Australia knows the toxic legacy of asbestos all too well. Sixteen years after the ban came into force in Australia, 4,000 people die of asbestos-related diseases every year. Around the world an estimated 250,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases each year. Still today, 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in their workplace each year. What is the loophole? The Asian Development Bank’s ‘Safeguard Policy’ prohibits investments that include raw asbestos. However, this does not apply to the purchase and use of asbestos cement sheeting where the asbestos content is less than 20%, which includes almost all asbestos sheeting. This means that victims of natural disasters can be sheltered under roof sheeting contaminated by asbestos. It means that communities trying to grow their wealth and improve their welfare can be given an asbestos time-bomb in the form of asbestos sheeting. The Asia Development Bank’s current policy enables the asbestos industry in Asia to survive, despite the disastrous health impacts of asbestos. Alternatives are widely available for all asbestos-containing products, and the ADB policy must be updated to reflect this. The ADB must close the loophole! Let’s take a stand to stop asbestos everywhere! Find out more at apheda.org.au/asbestos

At least once a week a bus driver in Brisbane is assaulted by a member of the public. With injuries ranging from mental health trauma to broken bones that require hospitalisation, bus drivers are being left with lasting injuries for simply doing their job. RTBU members and concerned community members believe this is an unacceptable situation which doesn't just harm bus drivers but also places the travelling public at massive risk. The Lord Mayor and his council have been hiding from this issue and engaging in disgraceful victim-blaming. Enough is enough, it's time now that bus drivers and the community stand up for our right to safe public transport in our city. We can no longer stand by while the Lord Mayor and his council allow these assaults to continue. We won't stand for this any longer, will you?

Every worker deserves to come home from work, safe and well. But too many Tasmanian workers get injured on the job or worse – they never make it home. The Workers' Memorial Park was opened in 2011 following the work of a small but dedicated committee including unions, local government, the safety regulator and family members who had lost a loved one at work. There is no other dedicated place of remembrance for workers killed on the job in Tasmania. But the park was never fully completed to its original design. At Unions Tasmania, workplace safety is our #1 priority. The Park is an opportunity to show respect to families left behind and offers an opportunity to educate the community on the need to take safety at work seriously. The Government needs to step up and finally fund the completion of the Park.

Paramedics play a vital role in our community, helping Victorians when they are most in need. But it's challenging work, with paramedics suffering high levels of burnout, occupational violence, and exhaustion - physical, mental and emotional. Exposure to trauma is an unavoidable feature of the job, and increases the prevalence of a number of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and PTSD. Paramedics and the AEAV are speaking up about needing the support of the community to win protections for psychological health in the workplace.

Our hours, daily and weekly earnings are lower than they've ever been before, even though we've been doing the same job the whole time. Riders used to be paid $18.50 an hour and now we're not paid an hourly rate at all. Deliveries can be as low as $6 or less, despite Deliveroo promising they wouldn't go below $8 per delivery. There's no transparency and no ability to say no to changes in our wages. We just notice it going down through the app. We work in the cold conditions during winter. We work really hard for peanuts. Seeing our wages go down and down is gut-wrenching. We can't depend on these wages. We are demanding Deliveroo raise our rates of pay and lock them in. Deliveroo workers need security and a living wage. Michael, PK, Radhesh and the Roo Riders

Workers at the Perfection Fresh glasshouse in South Australia were the first group of workers to kick out dodgy contractors and win their first enterprise agreement. They are now joining with other Perfection Fresh workers to win basic rights as workers, have the company recognise their freedom to be union and make sure workers are able to speak out! By speaking out together and supporting the struggle of brave farmworkers we can make sure REAL action is taken to end worker exploitation and abuse that is happening throughout the supermarket supply chain. "The company puts too much pressure on us and has no respect for our rights. They target any worker that joins the union. The working conditions are extremely unsafe and many of us have become injured. As farmworkers we are asking Coles and Woolworths to support us and help us fight for our right to speak out!" - Safdar, worker and union delegate at Perfection Fresh

This is not good enough. We work hard and deserve to be safe, have a living wage and to be afforded decent working conditions. We are a large community and seeing this is scary, it could happen to any of us and there should be real support. If workers are injured we have to pay any medical costs, and will not receive any pay while we are unable to work. For workers here on a visa, it is unlikely travel insurance will cover an injury sustained while working. There's no compensation if you get hurt and you can be out of work for months if you have a crash. In a survey by the Transport Workers Union, 46.5% of riders said they or someone they know has been hurt while working as a food delivery rider. Riders have no physically safe workplace. We shouldn’t have to struggle for no sick pay, no workers comp, and barely enough money to live on. It's not fair, and UberEats needs to take responsibility. Sign the petition if you agree!

We, members of the Independent Education Union, call on the Tasmanian Government to respect workers in public education and across the public sector in Tasmania. Proposals tabled by the Will Hodgman government so far do not adequately address the workload, pay and resourcing issues in Tasmanian public schools. Tasmanian teachers are the lowest paid in Australia, while Support Staff earn on average $25,000 a year and in some cases rely on Centrelink payments to make ends meet. Due to excessive workloads, almost half of teachers say they can’t meet the individual learning needs of students. Educator burnout is high and the best and brightest are being lost from the profession. We support members of the AEU and other public sector unions who in the face of their government’s failure to deliver a decent offer have been left with no option but to take stop work action on 2 and 3 April. Premier Hodgman, it’s time to show some respect for public sector workers, the backbone of Tasmania.

Public transport has been chronically underfunded for decades, suffering cuts to staffing and a lack of investment to keep pace with population. Staffed stations have always played an important role in our community to ensure children can get to school safely, provide security at night, to simplify ticketing and customer enquiries, minimise vandalism and ensure our public transport network is accessible for all users. It is important that we raise our voice now to ensure commuters are treated with dignity and our network receives the support it deserves now and for the future!

Last month, 20 year old apprentice boilermaker Dillon Wu died at work, overcome by fumes while welding in a confined space. Dillon had been working at the site – Marshall Lethlean in Melbourne – for just two weeks. He was supplied to the company by the Australian Industry Group (AIG). The company knew the worksite was unsafe, and had prepared a safety report regarding 11 high-priority hazards. Following an anonymous complaint, WorkSafe had been to conduct a safety inspection at the site on the morning Dillon died. The inspector left the site at 9.30am. Dillon was dead by 10.00am. It was the absolute duty of the AIG to provide a safe workplace for Dillon. Instead, he was sent into a tank to grind welds, without ventilation, without a gas monitor, without supervision, and without certification to weld in a confined space. Instead, he was sent to his death. Every worker should come home safe from work. Deaths on the job are 100% preventable. When workers die, employers must be held responsible. We must stop deaths like Dillon’s. Sign our petition to make industrial manslaughter laws a reality.

The Western Mine Workers Alliance and its members are deeply concerned for the well being of all workers within Rio Tinto's Australian Pilbara mining operations.

In 2016, the Government agreed to reassess the model of staffing for nurses in the state’s public system. This body of work has not been completed in the agreed timeframe and left Tasmanian nurses and midwives concerned about the potential risks to the community. Information provided by the Tasmanian Health Service show that there are currently more than 250 nursing jobs vacant in the public health system in Tasmania. Combine this with the fact that by April 2019 Tasmanian nurses will be the lowest paid in Australia* this paints a serious problem for our health system. With the shortage of nurses and the increasing pressure due to lack of beds across the state, we are calling on your support, whether you are a nurse, midwife, care worker, politician, family member or concerned community member to help show the government that we need to stop disregarding the future of nursing in Tasmania and take action to retain, recruit and recognise these valuable community members. *As compared to a Registered Nurse Grade 3 year 8 or equivalent