UPDATE: STATEMENT 17th January 2019 Truck drivers who are employees see similar issues as contractors in the sector In response to stories on long haul truck drivers sleeping at depots, not being able to eat or drink anything (because they don’t have time to go to the bathroom) and having to pee in bottles due […]
Over 1000 St John Ambulance Professionals are stepping up industrial action by providing their service free to the public this Christmas. The non-invoicing of patients will be a welcome surprise to many who may unfortunately need to use the emergency service this holiday season. The non-invoicing of patients is an escalation of action after St […]
FIRST Union and its affiliate, the Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG), have been involved in the consultation process of the United Nation’s (non-binding) Global Compact for Migration that seeks to promote orderly patterns of migration and to protect the lives of migrants living outside their birth country. We have put effort behind this because we […]
The Government announced consultation for new changes to temporary work visas for migrants on Tuesday (December 17th) that seeks to better match skills to specific needs for different industries and regions while protecting the rights of everyday working people. The changes Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says the proposed changes affect several visas. All employer […]
While around 180 Pacific Fuel Haul tanker truck drivers have settled their collective, tanker truck drivers at SouthFuels who deliver fuel and lubricants to the primary industries in that region are now on strike over what are standard clauses in their industry. Members have been on strike since Sunday (1am, 16th December) over what are […]
Yesterday, migrant exploitation was exposed in the forestry industry. The Labour Inspectorate has penalised Silviculture Solution Ltd (SSL), an associated company of CNI Forestry Management Ltd, 35,000 dollars for an ‘illegal system of calculating pay’. Instead of paying workers what they were legally entitled to, the company paid them for what they considered were ‘productive […]
The Coalition Government has announced the largest increase to the minimum wage, ever, in its move towards its minimum wage goal of $20 per hour by 2021. FIRST Union General Secretary Dennis Maga says while the minimum wage (currently $16.50), is not enough to live off and should only have ever been used as a […]
180 fuel tanker drivers at Pacific Fuel Haul who had voted to walk off the job from December 16 for five days will no longer be doing so as a deal has been reached between workers and the company. The drivers were striking to protect modest redundancy provisions and for a fair and reasonable […]
Jackie can’t remember the last time she and her family had a holiday or even when her and her husband spent quality time together. “Money is too tight,” she says, “As a family we are working day and night just to cover the basics.” Jackie works at a supermarket. Supermarket workers are some of the […]
From tomorrow, over one-thousand St John Ambulance Professionals will be taking an unusual form of strike action; they will be swapping out their regular St John uniforms for mufti and orange high-vis vests that read, ‘Shift Our Pay’. FIRST Union members are taking the partial strike action after ten days of negotiations over several months […]
