Speeches and opinion

Ross Gittins address to ACTU Whitlam Lecture 30.11.10 | Speeches & Opinion Just about everyone has it firmly fixed in their mind that the gap between rich and poor is growing - the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Ged Kearney address to 9th Annual Workforce Conference 22.11.10 | Speeches & Opinion If you have been reading newspapers over the past few weeks, you would think that Australia was on the verge of a massive wages break-out and the pre-Christmas beer strike had been revived from the ‘70s.

Ged Kearney address to Ai Group National Forum 25.10.10 | Speeches & Opinion We may not always see eye-to-eye, but the ACTU and the Ai Group have enjoyed a constructive working relationship over the past few years.

Ged Kearney opinion piece: An independent union voice 13.10.10 | Speeches & Opinion The traditional ties with Labor will remain – for some unions more closely than others – but unions will work with elected representatives who show a genuine commitment to enhancing workers’ rights – and of taking a long-term view to improving our...

Ged Kearney address to Industrial Relations Society of Victoria Annual Convention 08.10.10 | Speeches & Opinion One of the things I’d like to talk to you about is how the ACTU and our unions will function in this new political environment and that may well include working with Adam and his colleagues in the Greens – along with the independents - where...

Ged Kearney address to National Press Club: A vision for the Australian union movement 06.10.10 | Speeches & Opinion Regardless of the novelty of the current political environment the long term task of the union movement and my role as part of its leadership is to help build our membership, improve our capacity to campaign, and broaden our agenda.

Ged Kearney: WA is not an island 11.09.10 | Speeches & Opinion | WorkChoices - Never Again Different as WA is, the state is not an island, argues ACTU President Ged Kearney. To be part of an integrated national economy, Western Australia must also be part of an integrated national IR system.

Ged Kearney: Collaborative Industrial Relations: Australia’s Future or Another Pipe Dream 27.08.10 | Speeches & Opinion I do believe in the power of collaboration as a mechanism for positive change. At the end of the election – whoever forms Government – we now have a consensus on IR that provides a foundation for collaboration in workplace policy going forward.

Ged Kearney: Don't buy Abbott's conversion on WorkChoices 10.08.10 | Speeches & Opinion | WorkChoices - Never Again It is absolutely appalling that so far into the election campaign, Abbott is refusing to release an industrial relations policy or honestly tell the public what he has planned.

Ged Kearney: launch of 2010 Australian Work and Life Index 03.08.10 | Speeches & Opinion The Australian Work and Life Index is a valuable contribution to national debate about what is one of the most pressing issues confronting all workers: how to balance work with family and leisure.

Ged Kearney: speech to AMWU National Conference 28.07.10 | Speeches & Opinion I don’t think your union gets enough credit from our politicians or the community for the valuable work it does in protecting jobs in Australia and continuing to fight for the survival and evolution of our important industries.

PM Julia Gillard: speech to Sharan Burrow farewell dinner 20.07.10 | Speeches & Opinion Friends, it’s a great honour to join you tonight to pay tribute to a great leader of the Australian labour movement, Sharan Burrow.

Sharan Burrow: Speech to farewell dinner 20.07.10 | Speeches & Opinion I can honestly say that never in my wildest dreams when I first began as a union organiser all those years ago did I ever imagine I would one day be heading the global union movement.

Sharan Burrow: Acceptance speech to ITUC Congress 25.06.10 | Speeches & Opinion | International I am incredibly honoured and extremely privileged to be elected as General Secretary of the ITUC. The ITUC is without question the pre-eminent voice for the rights of working people, for justice, peace and democracy.

Sharan Burrow: Opening speech to ITUC 2nd World Congress 22.06.10 | Speeches & Opinion | International Four years ago we met and took an historic decision to build a new international organisation a new internationalism. Delegates came to Vienna give birth to the ITUC; to strengthened global unionism.