New protections and minimum standards will be better for all Australian workers New minimum employment standards that came into effect on New Year’s Day will be good for all Australian workers and represent a major step forward from WorkChoices, say unions. Welcoming the changes, the ACTU says the 10 National Employment Standards deliver on a core part of the "Your Rights at Work" union and community campaign against WorkChoices. Read more about the new protections

Clean Energy Jobs Read Sharan Burrow's letters from Copenhagen Painfully cold weather or the uplifting experience of watching snow fall? Take your pick of description for a minus 4 degrees day and you could associate either choice with observing these negotiations. Without doubt the progress is painfully slow - but there is progress.

Don't Risk 2nd Rate Safety Big business is backing changes to national workplace health and safety laws that would put workers at risk of injury or illness because it wants to cut costs and red tape. Unions say it is unacceptable for the changes to lead to increased profits at the expense of workers’ safety. Australian unions have launched a major new campaign called 'Don't Risk Second Rate Safety' to prevent any reduction in rights and protections for workers.

Equal rights for construction workers Unions are continuing the campaign in support of equal rights for construction workers and against special industrial laws that help big construction companies and property developers.