Dr John Falzon is Senior Fellow, Inequality and Social Justice at Per Capita. He was national CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society from 2006 to 2018. He has written and spoken widely on neoliberalism and the structural causes of inequality. He is the author of The language of the unheard (2012) and a collection of poems, Communists like us (2017). Join us on Tuesday 10 March for an entertaining and insightful address, on Politics, Poetry and Class. About this Dr Falzon writes:

"We are deep in the guts of a crisis that neoliberalism, and its partners in social crime, patriarchy and colonisation, have created. It is only the working class, organised collectively in the union movement, that can lead the transformation of this crisis into a fruitful struggle for the kind of society we yearn for. But to build our movement we need to understand how the ruling class throws everything it has into dividing us. This workshop will analyse the meaning of class, explaining how everything is political and how our struggles are connected. It will also reflect on how the hard work of hope and the joy of fighting side by side for social justice are radical acts of poetry as well as being personal acts of politics. Poetry, like all creativity, belongs to everybody. It is simply a way for us to nourish our souls for the struggle, as well as being a powerful weapon in that struggle, a way of speaking the truth, an act of resistance against the smoothness of lies."

UnionsWA has welcomed the release today by the WA Government of the report of the inquiry into wage theft led by Tony Beech, former Chief Commissioner of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The report and response by the government are available online here.

UnionsWA has today welcomed the tabling in the WA Parliament by the McGowan Government of its Bill to modernise workplace health and safety law in WA.  The safety at work of almost all working people in WA, over 1.3 million people, is governed by these laws. 

UnionsWA has today commented on the decision by WA Industrial Relations Commission in the State Wage Case, which sets wages for around three hundred thousand working West Australians on the WA Minimum Wage and reliant State awards including many trainees and apprentices.

Workers' Memorial Day will be held at 10am on Monday 29th April at Solidarity Park, corner of Parliament Place & Harvest Terrace, West Perth.

May Day, or International Workers Day, is celebrated every year around the world. In Western Australia, the annual May Day Festival is organised and supported by UnionsWA. Get updates and let's us know you'll be there by giving an RSVP here.

We usually celebrate on the first Sunday in May with a fun, family-oriented day at Fremantle Esplanade. This year we will be celebrating on Sunday 5 May 2019, from 10 am until 2pm. 

ACTU President Michelle O'Neil will be the keynote speaker at May Day 2019. Her speech will start at 10:30 am.

Printed copies of the poster are available from the offices of UnionsWA, Level 4, 445 Hay Street, Perth Ph (08) 6313 6001. We are asking volunteers to help with activities as May Day. You can download and print your own poster here.

May Day recognises the achievements of working people and acknowledges the significance of the eight-hour working day.

The May Day march will commence at 12 pm, with Unions and community groups walking side by side, celebrating solidarity.
The focus for the Festival is to create a free and fun day out on the green and to celebrate all that we enjoy about spending time with friends and families.

For more information, please contact the May Day Co-ordinator, Amber Appelbee at UnionsWA 9328 7877 or email:

mayday@unionswa.com.au

UnionsWA has today released results from a poll commissioned by the ACTU on community attitudes in WA to industrial manslaughter law reform. This poll follows the recent release by the federal government of the Boland Review Report on national work health and safety laws which has recommended industrial manslaughter law reform. The WA Government is currently considering the need for this and other work health and safety reforms in WA.

UnionsWA has commented on the release today of new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the gap in pay between women and men and announced that on International Women’s Day, Friday 8 March, a rally of working women and men will be held to protest the lack of progress on equal pay, paid domestic violence leave and the need for improved parenting leave.

Interested union members are invited to hear an address by ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus. She will give the opening address to the State Conference of the MUA/CFMEU at 8:30am, Tuesday 26th February, The Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle. Deputy Leader of the Federal Opposition, Tanya Plibersek, will also provide an address. RSVPs not required.