisation of water and sewage services at the Central Coast Council.Finally we look at what is going on in Sydney with the increasing numbers of covid cases where a group of Sydney-based trade unionists, academics and health care professionals are demanding that the NSW government “Lockdown to Zero”.Facebook – Lockdown to Zero – Health Before ProfitsTwitter - @lockdowntozeroInstagram – lockdown_to_zero

Back in April Annie talked with Michael Kaine National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union about the appalling health conditions for truck drivers across the country fuelled by the extreme pressure of unrealistic delivery deadlines. The last month has seen an horrific number of people killed in truck crashes, I talked with Michael Kaine again about the urgent need for reform in the trucking industry and what it will take to get it. And of course some union news.

In this episode presenter James Brennan interviews senior economist from the centre for future work Alison Pennington about the issues facing workers who are working from home. While casualisation was sold as a felxible working option with the employers holding the power it has meant workers are in insecure work. The covid-19 pandemic has meant many workers are working at least partialy from home.

The National Dust Disease Taskforce’s (NDDT) report - released last week after 2 years has sent shivers down the spine of any one concerned. It recommends a self-regulatory model for industries where there is a risk of exposure to respirable crystalline silica – a model that has clearly failed. We follow up on what is being called the new asbestos. A clear and present danger to workers lives.

Loads of news and we hear from Nahui from the La Trobe Student Union who are standing with university staff in the face of hundreds of forced redundancies and the university's union busting activities.

The issue of suppressed wages and insecure work is a worm destroying the apple of Australian life. We hear from a former Geelong Svitzer worker about how the company forced redundencies to bring in labour hire workers to do their jobs. We hear from Sally McManus you talks about The Broken Bargain Australia's growing wages crisis.

This week on Stick Together two new hosts join the program: James Brennan spoke with hospitality worker Mercedes Zanker about recent changes to the membership model of Hospo Voice, a youth-targeted subsidiary of the United Workers Union. Afterwards, Jackson McInerney interviews Renuka (name withheld), who has been casually employed to roll out the vaccine in aged care.

Loads of union news and an interview I did with Dave Kerin from Earthworker Cooperative about why they believe we need to move our economy away from militarism.

Changes to Superannuation mean that young workers will be 'stapled' to their first fund for life unless they change with the industry they work in later in life. This can have fatal affects for those moving into dangerous industries without covering insurance. We talk to Dave Noonan from the CFMMEU Construction Division.

This week we talk with Dr Patricia Ranald from the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network about the recent in principle free trade agreement made between the UK and Australia. We talk about some of the concerns raised about the exploitation of farm workers and animal welfare standards. We also talk about the lack of transparency and democratic processes surrounding the making of the agreement.