What is The Union Show?

The Union Show broadcast on community TV C31 in Melbourne Australia from 2005 to 2009 and is a rich source of information on unions and issues affecting unions in this country. Whilst the program is no longer produced for television, the producers, United Productions maintain both a Union Show blog and the UnitedPro2010 YouTube channel as a means of disseminating union information that would otherwise be lost in time and in the morass of anti-union misinformation that is distributed by mainstream media.

An extensive archive of Union Show episodes is available for viewing at http://theunionshow.blip.tv. Current union information can be sourced at www.theunionshow.com.au and at the UnitedPro2010 YouTube channel. There are many other web sources for union information that deal mainly in the written word. One of those sites and perhaps the venerable example is www.labourstart.org.au where you will find links to many other like-minded information outlets.

Collective bargaining – it’s good for all of us

How do nurses achieve better nurse-patient ratios to lift the standard of patient care? How do workers in dangerous industries win tougher safety standards? How do teachers win smaller class sizes to boost students’ ability to learn?
The answer is collective bargaining, and these benefits go hand in hand with better pay, better conditions and the ability to have your say at work — in all industries.

Stand and deliver.

Less Funding, Less Opportunity Under the Coalition

Public schools and students will be worse off under an Abbott Government, the Australian Education Union said today.
AEU Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said the Coalition’s new initiatives failed to offset the $3.1 billion it was planning to rip out of education.
“There would still be a shortfall of almost $2 billion in education under the Coalition,” Mr Gavrielatos said.
“Instead of all students getting computers tens of thousands would miss out under the Coalition which would spend $120 million compared to the $700 million still to be spent by Labor.

“Under the Coalition 1.2 million students in 1,800 secondary schools would miss out on getting access to trade training centres.
“As we saw last time the Coalition was in Government, stand alone colleges are a costly and unnecessary duplication of existing school and TAFE training facilities.
“It takes at least three years to develop them, delaying any response to skill shortages which would only get worse. The colleges teach only a limited number of courses and a limited number of students, limiting opportunities for students.
“In polling done earlier in the election campaign, voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea of spending money on separate training colleges and said additional funding for trades training should be directed to schools and TAFE.
“Only 25 per cent of people, and 25 per cent of those who intended to vote for the Coalition, supported separate training colleges in the poll conducted by Auspoll.
“It appears also that TAFE will be neglected again under the Coalition which is more interested in privatising education than providing adequate funding.
“The Coalition has correctly identified the need for better pay for teachers but, like Labor, has adopted a bonus pay approach that will not keep the best teachers in the classroom.
“What we need is a better career structure and a professional pay scheme that further rewards senior, accomplished teachers who are assessed against national teaching standards.
“Teachers reach the top of the salary scale in around nine years and the only way for them to earn more is to leave the classroom. Bonus schemes will not address this problem.”