Public holidays have immense social value. In an increasingly busy world where workers are working more and more hours, public holidays are more important than ever. We all need the chance to rest and have time with our families and friends. Tasmanian workers are now the lowest paid in the country, and we have less full day state wide public holidays than a number of other states and territories. But the Hodgman Liberal Government has recently proposed cutting some public holidays from Tasmanian public sector workers. They are also conducting a review in apparent secrecy with no consultation with unions or workers. Any review of Tasmanian public holidays must not result in a loss of public holidays for workers in any part of the State. A genuine review of public holidays should look at all options including whether we have enough public holidays and what is in the best interests of workers.

If employers continue to be bound by the current arrangements, they will soon be unable to continue delivering key services. We’ll see large-scale job-losses, loss of expertise, disruption of services to clients and a high potential for reduction in the quality of services. Without this support, Victoria’s disability sector will likely fail to retain the skilled and committed workers required under the NDIS, potentially resulting in widespread market failure across Victoria. We need to see an investment of $46 million over 3 years, to deliver the quality NDIS that people with disabilities so rightly demanded. This represents just 7 cents in every dollar that the Victorian government will contribute to the NDIS in a single year – but the impact will be huge.

The current system creates inequities within the workforce, and can lead to serious hardship on families experiencing psychological and financial stress. The careers of women and primary carers can also be negatively impacted. "I returned to work at the ANU ten days after giving birth to my son. My family needed the income, but it wasn’t just this – I also needed to secure my next contract. It was important for me that my supervisors were happy with my performance and recommended me for my next contract. This was a very difficult time. I had psychological health problems. I felt guilty about leaving my son, and would try to see him to breastfeed on my lunchbreaks" (Professional staff member at ANU). By adopting employer-paid parental leave for all staff, ANU will keep pace with other universities in the sector who already provide paid parental leave on either a full or pro-rata basis for their staff. It will also help to: • Reduce financial stress on the families of staff who are experiencing loss of their weekly income to care for their children. • Reduce risks to maternal and child health from returning to work early, and support international guidelines on breastfeeding. • Contribute to ANU’s gender equality goals that aims to ensure all staff, regardless of their identity or sexual orientation, can contribute to their child’s wellbeing. Read the open letter to Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt from the NTEU Women's Action Network at nteu.org.au/anu/wan.

Newstart is $243 per week below the poverty line. Thanks to our government's refusal to raise the rate, unemployed Australians are being forced to needlessly endure crushing poverty every single day of their lives. Because there are far more job seekers than jobs available, the average time spent on Newstart is now five-and-a-half years. According to the ABS, there are currently 16 job seekers competing for every job available. In a wealthy country like Australia, which has "enjoyed" almost three decades of continuous economic growth, nobody should have to starve on lowly social security entitlements. We must fight for the right of unemployed workers to a liveable income. We must demand our leaders immediately raise Newstart to the poverty line.

This petition is being run by United Voice members in the ACT region. We are cleaners, security guards, early learning educators, and hospitality workers who need our federal politicians to represent low paid workers. We know what it's like to get underpaid and lodge a complaint, only to have our shifts cut, never recover stolen wages and see bosses go unpenalised. The ACT may have the highest average income in Australia but workers all over our community are getting ripped off by bosses and need change. Our local candidates should commit to working on these issues before they seek our vote in May.

Le Bon Ton is a New Orleans-style bar in Collingwood and one of Melbourne’s hottest late night venues. The bar closes at 6am on weekends and staff often don’t finish until even later. But whenever you work, you don’t get penalty rates. I worked for the owners of Le Bon Ton for more than a year and like countless other workers I wasn’t paid penalty rates either - I got paid a flat rate of as little as $18 per hour. In total, they stole about $5000 from me. Lots of others are also owed thousands of dollars. Will and Mick Balleau didn’t care if I couldn’t pay my rent. They’d you give a free beer at the end of your shift and reckon that makes it all right. They made me speak to their accountant who promised me the money. They even sent me a spreadsheet confirming I’d been underpaid by thousands and promised they'd pay me in the next pay run. But they never did. They were betting on me not knowing how to get my money. I finished working for them three years ago and I'm still waiting to get paid. What this is, is theft. But hospo bosses just keep getting away with it. I want to see these wage thieves held to account for how they treat their staff. The watchdog needs to take serious action against these guys. https://vimeo.com/319264816

Nearly 80 Australian seafarers have been sacked by BHP and replaced with exploited overseas visa workers. These should be Australian jobs for Australian workers, but Scott Morrison's Government chose BHP's profits over the jobs of locals.

Pharmacists study for 4 years, undertake an intern year and continuous professional development through their careers to ensure they can care for our community. That they are paid under $54,000 for such a vital job is a national shame. For two years Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) have argued in the Fair Work Commission to increase wages. Our members have provided evidence that a pharmacist’s work-value has increased with greater educational requirements, greater responsibilities and workload and yet pay has not kept up with change. The Fair Work Comission has rejected raising all wages, but will now consider intern and pharmacist rates and allowances for professional services. Sign to support our final submission to raise pay and ask your colleagues to sign as well.

Workers at Botany Cranes went without pay increases for five years in order to support the business through a slow period. In 2018, they finally came to an agreement with management on a new set of wages and conditions. The workers were relieved. They thought it was a done deal. But now, management are refusing to sign that agreement. Then, as if to add insult to injury, they've sacked long time employee and union delegate Howard Byrnes. Howard was sacked for raising issues on behalf of the whole Botany Cranes workforce with management. Workers were worried that the EBA hasn't been signed by management, that their superannuation hasn't been paid in months, and that their redundancy and income protection insurances are out of date. Howard was just doing his job as union delegate and raising these issues on behalf of the workers.

Workers in Australia have a right to join and participate in their union. The Federal government should not be allowed to tell workers what they can and can't wear. This is a blatant attempt by the Federal government to stop workers being active in their union. Sign our petition to tell the Federal Minister that this is unfair.

Hospital pharmacists provide essential services to our community. Cutting pharmacists wages and conditions, including removing senior level roles means patients won’t have access to experienced pharmacists. Patients rely heavily on senior pharmacists to provide advice and get dosages right – it’s just wrong to compromise these patients and penalise staff by cutting their working conditions and pay.

Great societies have well run, smart public services. STEM expertise in the Australian Public Service is vital so that our country can deliver the infrastructure, technical outcomes and public policy that Australians expect and deserve. STEM professionals are under increased pressure to deliver, while across the country staffing numbers are cut, funding is slashed and the voices of our scientists, engineers and technical experts are ignored. We see the results all around us –scientific advice ignored, project overruns, waste, cost blow outs. At the same time wages are stagnating, conditions are reduced, and job security is diminishing. We need to restore STEM capacity in the Australian Public Service and create a public service where professional expertise is respected as the key enabler it is, not an overhead to be cut.