Across the public sector members have been continuing to strengthen our union presence in all of their workplaces.  We have continued to sign up new members, and our campaigns like HP Stronger Together and Stand Up, Step Down are still gaining in support and strength.

But we need to do more to build strength into the future.  We face a lot of challenges in ensuring that public sector workers can build a stronger, better resourced and more effective union.  We can deal with these challenges but to meet them we need to gain the resources to tackle the big problems and win.

One of the challenges to becoming stronger, better resourced and more effective is competitive unionism.

It is difficult to convince workers to join and become engaged in their union if they see unions fighting each other.

Competitive unionism has been a dead weight in the efforts of Queensland Health workers.  It’s hard to make ground on the challenges that affect public sector workers – things like workplace bullying and public sector independence – if QPSU resources and strength are sapped by fighting taking place in Queensland Health.

And as the Queensland Health EB8 agreement gets closer, that weight becomes more and more threatening.

CLICK HERE to read more

Under a failure of public administration unprecedented in Queensland’s history, thousands of public sector workers in Queensland Health have been incorrectly paid, some for weeks on end, and continue to be incorrectly paid every fortnight.

The QPSU has been working with other unions, the Industrial Relations Commission and Queensland Health to try to ensure that workers are paid correctly but it is clear that there is no quick fix to this pay crisis and that some workers may continue to be incorrectly paid past Christmas.

Make no mistake: this is a monumental failure by Queensland Health’s highest leadership, without precedent in our state’s history.  With a crisis this big, a resignation btcy Minister Lucas is simply the most appropriate response.

Visit www.standupstepdown.com and join the call for Minister Lucas to resign.

CLICK HERE - To read more

On 15 June HP delegates held a successful conference to formulate a log of claims for the HP Stronger Together campaign that we can put forward to our employer.

The success of this campaign will depend on how many HP workers are active in their union.  If you know a HP in Queensland Health who is not currently a member of their union, now is the perfect time to ask them to join!  Send them to www.hpstrongertogether.com/join so we can ensure that all HPs stand strong together for a great collective bargaining outcome.

With the support of our delegates and members for the new log of claims, our campaign is growing in strength!

You can take a look at the log of claims at the HP Stronger Together website: www.hpstrongertogether.com/downloads/1006_loc.pdf.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this update

Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA is the official aid arm of the Australian union movement.

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA was established to contribute directly to countries and regions of the world where men and women workers are disadvantaged through poverty, a lack of workplace, denial of labour and human rights, civil conflict and war.

Support APHEDA's work here

Union Aid Abroad is committed to justice and solidarity and to self reliance, not charity. It builds self-reliance through support to educational and training projects for workers and their organisations in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, Southern Africa and the Caribbean.

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is supported by individual union members, the ACTU, unions, workplaces, AusAID and the Australian public.

Click Read More to learn more about APHEDA

It may be hard to believe in the year 2010, but on average Australian women are paid 17 per cent less than men when wages are averaged – based on ABS data.

The pay gap is so big that on average women have to work 63 days more a year just to catch up on that income.

There are many reasons for this gap – one of the major reasons is that areas of the workforce where women predominate, such as the community care sector, are paid lower wages than average.

The Core enterprise bargaining agreement will soon be certified before the Industrial Relations Commission after the government’s ballot of employees concluded with an overwhelming result in favour of certification.

The results of the ballot were 94% in favour of certification, closely reflecting the results of the QPSU poll held last year.

The government is now in a position to recommend certification and the agreement should be certified some time in the next few weeks.

The Core agreement contains many important provisions won by union members, in particular the 4.5%/4.0%/4.0% wages offer.

QPSU members were successful in having these increases applied administratively by the government in 2009 ahead of formal certification, which, as has turned out, was many months away. Members should be very proud of their efforts – if you know someone who is not yet a member encourage them to join the union – they can do it online, because it is union members who ensure that improvements to pay and conditions are won for workers.

Less than three years ago, the Australian people overwhelmingly rejected the WorkChoices laws. 

When the government took away basic rights like protection from unfair dismissal and the right to bargain for a union collective agreement, QPSU members and workers around the country had their say and defeated the WorkChoices laws at the ballot box.

Now we have to prepare for another fight to defend our rights.

All of the key elements of WorkChoices that Australia’s workers fought against – including statutory individual contracts that could undermine awards, the stripping away of award rights, and the loss of unfair dismissal protection for millions of workers, are now part of the plan that Tony Abbott, a Minister in the government that introduced WorkChoices, will take to the federal election this year.

We need to remind Tony Abbott, and all politicians, that our rights at work are always worth fighting for, and we’re not about to let them take our rights away!

Take action today, and register your support at www.rightsatwork.com.au.  Please forward this video around to your friends and family – and let politicians know that whatever name they use, Australians will never tolerate WorkChoices again!

The state government recently announced changes to workers' compensation in Queensland that reject calls from the insurance and big business lobby to drastically reduce access by injured workers to common law remedies and instead seek to improve the financial performance of the scheme whilst more equally sharing the burden between workers and employers.

Workers' capacity to seek damages for work-related injuries will be retained but new measures will ensure that personal injury damages claims for work-related injuries will be subject to the same rules as other personal injury legal claims. The average premium rate for employers will increase from $1.15 per $100 of wages paid to $1.30 per $100 of wages paid in the next premium year – a level still below the average premium rate paid by employers in other states.

More images added 08|05|2010

All around the state union members have united to celebrate Labour Day this past weekend.  You can see some of the photos of the QPSU contingent at the Brisbane march and celebrations on this page.  Congratulations to the thousands of union members your families and friends who took part in the celebrations.

If you have pictures of your own, you can email them to cjo@qpsu.org.au for posting on our website.

Thank you once again for coming along in your thousands to celebrate and enjoy the day with your fellow workers – it wouldn’t have been such a success without you!

Click Read More below to view more photos from the day

Labour Day 2010 is a great opportunity for the whole family to relax and enjoy a day of celebration across Queensland.

As well as relaxing and enjoying ourselves with our families, it’s a great time to remember what it is that union members are trying to achieve: building a better life.

There are Labour Day events all across Queensland – make sure you check with your local delegate to find out what’s going on near you.  You can also check the list of activities available at the Queensland Council of Unions website, or at the QPSU.  Please remember that details as announced in some cases may change, so it’s a good idea to check with local delegates or organisers.

For Brisbane members, the Labour Day march will begin on Monday 3 May at 10:00 am at the corner of Wharf and Turbot Streets and finish at the RNA Showgrounds. At the event QPSU members will join with other unions for food, music, and kid’s rides and hopefully a great day out for everyone celebrating!  For details of the route and the QPSU’s position, please see the QCU website.

Please join your fellow union members in celebrating the holiday and in building a better life.