Stick Together

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.

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.