Speeches & Opinions
Read speeches and opinion articles by ACTU officers and staff.
Our collection contains speeches delivered at conferences, forums, summits, rallies and events by Executive and senior ACTU staff. It also contains op-eds previously published in mainstream media by the ACTU President, ACTU Secretary or ACTU Assistant Secretaries.
Recent Speeches & Opinions
Sharan Burrow: Executive pay rises add insult to injury
September 17, 2009
The release of company annual reports over the past week reveals that rather than accepting their fair share of the pain, CEOs are still enjoying lavish salaries and outrageous bonuses. It’s as if the global financial crisis never happened.
Jeff Lawrence: Employers should be honest about what they really want
September 8, 2009
The hysterical response from several business lobby groups to the modernising of awards raises questions about whether employers are being honest about what they really want, explains ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence.
Sharan Burrow: Pathways to recovery: securing the jobs and incomes of working Australians
July 20, 2009
Up to 5,000 Australians a week, every week for the next 6 to 12 months will lose their job if the Treasury forecasts come true. Thousands more Australians will face cuts to their hours of work. These people are the local victims of the GFC.
Sharan Burrow: Fair Work Australia (FWA) Inaugural Session
July 1, 2009
This is an historic day and for working Australians a day of celebration. I am proud to be here, with my colleague, Jeff Lawrence, the Secretary of the ACTU, and other union women and men representing those workers.
Sharan Burrow: Employees enter a new era of rights
July 1, 2009
From a campaign that began almost four years ago to the day, Australian workers are set to have greater protection for their jobs, their conditions and their workplace rights. The Fair Work Act begins operation today.
Sharan Burrow: Australian businesses can clean up in the energy revolution
June 28, 2009
This week, Barack Obama told America that “the nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy”.
Sharan Burrow: International Labor Organisation Summit speech on Global Jobs Crisis
June 17, 2009
The world must change. The crisis was a disaster waiting to happen The fault lines were obvious to all, but corporate greed and self interest co-opted not just the boardrooms but the political will of too many of our powerful governments.
Jeff Lawrence: Equality before the law is the heart of the matter
June 11, 2009
This new union agenda is about ensuring that workers & their families have a real say in getting Australia back on the road to economic recovery, and about the ACTU putting forward policies that make Australia a stronger and fairer nation.
Alison Tate: ILO Conference 2009 speech on climate change
June 9, 2009
Climate change is without question the policy challenge of our time. The scientific evidence is overwhelming. Human economic activity is causing global warming.
Sharan Burrow: Unions: Delivering for all Working Australians
June 2, 2009
The union legacy of a better Australia has and will continue to be won by tenacious dedicated people committed to a set of values and our resolve can only strengthened by the lessons you can teach us about historic struggle for justice.
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