UnionsWA today joined with other unions to criticise the announced election policy of the Barnett Liberal Government to cut penalty pay and called for a constructive policy to create jobs in WA.  

UnionsWA has commented on the release by SafeWork Australia of its results of a survey of workplace bullying in Australia and WA.  The study has found that 9.2% of working West Australians reported having been bullied during the previous six months in 2014-15, almost double from 5.0% in 2010.

UnionsWA has commented on the release today by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) of data on apprentice and trainee numbers in WA. Over the four years from 2011 to 2015 the number of 15 to 19 year old West Australians commencing an apprenticeship or traineeship have declined from 10,500 to 7,400. 

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week show women workers in Western Australia continue to be worse off - not just in average weekly earnings, but also in underemployment.

Underemployed workers are employees who would prefer, and are available for, more hours of work than they currently have. 

The latest results from the ABS's Participation, Job Search and Mobility Survey show that one million Australians want more hours of work. Females make up 60 per cent of all underemployed part-time workers.

UnionsWA has commented on the recent release by SafeWork Australia of the latest data on work fatalities in Australia, including WA.  These are the most reliable figures available on work fatalities and provide data on work fatality rates per 100,000 workers over thirteen years to 2015 that show the fatality rate in WA worsened from 1.6 in 2014 to 2.6 in 2015. WA is the only state or territory in Australia where the work fatality rate actually worsened between 2014 and 2015.  

This weekend the Save Our Services campaign, led by UnionsWA and public sector unions, commences a campaign highlighting WA government mismanagement of hospital privatisation and health services. This follows a recent poll commissioned by Save Our Services that shows health and hospitals to be the most important issue for West Australian voters.  Ged Kearney, President of the ACTU and a nurse by background, joined campaign supporters to release details of the campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngNw0_RF6Hc

UnionsWA has today released results of a poll, commissioned on behalf of the Save Our Services campaign, of six key marginal electorates in WA which points to a large swing against the government. The poll canvassed key issues of concern to voters, issues that will be key to deciding the election.

September 8 is Equal Pay Day and UnionsWA has highlighted the huge difference in superannuation savings of women and men and has proposed a number of urgent reforms. 

UnionsWA has today commented on the release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics of data showing a huge, 16.6%, increase in individual contractor employment in WA in just one year.  These figures fly in the face of other economic indicators and suggest growing use of sham contractor arrangements that deny working people job security, leave and basic entitlements. 

Find out the bigger story behind the scenes of this week's news. 

The front page of The West Australian on Tuesday was all about the big business paying to poll WA voters so the Liberals could argue over who gets the job of Premier of WA.

"Lib Debacle" The West Australians 23/8/16, pg 1

Two days later there was a much bigger story but you had to turn to page six to find it - the latest ABS stats on jobs and unemployment.  

Here it is if you missed it.  

"Unemployment malaise" The West Australian 25/8/16, pg 6