Ambulance Victoria has received numerous complaints by paramedics about bullying and sexual harassment. They have asked the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) to undertake a review into Sexual Harassment and Discrimination. The review could take years! In the meantime, when paramedics and AV staff raise current issues about bullying, they are told that they can raise them in an internal process or send them to VEOHRC. VEOHRC's coverage of bullying is not clear cut. They cannot conciliate a bullying complaint unless it relates to discrimination or sexual harassment. This will leave many complaints out in the cold, with no-one available to review them. Additionally, less than 10% of surveyed staff at Ambulance Victoria believe that the current internal investigation process is effective and fair. This can’t wait - Ambulance Victoria must act now!

Delivery riders work night and day for an average of just $10.42 an hour*. They often have to work 50 - 60 hours a week to cobble together a basic income. They have no right to insurance when they get injured or die on the road, and it is at the discretion of huge multinational companies like UberEats and Doordash as to whether their families get supported. A survey conducted by the Transport Workers Union in September found that 73% of food delivery riders are worried about being ‘seriously hurt or killed’ at work. And their fears are clearly not unfounded. The Federal government must step up and take responsibility for workers being killed on the job by pulling these cowboy companies into line.

Public transport workers in Australia deal with millions of Australians getting them to work, school and play. This puts them at a heightened risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19. For many Governments, public transport workers are an afterthought. However, with this crisis, we need Governments of all levels to prioritise providing free and easy access to the new Covid-19 vaccine before big business and greedy CEOs get their hands on it. Public transport workers keep Australia moving and we can't let them be left at the back of the queue. #DontForgetPTWorkers #Covid19 #FrontlineHeros

This Convention is ground-breaking for many reasons, including that it: • Protects against all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work, including during commuting to and from work, and through information and communications technologies; • Protects all individuals in the world of work, irrespective of their contractual status, including volunteers, trainees and apprentices, and casuals; • Recognises that family and domestic violence is a workplace issue and sets out specific measures that can be taken to protect workers; • Recognises that workers in some sectors, such as health, transport, education, retail and hospitality, or those working at night or in isolated areas, may be more exposed to violence and harassment and need special protections. Although violence and harassment in the workplace can be suffered by any worker, women are much more vulnerable to it and much more likely to experience it. These risks of violence and harassment have become more pronounced during the pandemic. Rates of domestic and family violence have spiked around the world in 2020, and large numbers of workers are being required to work from home, regardless of whether it’s a safe work environment for them. Please tell the Attorney-General and Minister for Women to urgently commit to ratify C 190 to make workplaces healthy, safe and respectful for all of us.

Pharmacy patients are some of the most vulnerable people in our community – people with complex medication needs, people with multiple health issues, and the elderly who rely on medication for chronic illness and conditions. Pharmacies are primarily retail and health spaces that are not designed to be communicable disease testing centres. People who have respiratory symptoms including those with cold and flu symptoms should be tested at a predesignated testing sites and then stay home, not go to a community pharmacy. We’ve seen that even with highly trained medical staff adhering to strict infectious disease protocols, COVID-19 has successfully infected large numbers of health workers. The plan by the Queensland government to make every pharmacy in the state a Covid-19 testing centre is reckless and puts the health and safety of pharmacy employees and the community they serve at risk.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of cleaners and the amazing job they do in keeping work spaces and public areas clean, healthy, and sanitary. During the pandemic, cleaners have been put under immense stress as they fight to keep Tasmanians safe. It is because of the hard work and dedication of cleaners that Tasmania currently has zero recorded cases of COVID-19. However, we are only as safe as our front line defence allows us to be. By cutting the cleaning budget, effectively withdrawing time and resources from cleaners to do their job, UTAS is putting everyone at risk. It would be devastating if a second wave of COVID-19 spread throughout Tasmania because of this poor decision by Vice-Chancellor Rufus Black and the UTAS Board. UTAS must restore its cleaning budget NOW!

Mark Latham's Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 is a dangerous attack to LGBTIQ+ kids and staff. If passed, the Bill will: -prohibit trans and gender diverse content being taught in health and physical education classes. - prohibit teachers from mentioning the existence of LGBTI+ characters, people or events in other subjects like English or History. - prohibit counsellors from giving advice to students on the subject of gender fluidity. - force teachers to refuse to call students by their preferred pronouns. - teachers who do not comply could lose their accreditation and their jobs. - allow parents and guardians to remove their child from any course that mentions sexuality. - force schools to consult with parents and guardians at the start of each year about any course which mentions sexuality (and change the courses accordingly). - legitimise the stigmatization of intersex students. This Bill goes further even than the Religious Discrimination Bill that the Morrison government has waiting in the shadows - which itself would legalise discrimination towards LGBTI+ people in Australia. Latham's Bill goes further as a calculated attempt to erase the very existence of LGBTI+ people and force kids and staff back into the closet. Please share this petition to keep up the fight!

Health care workers are at high occupational risk of contracting COVID-19, and are overrepresented in serious cases. Preventative measures, including provision of and education about the use of personal protective equipment, is only effective if it is fit for purpose - masks that allow unfiltered air entry and exit exposes health care workers, their colleagues, family members, and care recipients to increased risk.

The slap-on-the-wrist fines that these companies get are not enough. Dodgy companies that cut corners and put their workers, the community and the environment at risk should lose their operating licences and be closed. These fires have deadly consequences and we need urgent action to hold these corporate criminals to account.

My name is Ranjan. I’m a 53-year-old asylum seeker from Sri Lanka. I have worked at Polytrade Recycling in Dandenong, Melbourne, since 2017. On 23 July, I was sacked by text message. My supervisor told me that I’m no longer needed. This happened on the day I took sick leave. Two days earlier, I became unconscious at work. I was taken by ambulance and the bill was paid by Polytrade. I had to take sick leave to do further tests on my chest. When my union representative contacted the human resources manager, the manager claimed that I spoke with a colleague about lodging work cover claim and that’s one of the reasons behind my dismissal. In 2017, Polytrade received a government grant of over $500,000. Meanwhile I was underpaid by $7 an hour. Only after we joined the Australian Workers Union did Polytrade lift our pay to the required minimum under the Waste Management Award. But I’m still owed tens of thousands of dollars from the underpayments. I rely on my job to pay my rent, bills, food and support my family back in Sri Lanka. I want my job back. And I want all Polytrade workers to have secure and safe jobs with fair pay. Please sign this petition.

In the middle of a global pandemic and an economic crisis that's only getting worse the government is misleading people on Centrelink payments about pointless and punitive 'mutual' obligations activities. It's not safe. Right now there are no penalties in place for refusing to do most mutual obligations, however people can be forced into a job they don't want and the government has given job agencies license to bully, harass and lie to people. This has made many JobSeekers confused and distressed, and many are doing activities against their will when they don't have to. We have called a strike to protest this behaviour. Go here for more information about your right not to do 'mutual' obligations right now: https://auwu.substack.com/p/how-to-participate-in-the-auwu-mostrike

Spotless Group Holdings is an integrated services company that also provides laundry management to hospitals and the broader health care system. Spotless laundry workers handle COVID linen from health care providers. Paid pandemic leave will give workers the peace of mind to take leave when they feel sick, even if they are casuals. It means no worker has to choose between their health and paying the bills; or worry about their next pay check when self isolating. For the good of the community, the workers and the company, Spotless must give workers paid pandemic leave now.