Labour Day 2025 – Celebrating our history and looking forward to our future

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 3, 23 May 2025, page no 12.

This year’s Labour Day events acknowledged our broader union movement here in Queensland, with peak union body the Queensland Council of Unions celebrating 140 years of history. 

There were family fun days and marches, big and small, although some postponed until later in the month due to the federal election being held on Saturday 3 May.

The QTU used the 2025 gathering of members to reinforce the five “Rs” of our EB11 schools campaign: Recruit, Retain, Recognise, Resource and Respect. This was a call for the employer to value our teachers and school leaders!

In Brisbane, we again witnessed the collective power and voice of QTU members, who turned out in force. More than a thousand QTU members and their families joined the procession from Spring Hill through Fortitude Valley and across to the RNA showgrounds at Bowen Hills, where they enjoyed a BBQ lunch and a family fun day with carnival rides and entertainment.

With the federal election results still coming through, many members were reflecting on what a re-elected Albanese government would mean for workers’ rights and protections. One of those rights that Queensland unionists will continue to pursue with the federal government is the addition of ten days reproductive health leave to the National Employment Standard. Yes, here in Queensland that leave exists as an entitlement for public sector workers. As unionists though, we look to who else needs that same access across Queensland and Australia. We stand with the broader union movement in seeking legislative and policy reform to improve the lives of all working people. 

Looking back on our 136 proud years of history as a Union, and as part of a collective movement here in Queensland for the majority of the past 140 years, Queensland teachers and education leaders continue to lead the way in demonstrating solidarity to improve the working conditions of members and the learning conditions of students in state schools and TAFE. 

For us, Labour Day is an annual celebration of this work, a proud tradition. It's a day that points back to 1891 and a place called Barcaldine, where workers marched in protest about their poor conditions and wages. If you headed to an event this year, thanks for being part of celebrating and remembering. If you did something else on Labour Day, the QTU trusts you enjoyed your well-deserved public holiday.

See you in 2026!

Gillian Crotty
Assistant Secretary - Women’s Coordinator, Social Welfare Issues

Labour Day Awards

The QTU’s campaigning activism was recognised in the Queensland Council of Unions’ 2025 Labour Day Awards.

The Union took two honours at this year’s awards, held annually to highlight the amazing work unions and union activists do, day in and day out.

• Winner - Best Recruitment Campaign, for the QTU’s Beginning Teacher Membership Growth campaign
• Winner - Best Community Campaign, for the decade-long fair funding campaign.