2025 has been a massive year.

Thousands of workers organised; attended protests and rallies, strikes, stoppages and snap actions.

Many more engaged in meaningful training and upskilling - and supported workers fighting for our rights.

Whether its petitions, surveys, activist events and contacting your MP or simply learning about your rights at work - there's plenty to get involved in for 2026.

These are some of Trades Halls favourite moments from across the course of 2025.

Year In Review: Solidarity Forever!

Union members at the Community and Public Services (CPSU) rally in March.

January

YWC Advocates were busy all year

This year in 2025 the Young Workers Centre hit a massive milestone - we won over 3 million dollars back for young workers since we were founded! YWC Advocates were out speaking with students and young workers in 2025.

February

Delegates in development at Trades Hall

All union delegates, elected or appointed according to their union’s rules, are entitled to paid leave from their employer each year for the purpose of attending union education on their role.

March

Reproductive Health Leave - It's For Every Body!

More than 850 workers completed our reproductive health and work survey, and shared their experiences of the serious physical and mental toll reproductive health issues can have. Reproductive health leave will improve support for workers, contribute to making our workplaces more equal, and reduce stigma around symptoms and treatment for reproductive health issues.

It's not too late to join the campaign! You can head over to the It's For Every Body campaign page to join the campaign, download your Campaign Bargaining Kit, poster and Delegates' Guide.

International Working Women's Day (IWWD)

IWWD marked the beginning of the Women’s Rights at Work Festival. Over the month of March, we launched our campaign for reproductive health leave, heard from the women on the front line of the fight for equal pay, and discussed gendered violence at work.

April

Health and Community Services Union (HACSU)

HACSU Public Mental Health Members took action on Wednesday, 2 April to rally, march, and protest at Victorian Parliament. Bendigo Health, South West Healthcare, and Albury Wodonga Health held their own actions later that week.

International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD)

Held annually at Argyle Square International Workers Memorial Day is where we remember the dead, and fight like hell for the living.

Palm Sunday Rally

Every Palm Sunday unionists rally for justice for refugees. This year we joined forces with the weekly Free Palestine Rally. Unions speak up on issues of international conflict because our movement is one of international solidarity.

Don't Risk Dutton Phonebank

So many people taking action to make sure unionists are well informed about the risks to our rights at work.

May

Election Day

What a big day it was! Activists were out in the sunshine in solidarity for workers across the state.

Labour Day Dinner Dance

An evening in solidarity with working Victorians. The Victorian Trades Hall Council’s Annual Labour Day Dinner Dance, open to all unionists, activists and supporters, is held to celebrate the progress of the labour movement in Australia and the world.

YWC Solidarity Night

Young Workers Centre held a Solidarity Night. Panellists include Commissioner Oanh Thi Tran from the Fair Work Commission, Grace Dowling an Organiser from the United Workers Union, Kelly Thomas the former Principal Solicitor from YWC, Yolanda Robson the Director of the Young Workers Centre plus special guest and former YWC client Josh McDiarmid!

Anna Stewart Memorial Project (ASMP)

This year, twenty staunch union women from nine different unions stepped up as leaders in their workplaces and completed the Anna Stewart Memorial Project. The two week program equips participants with the knowledge and confidence to step up in their workplaces and unions, campaign for women’s rights and safety at work, and empower other workers to take action.

June

Work that works for everyone!

The Workplaces for Women (WFW) Project is driving real progress toward gender equality in historically male-dominated industries. Since kicking off, the WFW Team has gathered workers stories and experiences through our Equality Survey, and heard directly from more than 40 workers.

These insights informed three reports in our Women’s Insights from Male Dominated Industries series. We hosted three powerful online forums and introduced our Equality at Work Factsheets and Gender Audit Tool, giving workers practical ways to assess their workplaces and strengthen their understanding of gendered workplace rights. 

Transport Workers Union (TWU) Bus Strike

Over 600 bus drivers went on strike in June. By September Transport Workers Union members had stopped work six times!

HACSU Strike again

Hundreds of mental health workers marched to parliament for better pay and conditions. 97% of social workers and occupational therapists, core to the delivery of mental health services indicated they would leave the sector if the key demands put forward in bargaining were not met.

Yoorook Walk for Truth

Yoorrook Justice Deputy Chair Commissioner Travis Lovett, Kerrupmara Gunditjmara, walked an incredible 370km journey from Portland, where colonisation of Victoria began, to Parliament, where we can transform the future, to deliver the final report and recommendations of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission has led a groundbreaking truth-telling process here in Victoria, to document the harms of colonisation for First Peoples and chart a course forward for action, healing and justice. Unionists gathered to welcome the Walk for Truth on the final day as it reached State Parliament. Learn more.

July

Safer Venues - Hospitality, Arts and Events

The Safe Venues Project is about creating safer, fairer, and more respectful workplaces for women and gender-diverse people in hospitality, arts and events.

Over its first seven months, the outreach team hit the streets to visit more than 700 venues, spoke with over 700 workers at their workplaces, called hundreds of union members, and collected nearly 600 survey responses. Through these conversations and insights, we’ve been able to hear firsthand what needs to change to make these industries safer and more respectful for everyone. You can learn more about the Safe Venues Project here.

We Are Union at Laverton Markets

Comrade Alex Richie at the Laverton Markets to speak with the locals.

Red Green Drinks 

Unionists and climate activists came together to relaunch Red Green Drinks. Workers heard about different campaigns and happenings, strengthened union climate networks and build solidarity.

August

Union Power Happy Hour

Unionists hear from worker activists about current campaigns that need solidarity, and chat strategy with activists and officials.

We welcome all union members, activists and supporters as well as those interested in learning more about the union movement to this social event. Happening every other month and also launched in 2025, Union Power Happy Hour is a chance to let your hair down and have a chat.

September

Womens Rights at Work Conference (WRAWCon)

In September, over 130 staunch union women came together at Trades Hall to learn from and inspire each other at the biggest ever WRAW Con.

This year’s theme was New Rights, Union Might, Winning Fights! and we heard from women from across our movement about casual conversion, multi-employer bargaining, tackling gender undervaluation, why Treaty is union business, secure work, the importance of women’s leadership at work, reproductive health leave, and so much more!

Australian Education Union rally

After more than a year of stalled negotiations, hundreds of early childhood teachers and educators marched through the streets of Melbourne on Tuesday 16 September to protest what they describe as untenable working conditions. For many, the situation is critical.

Low pay and mounting workloads are eroding the profession’s appeal. An AEU survey in Victoria showed that nearly half of kindergarten teachers and educators are considering leaving their jobs, highlighting the depth of the crisis. 

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation (ANMF) Rally

More than 2000 Victorian nursing and midwifery students will miss out on a graduate program place in 2026. This is happening at the same time the health sector is forecasting a nursing and midwifery shortage in the next few years.

ANMF (Vic Branch) called on the Victorian Government in September to fund additional graduate places. ANMF are urging government to hold urgent discussions with the private acute sector about their level of investment in graduate nurses and urgently explore all viable options to ensure we have a sustainable nursing and midwifery workforce into the future.

October

Trades Hall Art Prize

The Trades Hall Art Prize seeks to support the arts, workers, arts-workers, art by workers and art about working life. An annual Arts Prize, hosted in Paddy’s Gallery, which is open all year round.

This year the theme was worker surveillance, and the winning piece was Paid Attention by Huei Yin Wong.

Yin Wong said about their work "By exposing this contract between human and machine, it asks where solidarity begins when our very attention is up for sale. If attention is the last frontier of labour, what would it mean to reclaim it together - before the machine decides for us?"

Support for Treaty at Trades

As unionists, when we’re negotiating a workplace agreement we get input from everyone at the workplace. We elect our delegates and safety reps to represent a wide variety of views, and then we present our log of claims to the employer as a united group, because we know that we are stronger together.

We know our workplace will get the best outcomes when everyone from every section of the workforce is involved in decision-making. That is exactly what Treaty is for First Nations People.

Finance Sector Union (FSU)

The FSU commenced a Fair Work dispute against the ANZ bank over the significant workplace health and safety concerns that it says have stemmed from the ANZ’s mass redundancy plans. The bank aims to slash the jobs of 3,500 employees and 1,000 contractors by September 2026, with most of the 3,500 employee positions projected to go by the end of March.

Anna Stewart Memorial Program (ASMP)

This year, twenty staunch union women from nine different unions stepped up as leaders in their workplaces and completed the Anna Stewart Memorial Project. The two-week program equips participants with the knowledge and confidence to step up in their workplaces and unions, campaign for women’s rights and safety at work, and empower other workers to take action. Congratulations to all graduates.

United Workers Union (UWU) Padre Coffee Workers

Padre Coffee workers deserve visibility. safety and equality in the workplace and are taking action. Workers are asking for paid gender affirmation leave, paid Sorry Business leave for First Nations workers, recognition of diverse family and kinship structures, a heat allowance for when warehouse conditions become extreme and union rights, including the right to representation and basic recognition in the Agreement.

The bosses at Seven Miles are staining Padre Coffee’s name, burning the roast, and leaving a bitter aftertaste. Stand in solidarity with Padre’s workers in Brunswick fighting for inclusive change, safety and respect. ✊✊✊ 

Australian Services Union (ASU) rally

Over 4,000 ASU members and supporters rallied across the country to send a clear message: No pay cuts! Pay rises for community and disability workers now!

Support for Treaty at Parliament

Unionists support treaty by writing a letter to a Member for Parliament - on the steps of Parliament!

Health and Safety Representative (HSR) Conference

Every year, Trades Hall hosts a conference for HSRs across the state. As the implementation of AI and surveillance technology rapidly outpaces legislative efforts to control the rollout, how can Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) be better equipped to protect and advocate for their Designated Work Groups (DWGs)?

This year’s conference, REPS AGAINST THE MACHINE, explored the growing use of technology in the workplace under the guise of productivity, safety, and compliance—and what this means for workers’ health, safety, and rights.

Australian Workers Union (AWU) rally

AWU members marched to Parliament to demand better pay and conditions. Forest firefighters have been fighting for fair pay for months. They've voted. They've shown restraint. They've given the Department every chance to do the right thing. So, they came to Parliament to share concerns, arriving in from all across the state.

Industrial Officer (IO) Conference

Industrial Officers meet at Trades Hall for 'Growing Union Might'.

November

Independent Education Union (IEU) waiting to bargain

The IEU Bargaining Team turned up at the Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) office ready to negotiate a fair Agreement under a Single Interest Authorisation. The stunt even involved a red carpet - but did VCEA show up? 

We banned the misuse of NDAs!

After more than three years of tireless campaigning by union women, the Victorian government introduced the Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025 to Parliament. On 20 November, the legislation passed, making Victoria the first state in Australia to ban the misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for sexual harassment matters.

During the campaign for this legislation, dozens of union women with lived experience bravely told their stories and stepped up to demand change. When the Bill was being debated in Parliament, several MPs spoke about their own experience with workplace harassment, showing that the national conversation is changing and women have had enough of being silenced.

Trades Hall wins two awards in conservation and sustainability

In November 2025 we were nominated for two awards in sustainability and conservation. These awards recognise the incredible dedication of all those involved in restoring The People’s Palace. They reflect our ongoing commitment to conserving working history while leading the way in demonstrating some of the possibilities available to organisations and the government in a just transition. Unionists have long found collective strength within the walls of Trades Hall.

IO Conference (Industrial Officer)

Growing Union Might - Industrial Officers gather at Trades Hall for the IO Conference.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation (ANMF)

ANMF in November were still negotiating the Healthscope Enterprise Agreement. This would determine the wages and conditions for Healthscope nurses and midwives. The current agreement expired on 30 June 2025.

ANMF Healthscope members are seeking increased wages and allowances and improved entitlements consistent with recent public and private sector outcomes and safer staffing. Healthscope has been in receivership since May 2025. Despite this, it is important for the future of these hospitals that Healthscope nurses and midwives maintain market parity with respect to wages and conditions.

HACSU Snap Rally

Health and Community Services Union members are fighting to protect disability support services workers – 7500 stand to lose more than a third of their wages in the new year.

When funding runs out on 31 December, the consequences will be catastrophic for thousands of Victorians with disabilities who rely on these workers to care every day. Sign the petition and email your MP before Christmas!

December

Health Workers Union (HWU) rally

Health Workers Union members took historic strike action in December, standing up for fair pay, fair conditions, and the respect they truly deserve. The Victorian Government is offering essential workers just a 3% pay rise, the worst offer in the entire public sector.

Women's End of Year Celebration

Safe holidays, see you in the new year!

The Parliament of the Worker

Trades Hall, the Peoples Palace - bustles with activity when workers are organising. Tours will resume and the venue will be open in the new year. Come and explore the Workers Museum and Paddy's Gallery. Trades Hall is the oldest continually running in the world and had been held in trust for working people for over 150 years.

Give this holiday season a gift to workers

Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad (Apheda)

Union Aid Abroad

Unionists at the International Working Women's Day (IWWD) rally in 2025.

The work of building global solidarity depends upon the contributions of thousands of Australian union members and internationalists.

Give to Apheda today!