Stick Together

Today we look at the importance of placing workers in the centre of a just transition to combat climate change. We hear from Colin Long the Just Transition Organiser at the Victorian Trades Hall and Luke Skinner from the Climate Justice Union and an organiser for the United Workers Union in Western Australia.

This week on Stick Together Jackson is joined by Josh Sankey, high school teacher and AEU organiser at Albert Park College. With students returning to face-to-face learning after 200+ days of remote education, Josh describes how school staff are feeling about returning to the classroom. Also discussed in the ongoing AEU VGSA dispute, with school staff taking protected industrial action from Octobe...

Today we look at the AUKUS deal and how two Unions have voiced their opposition to Australia jumping in bed with the nuclear fanfare of the Federal Liberal National Government.

On this week's episode Jacob Grech interviews Brett Collins from Justice Action on life inside Australian prisons during the covid-19 pandemic and the campaign the build a prisoners union. Presented by host James Brennan 

This week we hear news about the starting of "fake unions" connected to the Liberal and National Parties and their use of strategic use of the fear surrounding Vaccination Mandates for recruitment. Then we hear an interview Jackson did with Tom Tanuki about how the union movement got caught up with the anti-vax movement and the influence of far right activists at the recent protests.

We look at last week's attack on the CFMEU offices in Melbourne from the point of view of Union members inside the office and finish with a plea from the mother of a Victorian nurse who sees first hand the daily trauma the covid pandemic on the workers who are tasked with keeping the health system going.

We hear from Auntie Viv Malo from her talks with protesters at the recent protests in Melbourne. Then we hear about the impacts of COVID lockdowns on workers and their communities in Ballarat.

We look at Sydney's covid outbreak from a worker's point of view following up with a report on the fracking in the Northern Territory - no jobs there.

This week on Stick Together, Jackson is joined by TWU delegate and removalist Nick Reich to talk about moving houses during Covid and dealing with public backlash. We also discussed the Toll strikes for safe working environs as the Amazon Flex, Uber and Deliveroo models threaten conditions across the industry. Finally we touch on the bewildering #standwithtruckies event and how it undermines worke...

This week is all about the Red Ribbon Rebellion. We hear from Jim Evans from the Bendigo Historical Society about the annual re-enactment and its significance. We then hear a conversation I had with Luke Martin and Dave Fox from Bendigo Trades Hall Council about the legacy of the rebellion in the labour movement and democracy in Australia.

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 N...

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 i...

 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 agreemen...

Today Stick Together is going to the recent hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Job Security link. The focus is on Amazon. What happened to the union vote at the Amazon Bessemer Warehouse? What is Amazon Flex and how does it exploit workers and undermine the delivery industry?

This week there's heaps of news and then we catch up on some regional news from Dave Fox, Vice-President of Bendigo Trades Hall Council.

We’ll hear from Lara Watson the National Indigenous Officer at the Australian Council of Trade Unions the ACTU who has been part of a four-year campaign to have the CDP in it’s present form to be stopped. We will also hear some comments from some speakers at the recent ACOSS the Australian Council of Social Service budget reply seminar as they wonder aloud at what the Federal Government might have...

On Friday May 21 the School Strike for Climate Change rallies were held in 50 sites across Australia including the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia, NSW, South Australia, the ACT, and Victoria. Major Cities and Provincial Centres. A call for action with Union representatives calling for a just transition to good jobs in an Australia no longer dependent on fossil fuel ind...