Regional Queensland workers are preparing their case against the Morrison Government’s proposed workplace law changes when the legislation comes before a Senate inquiry in Townsville on February 8. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said the dangerous new ...
Read More

In March this year COVID meant that many Queenslanders started working from home. Restrictions are now easing and a partial or complete return to work has occurred for many. Should the option to work from home be extended generally and, ...
Read More

Deliberate wage theft will now be a criminal offence in Queensland after laws passed through State Parliament today. Queensland Council of Unions Assistant General Secretary Jacqueline King welcomed the new laws, saying making wage theft a crime would send a ...
Read More

ABC Chair Ita Buttrose has drawn fire today for her overnight attack on young workers saying they lack resilience and “need hugging”. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said that young workers have been at the pointy end ...
Read More

Thousands of Queensland workers in retail and pharmacy outlets start the financial year staring at another pay cut for working weekends. Low-paid retail and pharmacy workers on awards – estimated to number around 90,000 in Queensland - will again have ...
Read More

The State Government introduced legislation yesterday to defer public sector workers’ wage rises for the 2020-2021 financial year. This follows the Premier’s announcement on April 2 that everything is “on hold” in relation to public sector pay rises and public ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have called on the Work Health and Safety prosecutor to appeal the suspended prison sentences imposed yesterday on two company directors found guilty of industrial manslaughter. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said the suspension of ...
Read More

The QCU and Safe Work College are introducing a new 1 day Connected Delivery Course ‘Using Work Health and Safety to Organise Qld Workplaces’, a course for union organisers. Every workplace has WHS issues, from psychological risks, manual handling, to ...
Read More

The federal government’s $60 billion underspend on JobKeeper funding now means it has no excuse to continue excluding casual workers, university staff, employees in the arts and entertainment, and temporary visa workers. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have today slammed the federal government’s enthusiasm to spend taxpayer dollars on a legal appeal that would strip away rights from casual workers. The Federal Court yesterday ruled to protect the rights of working people who are labelled ...
Read More

Queensland Unions are calling for an enforceable mental health code of practice for all Queensland workplaces as communities confront challenges from the psychosocial hazards at work compounded by the psychological impact of coronavirus and bushfires. This year’s Workers’ Memorial Day ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have applauded state government moves to prohibit real estate agents from pressuring jobless tenants to access super to pay rental arrears. The Palaszczuk government announcement made today supports earlier calls from Queensland Unions for real estate agents to ...
Read More

Disturbing evidence has emerged of real estate agents pressuring jobless tenants to access their retirement savings before considering rental reductions due to COVID-19. Queensland Unions received a copy of a mass email this week clearly outlining an agency’s insistence that ...
Read More

The two largest peak bodies representing working people and business in Queensland have joined forces to seek urgent additional support for working people and businesses across the state and have written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The Chamber of Commerce ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have welcomed the State Government’s focus on redirecting jobless workers into areas impacted by labour shortages due to the impact of COVID-19. The Palaszczuk government has today announced that $500M of a total $2.5B coronavirus response package will ...
Read More

Next week federal Parliament returns and Queensland workers will join other Australians who want to put a huge petition in front of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The petition wants Parliament to pass laws that give all workers – especially casuals ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have put community health and safety foremost in today’s decision to cancel 2020 Labour Day marches due to concerns about coronavirus. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said the union movement was taking responsible and measured ...
Read More

Casual workers and those in insecure jobs have been left cruelly exposed by Scott Morrison’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, says Australia's peak union body. Despite the undeniable financial crisis many Australian workers are confronting, LNP Prime Minister Scott Morrison ...
Read More

The continuing gender pay gap is dramatically reducing the quality of life for older single women and directly contributing to increasing homelessness for women aged over 55. Queensland Council of Unions Assistant General Secretary Jacqueline King said International Women’s Day ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have welcomed today’s state government announcement of legislation making deliberate wage theft a criminal offence, vindicating an intense union campaign to stamp out worker exploitation. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said making wage theft a ...
Read More

Queensland Unions say workers must be at the centrepiece of any national Coronavirus response action, including assistance for employees without paid leave. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said workers in casual employment had no paid sick leave ...
Read More

Australians affected by the bushfire crisis ongoing since mid 2019 are finding these days among the most challenging of their lives.
The scope and impact of these fires are unprecedented, and their effects will be felt many years into the ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have urged workers this Christmas break to check they are receiving their correct wages and entitlements as Australia’s wage theft crisis grows. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford says more and more workers were speaking out ...
Read More

Today’s revelations about slowing wage growth have exposed the Morrison government’s blatant attack on workers and unions to take the heat off its woeful record on wages. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Michael Clifford said the mid-year economic forecast ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have a new leadership team heading into 2020 with a renewed focus on fighting for secure jobs and decent wages for Queensland workers. Former assistant general secretary Michael Clifford was elected unopposed to the General Secretary position. Kate ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have welcomed a state wage case decision for a three per cent pay rise reflecting widespread calls to lift wages to boost Australia’s flagging economy. The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has ruled that all rates of pay in ...
Read More

Queensland Unions are gravely concerned about increasing police search powers in response to climate change protests, saying it opens the door to future amendments which would see protest rights or civil liberties further diminished. Queensland Council of Unions Acting General ...
Read More

Queensland Unions say the one-off bonus payment to sweeten state public sector wage deals is a bitter reminder of the federal LNP government’s atrocious record on wages growth. Queensland Council of Unions Acting General Secretary Michael Clifford said the $1250 ...
Read More

The Morrison LNP government’s current legislative attack on unions will open the door for rogue employers to act without fear of punishment, unions say. A Senate inquiry hearing today in Brisbane into the federal Coalition’s Ensuring Integrity legislation will hear ...
Read More

A national survey on workplace health and safety released today shows widespread worker support for national legislation similar to Queensland’s industrial manslaughter laws.
The national survey of more than 26,000 working people responded to questions about their experiences of work health ...
Read More

The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) welcomes today’s announcement by Minister for Education and Industrial Relations Hon Grace Grace of four new appointments to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC). In particular, QCU Senior Vice President and State Secretary of ...
Read More

Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday scored an $11,000 pay rise while some of Queensland’s lowest paid workers copped a further cut to their yearly income. That’s the ongoing impact of the LNP government’s support for cuts to penalty rates for ...
Read More

Queensland workers are mourning the loss of former Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ron Monaghan, a brave fighter for workers’ rights who died yesterday after a battle with cancer. Mr Monaghan, 65, had a distinguished career in the demanding ...
Read More

An estimated 80,000 workers and supporters gathered at Labour Day events over the weekend calling to change the rules for secure jobs, fair pay rises and restoration of penalty rates. There were around 20 events held across Queensland for the ...
Read More

By Ros McLennan, General Secretary, Queensland Council of Unions International Workers’ Memorial Day (Sunday 28 April 2019) is a time to remember workers who have died, become ill or injured because of work and a chance to renew focus on ...
Read More

Neil Rogers is a long-time Change the Rules activist in Forde - a federal seat based to the south of Brisbane including locations like Beenleigh, Eagleby and parts of Logan. Retired now, Neil splits his time volunteering for a wide ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have backed an in-principle recommendation to jail dodgy employers who deliberately or recklessly underpay workers. The recommendation was one of 17 contained in the State Government’s response to a Parliamentary committee inquiry into wage theft released today. Queensland ...
Read More

A rally by Queensland unions was held at midday outside the Queensland Children’s Hospital in South Brisbane in support of United Voice workers fighting against wage theft.
Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said the stand taken ...
Read More

Queensland Unions say the Morrison government cannot be trusted to change industrial relations to the benefit of workers. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan joined condemnation of the plan being floated today by federal Jobs and Industrial Relations ...
Read More

Tens of thousands of workers turned out today in Brisbane in a show of community support to change the rules to address growing inequality in Australia. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said Queensland workers were concerned that ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have welcomed today’s Parliamentary inquiry report which recommends criminalising wage theft and changing laws to make it easier for workers to reclaim stolen wages. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said the scourge of wage theft ...
Read More

The peak body for working people has launched a month-long advertising campaign calling on Queenslanders to join national action for change. Television and radio ads started yesterday in Queensland electorates, with regional rallies in October culminating in a major Brisbane ...
Read More

"In a fragmented industry largely unencumbered by regulators or unions, there appears to be little fear of being caught out doing the wrong thing." ...
Read More

Unions ACT have launched a report on the experiences of young women in the workplace, which finds young women were more likely than their male counterparts to be casual or underpaid at work. More than 200 young people were surveyed, ...
Read More

Criminalising wage theft and creating an industrial division of the Magistrates Court are two of several measures recommended in the QCU’s submission to the Queensland Parliament’s inquiry into wage theft. Public hearings for the Inquiry begin today and the Queensland ...
Read More

Queensland Unions say today’s byelection win to Labor’s Susan Lamb in Longman shows the LNP has lost the referendum on which priorities are important to Australians. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said Longman voters showed they wanted ...
Read More

Unions will continue their focus on funding for schools and hospitals not billions for big business and the banks as the Longman by-election enters its final days. Workers and their families have been a central part of the combined union ...
Read More

The Queensland Council of Unions has today launched an education, support and campaigning organisation for young workers. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said it was important to connect young people who may be having similar experiences at ...
Read More

Unions have welcomed the announcement that if elected a Shorten Labor Government would introduce legislation to regulate labour hire. “For too long we have seen the business model being used where labour hire forces down labour costs at the workers’ ...
Read More

Workers and unions have another weapon in the battle against underpayment and exploitation from tomorrow (15 June) when labour hire provider licences become mandatory in Queensland. From 15 June 2018, all labour hire providers in Queensland must be licensed or ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have welcomed the 2018-19 State Budget for its continued focus on frontline services but say any public infrastructure funding must provide long-term benefits for regional communities. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan applauded record spending on ...
Read More

Today’s announcement of a 3.5 per cent increase or $24.32 per week to the minimum wage will still leave some full-time workers struggling to put food on the table. A major goal of the union movement’s Change the Rules campaign ...
Read More

Queensland Unions expect the recently announced parliamentary wage theft inquiry will be swamped by underpaid and ripped-off workers. State Parliament last night passed a motion for an inquiry into wage theft, with all LNP members voting against. It will report ...
Read More

Why march on Labour Day? What is the point? Why take to the streets with thousands of other Queenslanders and demand to change the rules? It’s about returning the “fair go” to Australia. Profits for big business are going up and ...
Read More

Unions will use Workers’ Memorial Day to renew calls to scrap the Australian Building and Construction Commission and replace it with national legislation based on Queensland’s health and safety laws. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said workplace ...
Read More

This opinion piece appeared in the Brisbane Times on Thursday, 26 April under the heading "Too many workers are killed on the job in Australia" ... By Ros McLennan, General Secretary, Queensland Council of Unions A fundamental right we all ...
Read More

Queensland unions will use the state’s Labour Day celebrations to push ahead with a national campaign to change the rules and give working Australians more secure jobs and fair pay rises. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said ...
Read More

Changing the rules around work for women continues to be a major focus for Queensland unions. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan says International Women’s Day today (8 March) is an opportunity to highlight how the work-life collision ...
Read More

This article has been published on the New Daily website - you can view it here: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/02/20/eureka-flag-ban/ --- It’s a poor return on investment when the brightest idea your well-paid construction watchdog executives can produce to improve workplace safety is a ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have questioned the economic credentials of new LNP leader Deb Frecklington after her recent comments about jobless rates during the Bjelke-Petersen government years. Queensland Council of Unions Assistant General Secretary Michael Clifford said Frecklington falls for the same ...
Read More

Queenslanders have shown their support for a government that has created jobs, restored frontline services and retained public assets over an unstable and chaotic LNP/One Nation Coalition government with a cut, sack and sell agenda, says Queensland Council of Unions ...
Read More

Queensland Unions’ field campaign is in full swing, in the final sprint to the state election on 25 November. Dedicated target seat coordinators are on the ground, working with a strong network of union members and community supporters, as the ...
Read More

Unions say this state election is a choice between a government creating jobs, restoring frontline services and business confidence without selling off public assets - or a recycled LNP leader with an agenda to cut, sack and sell. Queensland Council ...
Read More

Queensland unions say investment in renewables should occur but must also guarantee good, secure jobs if it is to provide long-lasting benefits to the state. Queensland Council of Unions Assistant General Secretary Michael Clifford today told a major summit that ...
Read More

Queensland unions say the new offence of industrial manslaughter passed today through Parliament will be a deterrent to make sure that companies don’t cut corners and put profits ahead of people. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said ...
Read More

Hundreds of thousands of Queensland workers are fearful they’re next for a wage cut after today’s Federal Court decision not to overturn the Fair Work Commission’s to cut weekend and public holiday penalty rates. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary ...
Read More

Tim Nicholls and the LNP’s attempt to match Labor’s Buy Queensland policy will replay the disastrous unemployment scoreboard from the days of the Campbell Newman government. Queensland Council of Unions Assistant Secretary Michael Clifford said the Nicholls’ gameplan to give ...
Read More

Queensland is now the first Australian state with mandatory licensing for labour hire operators after union-backed laws passed State Parliament today. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said regulating the labour hire industry was necessary to stamp out ...
Read More

Queensland unions say the federal Turnbull LNP government’s latest attack on asylum seekers is a desperate tactic to distract from its self-inflicted wounds. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said the union movement stood against the Turnbull government ...
Read More

Queensland Unions are joining an Australia-wide campaign to improve the lives of employees juggling work with caring and parenting responsibilities. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) today released survey results showing 85 per cent of working Australians also have ...
Read More

Queensland unions have welcomed the state government’s move to create the new offence of industrial manslaughter to deter negligent employers who operate unsafe workplaces. The new offence is one of 58 recommendations from a wide-ranging review into workplace deaths, to ...
Read More

Queensland Unions are urging members to check their enrolment and to vote ‘yes’ in the upcoming marriage equality postal survey. Rolls close on 24 August and unions want to make sure that all those who want to have their say ...
Read More

Queensland unions will fight on the battleground of secure jobs after statewide workers’ forums endorsed this election campaign focus at a final Congress meeting in Brisbane today. Union members, delegates and leaders identified job creation and insecure employment in regional ...
Read More

Queensland unions have slammed rail operator Aurizon for abandoning regional Queensland workers after its announcement of 300 job losses at facilities throughout central and northern Queensland ...
Read More

Queensland unions have welcomed a state government proposal to introduce an offence of “negligence causing death” as part of a wide-ranging review into workplace deaths. See the government statement here. QCU General Secretary Ros McLennan said it would act as ...
Read More

Queensland unions have welcomed a state government proposal to introduce an offence of “negligence causing death” as part of a wide-ranging review into workplace deaths ...
Read More

Workers in regional Queensland will lose almost $150 million a year in disposable income a year due the Turnbull Government’s decision to support cutting penalty rates – according to new analysis by the McKell Institute released today ...
Read More

Queensland unions have welcomed the announcement on Labour Day of state government plans to license labour hire firms. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan says regulating the labour hire industry is necessary to stamp out those rogue operators ...
Read More

Thousands of workers and community members turned out at today’s national rally against the federal Coalition’s continuing attacks on workers. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said there was widespread anger over cuts to penalty rates and increasing ...
Read More

Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Ros McLennan said the FWC decision was a "game changer" for industrial relations in Australia. "The independent umpire makes decisions based on the rules they are given," she said. "These rules are contained in ...
Read More

The Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) decision to radically cut Sunday and public holiday pay will hurt more than 400,000 Queensland workers ...
Read More

The only thing voters learnt from Tim Nicholls’ apology today is that his sales pitch to sell public assets will be slicker, especially in regional Queensland, if he’s given another chance in government. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros ...
Read More

The LNP’s backdoor deal today with Senate crossbenchers on a national building code will reduce safety, increase casual and insecure employment and mean fewer Queensland workers on local construction sites. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan said the ...
Read More

Queensland Unions have welcomed the Labor Party’s firm commitment to protecting the wages of millions of workers who sacrifice their weekends for the benefit of our economy. Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Ros McLennan today said employer groups have ...
Read More

One hundred years after her death in Toowoomba, labour legend Emma Miller and her hat-pin are still making news in the Garden City. On Friday 20 January local union members will join with other prominent state and national labour movement ...
Read More

Andrew Laming, the federal member for Bowman, was very quick to retreat after he posted this clanger on his Facebook page: Are teachers back at work this week, or are they 'lesson planning' from home? Let me know exactly. Following ...
Read More

A promise to protect current penalty rates would be the most useful guarantee the Turnbull LNP government could give to Australian workers this Christmas ...
Read More

Western Australia's Murdoch University has applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate the Enterprise Agreement with its staff so that it has the ability to return its workers to Award minimums in an unprecedented move more like the actions ...
Read More

Unions today used a roundtable event to renew calls to expand minimum domestic violence leave provisions as Australia approaches the season when violent incidents increase. Today’s event wraps up 16 days of focused workplace activities to address the community scourge ...
Read More

Queensland union members can feel proud of their role in supporting justice and fairness for the reinstated #CUB55 brewery workers, today invited back to work after 180 days off the job ...
Read More

Hundreds of workers from Blue Care/Wesley Mission Brisbane - and their supporters – stage a rally in the centre of Brisbane today to demand respect for their work and the end to the squeeze on their wages, time and work/life ...
Read More

Queensland’s workers and union members have been instrumental in the new laws passed overnight cleaning up the industrial relations chaos left by the Newman LNP government ...
Read More

A government that prefers to use and abuse an itinerant workforce of temporary work visa holders rather than create conditions for sustainable, decent, well-paying jobs for workers in regional Australia ...
Read More

Australians remain sceptical about federal government motivations to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission despite the Coalition’s almost daily calls in Parliament and the media ...
Read More

The Australian Building and Construction Commission (the ABCC) was a watchdog over the construction industry set up by the Howard government in 2005. It monitored the sector and enforced civil workplace laws such as restrictions on unlawful industrial action and ...
Read More

The systemic, endemic and rife exploitation of foreign workers in Australia is continuing unabated, despite combined efforts by journalists and unions to shine a light on the nefarious practices of some businesses and labour-hire companies ...
Read More

Queensland unions congratulate and highlight a major Queensland company’s efforts in a national campaign to enshrine minimum family and domestic leave entitlements into national employment standards ...
Read More

Caltex members, who had taken indefinite industrial action at the company’s lubricants facility in Lytton, Queensland, have won a deal that will see changes to their salary including a reduction in hours worked, annual wage increases and increased penalties ...
Read More

The federal Coalition can expect a major community campaign for putting tax cuts for millionaires and corporations ahead of paid parental leave for young families, Queensland unions say ...
Read More

Queensland unions want the State Government to follow South Australia’s lead and introduce licensing of labour hire firms ...
Read More

Concerns over a concerted corporate strategy to erode workers’ wages and conditions sparked yesterday’s thousand-strong community march to Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) headquarters in Fortitude Valley ...
Read More

Early childhood educators are some of the lowest paid professionals in Australia. Why? Because 95% of us are women. So with Equal Pay Day just around the corner, we recorded the above message, calling on Malcolm Turnbull to fix this by ...
Read More

Malcolm Turnbull’s silence on Productivity Commission recommendations to cut penalty rates and introduce enterprise contracts will drive more Queenslanders to put the LNP last in tomorrow’s federal election. Queensland unions say the federal Coalition – despite calling the election on ...
Read More

The Abbott/Turnbull Government has ripped funding out of apprenticeship programs, skills training and TAFE – more than $1 billion from apprenticeships alone since taking office. The resulting catastrophic drop in the number of apprentices learning their trade stands as a ...
Read More