Stick Together

The NDIS has been hailed as a great leap forward for people with disability. This week we explore the industrial relations impacts of the new NDIS funding model and what they mean for quality of care. This weeks episode also highlights HACSU’s campaign against the threat of privatisation in the Victorian disability sector.An extended interview with Leon and George about NDIS funding can be found here.

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union established itself this week in direct opposition to the SDA which has shown itself unable to defend members' rights to penalties and a fair deal.Taxi Owner/drivers are calling for a fair deal not chicken feed for license buy outs.

Two different rallies bound by violence: the rally honouring the National Day of Respect for Public Transport Workers & the second rally we visit was held outside the Fair Work Commission offices in Melbourne Central to mark the first hearings into the call for Domestic violence leave to be included in awards.

News that Brisbane Bus Driver Manmeet Sharma had been incinerated while at the wheel of his bus was so shocking that it did not just stun Brisbane but sent waves throughout Australia.  Save Centre of Cultural Partnership the only course dedicated to arts and social practice in Australia is being closed by VCA meaning job losses and a loss to the community.

In the recent ACT election the Unions ACT ran a grass roots workers focused campaign similar to We Are Union campaign in Victoria. It proved two things: 1. the ACTU change in direction to being a worker campaign organisation rather than reacting to crisis and 2. that this type of campaigning can be decisive.The Victorian branch of the CFMEU is having an election for organisers because one member has put themselves up for a role as an organiser. This has diverted money and effort away from issues that have been affecting the union in this climate of anti unionism. We speak to an existing organiser on the Members First Team.

This year marks the centenary of Australia's first non-binding plebiscite. In 1916, during the height of WWI, Australians were sent to the polls to vote on whether the government should extend conscription and send young workers to kill and be killed in a foreign war. Trade Unions were very active in the campaign and played an important part in defeating conscription. Today's episode explores the campaign and its legacy on Australia's political landscape.An extended interview with Associate Professor Sean Scalmer can be found here.

At the annual Union Activism and History Conference workers came together to talk about work place actions from the past and the present. The 1970's Rosella Strike that ran for 26 weeks, the victorious Polar Fresh dispute that ran for three days and a word from Colleen Bolger about an action at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers where fighting for fair came closer to home than the partners probably ever imagined.

In this episode we will be focusing on the Trans Pacific Partnership as it makes its way through Parliament or not. We give you the answer to why it bad for workers. After that we will talk to some of the delegates and organisers of the first Young Workers Conference held on Oct 7 and 8. Delegates and rank and file members come from across the country and fromNew Zealand for the highly successful event held at the AMNF headquarters in Elizabeth St. Melbourne.

Today we will feature a CUB picket as the blokes were getting ready for the Grand Final weekend. The Young Workers Centre down at Victorian Trades Hall has been putting runs on the board over the last year and on Friday Oct 7th it runs its first Young Workers Conference.We will finish with Ben Davis from the AWU reflecting on the recent decision of the Andrews Labour Government in Victoria's to boost local jobs with the new contract to build the rolling stock for the railways.

In today's programme we are going to look at what is happening at one of Australia's oldest oil and gas fields Longford 20 kilometres from Sale in South Gippsland, Victoria. After more than 50 years the oil reserves are running out and the way Exxon Mobil subsidiarity Esso is dealing with worker negotiations is raising eyebrows.  We will follow that with a look at Coates Hire Workers who are taking action around the country for better conditions at work. Many of these workers are isolated in small teams but despite this they can see the importance of solidarity in fighting owners of Coates Hire who are continuing to demand a pay freeze and to slash conditions.