• Democracy and Palestine Activism Under Attack: Reject the ANUSA Governance Review at the OGM!
    The ANU Students Association Governance Review report represents a grave attack on student unionism at ANU. Written by an external consulting agency, in collaboration with university management, and incumbent members of the ANUSA executive, it aims to discipline Palestine activists, strip democracy of the union, and remove politics from our student association – including abolishing activist roles like the Environment Officer. The report claims that “there had been too much focus on pro-Palestine campaigning over recent months,” and states “it is crucial the president avoids becoming too involved in divisive political campaigns,” as has occurred in the context of what the report calls the “Hamas-Israel war.” This alone would be enough to oppose the report. We are living through a genocide – the greatest moral question of our generation – and every left-wing, activist institution in society, as student unions are, should dedicate serious time to opposing it. However, attacking Palestine activism is just the thin edge of the wedge in this report, which is about suppressing left-wing politics within ANUSA and undermining its democratic structures. In the eyes of the report, ANUSA should become a non-political, non-controversial body, led by a president who should be the “CEO of ANUSA”, with the “executive as the primary governing body of ANUSA”. Some of the recommendations include: • Decision-making power should be removed from the SRC, the only part of the union where ordinary students can move motions, and hold the executive to account (recommendation 1). • Institute non-elected postgraduate representatives on this executive (rec. 27). • Restrict the ability of the president to take political stances (rec. 13). • Abolish the Environment Collective and Environment Officer (rec. 6). • Abolish the Education Committee, historically the activist collective of the student union (rec. 7), and make the Education Officer into a non-activist, administrative role (rec. 8). These recommendations were produced in consultation with the Deputy Vice Chancellor of ANU, who has personally brought code of conduct cases against Palestine activists this year. The entire approach fits with university management's aspiration to limit the independence of ANUSA.  It will be brought to a vote at the next Ordinary General Meeting in Week 10, October 16th, 6pm. All students get a vote. We urge any students who oppose these changes to attend and vote. We, the undersigned, oppose this review, and affirm that ANUSA should be a pro-Palestine, activist, fighting organisation (if you're signing on behalf of a group please put the name of the group in the notes section).
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    Created by ANUSA Environment Collective Picture
  • Act Now: UTS Response to ICJ's Verdict on Israel's Illegal Actions in Palestine
    UTS staff and students are urged to sign this petition to uphold our commitment to social justice and human rights. The International Court of Justice's recent finding highlights Israel's illegal practices in the occupied Palestinian territory. As a leading institution dedicated to ethical principles, UTS must take a stand against these violations. By signing this petition, you join a collective call for the University to reassess its relationships with entities connected to Israel, condemn the illegal occupation, and support the rights of the Palestinian people. Your signature is a powerful statement of solidarity and a call for UTS to lead by example in advocating for justice and upholding of international law.
    456 of 500 Signatures
    Created by UTS Staff for Palestine
  • It's time for a pay rise in Timor-Leste
    Since 2012, Timor-Leste's minimum wage has remained stagnant at USD$115 a month, despite soaring inflation and overwhelming evidence advocating for an increase to prevent further impoverishment. The Timorese National Labour Council, with representatives from the Government, employers, and unions, reached an agreement to raise the minimum wage to USD$150 per month. Regrettably, the increase proposal was rejected by the Government. This sets a precedent that will undermine tripartism in the future, especially as it relates to fixing national minimum wages in Timor Leste. A persistently low minimum wage not only perpetuates continued poverty for low-income workers but also intensifies existing social inequality through a cycle of cheap labour. We, Australian unionists, stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of the KSTL, urging the Council of Ministers of Timor-Leste to approve the Proposal for a Decree-Law on the National Minimum Wage, proposing an increase to USD$150 per month. This proposal has widespread support from workers and their families and can alleviate the cost of living.
    247 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Union Aid Abroad APHEDA
  • Urgent Need for Timely Completion: A Message for University of Sydney Graduates
    You are truly making a life-altering decision! Please also provide your UniSyd student email and ID using the links below to inform us if you are affected.
    248 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Luke Huang
  • Make May 1 a Public Holiday!
    May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is celebrated globally on May 1st. It commemorates the historic struggles of workers and their contributions to society. Many countries recognise this day as a public holiday, allowing workers to rest, reflect, and participate in labour-related events. And New South Wales, a state that is equal last for public holidays, should recognise its historical importance by making it an official public holiday.
    2,591 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Sydney May Day Committee
  • Stop making UniSuper members complicit in Israel’s crimes!
    It is unethical for the funds of UniSuper members to be invested in any companies which: • provide products or services that contribute to violent acts against civilians, Israeli or Palestinian; • profit from, or are complicit in, human rights abuses in Palestine; • provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance of the Israeli military occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem; • provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance and construction of the Separation Wall and/or maintenance and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories; and/or • establish facilities or operations in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
    820 of 1,000 Signatures
    Created by Australian University Staff in Support of Palestine
  • Zim shipping out of our ports
    ZIM is the oldest and largest shipping company in Israel. The company played an integral role in the colonisation of Palestine. Since then, it has remained central to the operations of Israel’s war machine by transporting weapons for the Israeli military. As part of the global upsurge of protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people, trade unionists and Free Palestine campaigners here in Australia and across the world have targeted ZIM shipping. These actions build on years of activism in port cities, including actions taken against ZIM in solidarity with calls by Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. ZIM is one of the most prominent Israeli businesses operating in Australia, running commercial cargo operations that visit major Australian ports. Stopping ZIM’s operations here would send a powerful message that Israel can not act with impunity. ------------------------ Initial signatories: David Glanz MEAA Melbourne/Naarm Tami Gadir NTEU (RMIT Branch) Naarm/Melbourne Lu MEAA Brunswick East Remy Bravery NTEU UniMelb branch Melbourne Ella Ryan ASU Melbourne Margaret McKenzie ASU Melbourne Max Smith ASU Delegate, Victorian Private Sector branch committee Melbourne, Victoria Tihtina Merid HACSU Victoria Ada Castle ASU Pascoe vale Shehzi Yusaf HSU Westmead Louise Dillon UWU WA Damian Dillon Professionals Australia WA Elham TAWFIQ Non Victoria Todd Morley Nteu Rivervale Yasi ASU Melbourne Rory Mullan National Tertiary Education Union Melbourne Elliot Dolan-Evans NTEU Melbourne Asmaa Anzar SDA WA Reed O'Loughlin HACSU Melbourne Wanjiku Mirie ANMF Ivanhoe, Vic Aryaa ANMF Naarm Hana NSWNMA Sydney Andrea Bortoli VAHPA Naarm/Melbourne Kendra Keller ASU Kulin Country Felix Clayton VAHPA Melbourne Jacqueline Kriz ANMF Geelong Hal Leigh United Workers Union Naarm Lee Baillie HACSU Naarm John abetz United workers union/ CPSU Hobart, Tasmania Zachary Doneu ANMF Victoria A HACSU Reservoir Liam UWU Victoria Rosalia Miller Australian Services Union nipaluna Scoutt Wintet ASU Nipaluna/Hobart Kelly Circosta QNMU Conondale Adrienne Harvey NTEU Brunswick Lachlan Marshall ASU Delegate Melbourne Kate Stodart NTEU Naarm/Melbourne Matt NTEU Melbourne Damian Anmf Melbourne Ruth Ellis SSTUWA/AEU Perth Brooke Williams ASU Melbourne Dara Campbell Health and Community Services Union Tasmania Nipaluna/Hobart, Lutruwita/Tasmania Mietta Van Dam ANMF Melbourne, VIC Yashna Seethiah NTEU VIC Laresa Kosloff NTEU Williamstown Corey Community services (cant remember name) Tasmania Frankie No Burnie Alexandra Nemaric AEU Point Leo Aiden Stalker Health and Community Services Union Tas Hobart Mark West HSU Brisbane Kisten McCandless Australian Services Union - Private Sector Branch Mount Waverley Leya Reid MEAA Sydney Milo Pace HACSU Naarm, Melbourne Erica VAHPA Ballarat Angela Carr ASU Delegate Geelong Tim gooden CFMEU Geelong Brenden CFMEU Geelong Zeta Henderson ANMF and AEU Geelong Nicole Toupin United Workers Union Workplace Delegate Naarm/Melbourne Adam M CPSU Canberra Cyn HACSU Vic Rufaro George Kanjere ASU, MEAA Melbourne Ross Smith MUA Geelong Nathalie Braunsberger SU Nipaluna Hobert
    2,486 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Unionists for Palestine
  • Make Unisuper divest in Elbit Systems
    Unisuper members need to support divestment in businesses that are complicit in war crimes. Its our money being invested into supporting the killing of innocent people by Elbit Systems!
    1,005 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Fran Miller-Pezo
  • No nuclear submarines in Port Kembla
    There is broad-based community alarm and dissent that Port Kembla is being considered as the East Coast base for nuclear submarines as part of the AUKUS agreement. There has been no consultation undertaken or consent given by our community. Port Kembla, as part of Greater Wollongong, was declared a nuclear-free city more than 30 years ago, and its status as a nuclear-free zone was reaffirmed only last year. If a nuclear submarine facility was based in Port Kembla Harbour it would require the acquisition and alienation of a massive part of the harbour and the land around it. Land which is a valuable and vital asset for our existing manufacturing, steel, land transport and maritime industries whose epicentre is Port Kembla. Delaying a decision would prolong and amplify uncertainty over exclusion zones, access to land and waterways for our emerging industries and threaten billions of dollars of investment in renewables making it a job killer. The presence of nuclear attack class submarines in our Ports would make us a nuclear target and pose an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of people given potential exposure to hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium. If its not safe for the people of New York City to have Nuclear submarines in their midst, it's not safe for the people of any city.
    626 of 800 Signatures
    Created by South Coast Labour Council
  • Murdoch Staff are ready to bargain!
    Murdoch staff have been hit hard during the COVID-19 crisis: enduring staffing cuts, taking on more work, keeping the lights on for students and the broader community while management are seemingly making decisions that don't improve staff conditions or well-being. A university is a place of ideas. Murdoch's 'tagline' is "A place for free thinking" but sadly free thinking comes at a cost and it is a cost borne disproportionately by staff. With an already lean Bargaining Agreement and no real cost of living relief in sight, it's time to support Murdoch staff in their entrenched right to bargain for a more robust Bargaining Agreement. You need to send a message to management – this isn’t good enough, we can’t afford to keep going backwards, we are struggling with the lack of support, and we demand that they begin bargaining NOW. Click the link to sign the petition - send the message to management that we're ready to bargain NOW!
    42 of 100 Signatures
    Created by NTEU WA
  • Coca Cola as FIFA sponsor must speak out on Qatar
    In the decade since Qatar was awarded the right to host the World Cup, exploitation and abuse of these workers has been rampant, with workers exposed to forced labour, unpaid wages and excessive working hours. At the heart of the abuse faced by migrant workers is Qatar’s ‘Kafala’ system of sponsorship-based employment which legally binds foreign workers to their employers. Other factors linked to the abuse of mi-grant workers are high levels of worker debt caused by illegal and unethical recruitment practices, the late and non-payment of wages, barriers to obtaining justice when rights are violated, the prohibition of trade unions and the failure to enforce labour laws and penalize employers who abuse their workers. In past campaigns, FIFA sponsors have been asked to reconsider their support – with no result. Some of the sponsors, including Coca Cola, have issued statements condoning human rights abuses anywhere in the world and underlined the trust in FIFA in addressing those. One reason brands are unlikely to take drastic action is simply the pay-off from being a World Cup sponsor. Several are also long-term sponsors, with Coke involved with FIFA since 1974. Pressing FIFA on a PR campaign seems like a very soft measure. However, it is a measure that allows sponsors to take action with real impact without compromising their business interests. In Australia alone, Coca Cola employs more than 3.000 workers in 9 manufacturing sites. Since 2018 Coca Cola developed a Human Rights Action Plan and published several Human Slavery Reports. If Coca Cola takes these self-commitments seriously it should take its responsibility as FIFA World Cup sponsor and act now.
    6 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Andreas Brieger
  • It's time for the people of Ireland to decide their future
    2021 marks 100 years since the partition of Ireland. The imposed division of Ireland triggered decades of injustice and conflict, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. The signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 ended decades of political conflict, and also provided a path for the achievement of Irish national self-determination through peaceful and democratic means. It was endorsed through referendum by an overwhelming majority of the people of Ireland, north and south, and is an internationally binding Treaty that places legal obligations on both the Irish and British Governments to ensure full implementation of all its provisions. The Good Friday Agreement provides for concurrent referenda north and south, to determine any change in the Constitutional status of the north of Ireland. Specifically, the Agreement provides for a poll to be triggered by the British Government. Recent historic political developments in Ireland, including the detrimental impact on Ireland of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, and the failure to provide an all-Ireland response to the global Covid19 Pandemic, have resulted in an unprecedented and building momentum for Constitutional change. The most recent polls have shown that a majority of citizens in the north of Ireland now favour a Referendum being held within the next five years. Recognising that Australia and Ireland have long and deep historic links – with an estimated one-third of today’s Australian population having Irish ancestry – we share many common bonds and democratic values. In this spirit, as part of the Diaspora of generations of Irish people in Australia, we call on the British government to honour the requirement set out in the Good Friday Agreement and to hold a Referendum on Irish Unity. We say – ‘It’s Time’ to let the People decide. I believe its time for the people of Ireland to decide their future
    25 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Peter Moss