The “Your Rights at Work” Campaign.

Your Rights at Work is a community campaign spearheaded by unions and the ACTU. The Your Rights at Work Campaign will continue in 2008.

 

The campaign began in earnest in 2005 when the Howard Government revealed, for the first time, the full extent of its proposed workplace changes. The decent system of workplace laws fought for by unions for over a hundred years — fair take home pay, job security, and conditions like leave and penalty rates — are all under unprecedented attack.

It’s vital that Australians know the full extent of the Howard Government’s laws, and even more vital that, together, we fight for Rights at Work. Much of John Howard's anti - worker laws are still in place. We need to keep fighting to remove them.

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Top Ten Illegal Things Bosses Do.

  1. Demanding that you do unpaid ‘trial work’ to see if you are right for the job. You have a legal right to get paid for the work you do.

  2. Paying you below the minimum wage. Currently, the minimum wage for people 21 and over is $14.31 an hour. If you are under 21, youth rates are usually calculated on a percentage of the adult rate for your particular industry, this will vary. You can always check with JobWatch.

  3. Not providing payslips or group certificates. These can also be provided electronically.

  4. Deducting Superannuation from your wages. Superannuation is calculated at a minimum of 9% of your wages and always comes out of the bosses pocket, not yours.

  5. Making you sign an individual agreement which leaves you worse off than the award. AWAs [Australian Workplace Agreements] are now illegal, any individual contract that you sign cannot leave you worse off than the award.  There are now 10 Minimum Employment Conditions and 10 Minimim Award Conditions which individual agreements must meet.

  6. Discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, age, sexual preference, ability, marital status, religion, political opinion, union membership etc. This is unlawful and you have a right to a workplace free of these things.

  7. Harassing you or threatening you if you ask for the correct pay and conditions. It is illegal to sack you for making a wage claim.

  8. Sacking you because you’ve been ill or injured.

  9. Sacking you for raising an occupational health and safety issue.

  10. Sacking you if you join a union or encourage your workplace to get unionised.

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Our Charter of Young Workers Rights.

The Young Unionists Network believes that there can be no compromise on safe workplaces, a liveable wage, job security, protected entitlements, freedom of association and the right to organise collectively. This is why we believe that unions are especially important to young people in defending these rights.

Less than 15% of workers under 25 belong to a union. This is at a time when anti-worker legislation has taken away many of the rights and entitlements that unions have fought for. If we are to regain these things, this makes unions more relevant now than ever.

It is vital that young workers participate in building the union movement as a fighting force to uphold the principle of collective action, enshrine our rights in law and keep us safe at work.

The development of a charter of young workers rights is important in working towards enshrining a safety net for young workers. The Young Unionists’ Network recognises that young people are predominantly employed in casual and other precarious forms of employment where we are all to easily exploited and taken advantage of by unscrupulous bosses. We’d like young people to be empowered with as much information as possible about our legal rights at work and better yet, empowered to take action. Not just action to protect these rights, but action to improve them. Now more than ever, rights which unions have fought hard for are being stripped away and replaced with substandard individual contracts that take away entitlements such as penalty rates, shift allowances, public holiday loading and in some cases, even rest and meal breaks.

The Young Unionists’ Network Charter on The Rights of Young Workers stands for our belief in the importance of unions, the value of young people as workers and an uncompromising stance on our right to act collectively to fight for our rights.

We are developing this charter with YUN activists and volunteer Murray Newton, and will upload it here in the near future. Check back soon.

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