banner
Home >News >How can we Change the Rules for working women?

How can we Change the Rules for working women?

2019-03-12

CTR_Working_Women-02

HACSU is a union made up of strong women.

We’re the majority of the union membership and the majority of the health and community services workforce. However, we’re underrepresented both in leadership positions at work and within the union. We recently held our inaugural HACSU Women’s Forum to discuss the issues most impacting the women of HACSU and how we can work together to make sustainable change for the future!

Whilst we can empower ourselves within our union, working women across Australia continue to suffer as a result of lower wagesinsecure working conditions and lack of access to family violence leave

Women power this country, through both paid and unpaid work. The structures around us let women down in a world built for men. Women face an unfair, uphill battle throughout our lives.

CTR_Working_Women-03

Women are concentrated in insecure and unreliable work and are offered lower starting salaries in interviews compared to their male counterparts. Women who experience other forms of discrimination (due to intersectionality of disability, cultural or religious background) face higher levels of pay inequality.

Women in Australia, on average retire with 44% less superannuation than men.

Australian Unions along with HACSU are calling on politicians to institute deep structural reform of Australia’s workplace rules to make them fair for women.

CTR_Working_Women-05

Some of the recommendations being made include:

  • The abolition of “primary” and “secondary” parental leave, to be replaced by 26 weeks’ leave that a family can use however they want.
  • The payment of superannuation on every dollar that women earn, including on paid parental leave.
  • The establishment of an expert Pay Equity Panel within the Fair Work Commission.
  • The right for all employees to receive – not merely request – family friendly working hours.
  • The provision of ten days paid family and domestic violence leave.
  • The restoration and protection of penalty rates.
  • A proper definition of casual work.

You can join the campaign today to help us Change the Rules for working women! Go to unionwomen.org.au

Pay_Inequality_Facts