Stick Together

 This week we visit a memorial commemorating the Rana Plaza disaster. It was on Tuesday April 24th Labour Safety Day in Bangladesh, but we were at Quality Tops in Reservoir, Melbourne where a group of clothing workers bowed their heads remembering the over 1,000 Bengalese’s worker crushed to death when the building they were working in collapsed nine years ago. It was a reminder that worker solida...

In today's program we hear voices of Temporary Visa workers,  from Matt Kunkel from the Migrant Worker's Centre and about a new move by the Victorian Government to provide sick leave for Casual workers. 

In today's program we hear voices of temporary visa workers and then hear from Matt Kunkel from the Migrant Worker's Centre and a new move by the Victorian Government to provide sick leave for Casual workers which is a policy lever being employed to push back on the free ride employers have been taking when it comes to their employees’ health.

Concluding the series on the Australian Education sector James Brennan interviews Briley Sharp Vice Presidnet of the primary sector of the Australian Education Union.

First up we hear from the National Secretary of the Australian Education Union Correna Haythorpe about the slashing of Federal funds to Public Education The racially discriminatory Community Development Program has been renewed until July 2024. I spoke to Lara Watson, ACTU Indigenous Officer for some background on the scheme and what this new announcement now means for people on remote communities

Today we feature voices from the School Strike for Climate Action held on Friday 25th March but first some Union news.

A long interview with feminist, socialist and teacher of more than 30 years Mary Merkenich discussing the recent YES vote on a new Victorian Government Schools Agreement. The YES vote carried 61% of delegate votes held over the past 3 weeks - but deep concerns remain about the efficacy of this agreement, with Victorian Teachers remaining the lowest paid in the country. So - what can unionists do n...

Last week was International Working Women's Day. First up a little from Jess Hill, investigative reporter and author, who was speaking at a University of Technology Sydney IWD event, then an up close and personal experience of sexual harassment and fight back at a workplace with the Not Your Honey Campaign, a word from Sally McManus Secretary of the ACTU – the Australian Council of Trade Unions fi...

Host James Brennan continues his series on the Australian education system inerviewing the authors of a new book titled Waiting for Gonski: How Australia failed its schools. 

Two High Court decisions in early February around the definition of who is an employee and who is a contractor sent shockwaves across the Australian industrial landscape. We discuss the issues with Professor Anthony Forsyth, Department Head of Law at the RMIT Graduate School of Business and Law. Inquiry into Victorian On-Demand Workforce hereProfessor Forsyth's  Book:                             ...

Today on Stick Together we hear from a midwife who has left her profession of more than a decade, no longer willing to work in Covid ravaged hospitals. Plus we cover the RTBU actions in Sydney, Health Workers on strike and the Senate Select Committee on Job Security. 

Today we hear from a successful worker lead campaign to maintain conditions and wages at CSR and follow with an insiders view of what is happening for nurses during the covid crisis.  

On this week's episode we continue the series on the Australian education system with James Brennan speaking with retired teacher Gerry Beaton. Looking at the changes from the diminished power of the union to the shifting of Government funding from state schools into the private school system. 

Today we look at the moves by Patricks Stevedoring Company to wipe out the enterprise agreement on their sites across Australia. This is following a corporate trend coming from Svitzer and Qantas. We follow with a look at Australia's deadliest industry - trucking. 

What do rank and file Health Workers think about new policy settings as Omicron runs roughshod over the eastern seaboard, SA and NT? Are health unions, and those of other essential workers, considering more dramatic action as pressure on workers increases? We speak to industrial relations reporter and health care organiser Sarah Hathway. 

Is the Federal Government's 'plan' fit for purpose with the omicron variant of covid spreading like wild fire across Australia? We hear from the ACTU, the Aged Care Sector and the Earlier Educators.

This is part one of a series exploring the Australian education system as we hear from educators and others from across the country, in this episode we chat to Ben who has been a teacher in both Victoria and Western Australia about some of the challenges for teachers. 

Today we are going to hear from Virginia Eubanks from the University of Albany in America as she talks about her book: Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. It has particular interest in Australia because of the Federal Governments love affair with similar systems as it pushes to automate our social security system.

In today's episode we chat with Daniel Randall, Union member and transport worker on the Public Transport system in London. I met Daniel during discussions about public tranport's role in the climate emergency at the COP26 People's Summit. I learnt the most extraordinary thing: the London rail system relies on tickets sales because the government does not see it as an essential service. Is this th...

Unlike teachers, whom at the very least receive a lip-service of support for their critical work, education support workers (ES) are chronically undervalued and unrecognised. As the Victorian Branch of the Australian Education Union fights for a new industrial agreement we speak with an ES staff member and unionist with experience in both the public and private sectors. 

Today we continue the discussion around the rise of casualization which is destroying Australian society. We go to a NTEU rally that was held outside a mansion bought by Melbourne University for their Vice Chancellor to live in at the cost of $7.1 million dollars while the University persists in paying academics at casual rates on insecure contracts with the depressing move to cut the rates of pay...

Today we hear from a worker at RMIT who has been part of a long running campaign to win back over $10 million in unpaid wages to RMIT staff. The NTEU has been working with mostly casual staff to reach a settlement with the university of years of unpaid wages.

Today we hear  about the successful strike action taken by Country Road Warehouse workers for wage parity and job security earlier this month. We follow with a look at the star of the South Wind Farm project which is endorsed by both the ETU and the MUA. 

Today we speak with a different type of worker. No one pays Emma or anyone else from Blockade Australia for the work they've put in to shut down the world's largest coal port in Newcastle Australia. We spoke to her about the action, which ran from the 8th-18 November, and it's importance to workers across the country. Plus, of course, some union news. 

Today we hear about a decision from the Fair Work Commission which may pave the way for fair wages in the agricultural industry.