Union members get paid on average 20% more than people who are not in unions. As a young worker, you’re more at risk of being treated poorly by your employer. You’re more likely to be a casual worker. You’re more likely to be coerced into signing an individual agreement that cuts take home pay and conditions. You might have less information about your rights and feel less confident about asking for them.

Unions are employ people whose job it is to know about workers rights: ask them! If you don’t feel like your voice is being heard as a union member, speak up. Unions run on the fees paid by their members. You ARE your union!

Unions can help you with issues like:

• How much you should be getting paid, overtime rates and penalties.
• What your rights are as a casual, part-time or full-time worker.
• How many breaks you should be getting on the job.
• What holidays you should be given.
• What to do if you’re not getting paid the right amount or on time.
• Health and Safety in the workplace.
• Leave entitlements such as maternity leave, sick leave, carers leave, compassionate leave.
• Superannuation and Workcover.
• What to do about bullying, harassment or discrimination.
• Where to go if you get sacked or are unfairly treated.

The Victorian Trades Hall Council is the central State organisation for communicating with the public about trade union issues. It is responsible for implementing ACTU policy within Victoria and represents unionists in lobbying State Parliament for social and industrial reforms. It is the body which most people contact if they have any query about trade unions. You can check out the VTHC website to find a union in Victoria.

You can also check out the ACTU website. The ACTU have made it easier than ever before to join a union through their Unions Australia structure. You don’t have to do the leg work in finding the right union to represent you; you can join though Unions Australia and let the ACTU do the work for you.

A Student Organisation is an operation either offering services or a political voice for university students on campus. It is run and owned by students and nearly every campus if not all have student organisations. Student organisations primarily are split into two categories.The first is the student unions which offer services. These services can vary from Legal advice, sports associations, child care, on campus bars, food outlets to name a few. The second category is the student associations. These are the organisations that are generally the political arm. They are the voice for student rights. There is a third category which encompasses both a union and an association, called a student guild.

What is VSU?

VSU is the stripping of union fees that students pay at the start of their academic year. Often it is argued that VSU is about giving students the choice to join their union or students association. VSU is not about choice: VSU aims to limit students choice by robbing the student organisations of the funding they need to survive. Student organisations are not just representative bodies. Student unions are the heart of campus life, providing important student support services like counselling, childcare, employment and legal services. They are also cultural centres where students come together to form clubs, get involved in sport, theatre or music and run campaigns. In states where VSU has been introduced like Western Australia, student representation, cultural life and student services have been decimated. Even a limited form of VSU, where universities are still able to collect money to go towards funding some student services, has a huge impact on our student organisations because it gets rid of student control of student affairs. Under VSU legislation, it’s the universities and the government that control funding for student services and decide how they will be administered. Students lose their say in how these services will be run if they are still run, and ultimately the profit margin decides. There will be no voice to lobby the government on HECs increases, class sizes etc. Student unions are traditionally the most vocal advocates for student rights.

For more information, check out the National Union of Students website.

A union is a group of people who work in the same industry, who come together to fight to keep and improve their pay and conditions.

Unions run on the principle of collective action: everyone in a workplace or field takes responsibility for fair and equal pay and decent working conditions. If everyone works together, everyone’s situation improves.

Corporations and businesses exist to make a profit. Cutting costs is one way to get that profit. This could mean making you work for less pay, cutting penalty rates, shift allowance, holiday loading and making you work through your breaks. Unions exist to prevent that from happening.

Collectivity means that everyone in a workplace takes responsibility for fair and equal pay, for decent working conditions and the right to be valued and respected as the people who make production possible. If everyone works together, everyone’s situation improves.