Health and Community Services Union

Your Rights at Work

Your Rights at Work

WorkChoices was finally replaced by Fair Work Australia on 1 July 2009. This would never have been done without the union movement.

However the legislation isn't perfect and the work of the union movement is never ending. So the Your Rights at Work Campaign continues to work towards greater justice for construction industry workers and improvements in Occupational Health and Safety.

There is unfinished business, and we know there is much more work to do.

We need your help to do this, so please stay active in the Your Rights at Work campaign.



The national OHS campaign

The federal government, in conjunction with the states and territories, is putting together new laws for one national set of occupational health and safety laws. At the moment there are 9 jurisdictions, with different standards and regulations.

Unions are campaigning to ensure that the new national laws have the best parts of the OHS laws in the 9 different jurisdictions.

Download the OHS fact sheet here.

 
A Message from Sharon Burrows
 
After years of going backwards on workers’ rights, the tide has now turned. When the Rudd Government's new industrial relations laws are passed by Parliament they will give working Australians:
  • the right to bargain collectively
  • protection from unfair dismissal
  • the right to be represented by a union
  • a robust safety net of pay and conditions
  • the backing of a strong industrial umpire
 
Your Rights at Work Campaign Update

In November last year Australians voted to get rid of the Howard Government and its WorkChoices Legislation. With this mandate, the newly Rudd Government promised to introduce fairer Industrial Relations legislation.

The Rudd Government has now released the proposed legislation. The proposed legislation is a major step forward for the rights of workers to collectively bargain and be represented by a Union.

However, HACSU and other Unions are not entirely happy with the new legislation. There is unfinished business, and we know there is much more work to do.

In the coming months, we will have a job on our hands to get the new workplace system passed by the Senate. And there are other important issues we will still campaign for, including the right to take industrial action and the rights of construction workers.

To keep you up to date with the progress of the Your Rights at Work Campaign and the proposed legislation you can down load a copy of the brochure from here.