Author Archives: AUWU

New Name

We have officially changed our name to the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union

To end the negative stigma which has increasingly plagued the unemployed over the last 40 years, it is imperative that we change how we think and talk about the unemployed.

This is what our name change is trying to do.

To fight the pervasive attitude that views the unemployed as a “bludger” class that simply prefer to sponge of others, the unemployed must be thought of as workers who, due to the failure of Government economic policy, have been left out of our economy.

With the official statistics showing that there are 12 job seekers applying for every job vacancy, this position is fully justified.

By presenting ourselves as unemployed workers, we will be creating a new way to think about unemployment in Australia.

But even more importantly, we will be breaking down the barriers that have divided employed workers from unemployed workers.

For too long, the Government and the right-wing media have tried to pit employed workers against the unemployed.

Why? To distract people from the Government’s own failure to create enough jobs.

Together lets expose this fraud and unite in the common struggle for a fair society for all.

LABOR PARTY’S RESPONSE TO OUR OPEN LETTER

Below is the Federal Labor Party’s mixed response to our open letter demanding the withdrawal of the current attacks directed at the unemployed.

While the Australian Unemployment Union warmly welcomes the Labor Party’s commitment to review the Coalition government’s proposed attacks against the unemployed in the Senate and its opposition to the Coalition’s ‘unfair’ approach to the unemployed, we are deeply concerned about the Labor Party’s ongoing support for the punitive mutual obligation system and its thinly veiled statement that it “believes moves to more closely align the dates of suspensions and/or penalties with the actual date of non-compliance in relation to activities and job search requirements have merit.”

Considering that there are currently 12 job seekers competing for every job vacancy, what we need more than ever is a strong force in Australian politics that will oppose all punitive measures against the unemployed and advocate for the nationalisation of all Employment Service Providers. Job creation, not the punishment of the disadvantaged, must be the number one concern of government.

GenerationOne indigenous jobs program results ‘dismal’

The Australian

The government’s flagship indigenous job creation program that aimed to employ 5000 people by the end of the year has resulted in just 471 jobs retained for longer than six months.

Based on the GenerationOne employment model developed by mining magnate Andrew Forrest, the $70 million Vocational Training and Employment Centres were an election commitment of the Coalition and are designed to reward businesses for keeping indigenous Australians employed.

Figures obtained by The Australian from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet show that while 2723 people have started the VTEC program since January 2014, just 471 have secured employment for the targeted 26 weeks.

A total of 1978 indigenous jobseekers have been placed in jobs in the past 18 months. Many may yet meet the 26-week employment target by the end of the year.

But about 10 per cent of participants — 237 people — have begun jobs and dropped out of the program, and a further 192 people have left the program before beginning employment.

The program has so far cost about $20m.

The figures provided by the department suggest the retention rate for those who begin employment placements is about 66 per cent.

Labor indigenous affairs spokesman Shayne Neumann said the results suggested the program was falling short of its promised benefits and the government would fail to meet the 5000 jobs pledge.

“This has been going on for almost two years now and we have dismal results,” Mr Neumann said.

“It hasn’t started well, the drop-out rates are already significant, and only 17.3 per cent of people who have started have reached the 26 weeks, so that is not a good outcome.”

But GenerationOne’s national manager of vocational training and employment Matthew O’Sullivan said the outcomes were positive, particularly given the program dealt with many hardcore unemployed.

“With several thousand indigenous people moving into employment already and with many more expected do so by the end of the year, GenerationOne is proud of what is being achieved by the network of VTECs,” he said.

“This is particularly so when you consider that VTECs are required to target indigenous jobseekers that have been assessed by Centrelink as having significant and multiple barriers to employment.”

Under the program, VTEC providers are contracted to employ strategies to ensure job retention rates and must provide post-placement support throughout the 26 weeks of employment.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said the government was monitoring the program.

“While it is too early to assess final outcomes, the government is monitoring progress closely and supporting VTECs to reach employment targets,” Senator Scullion said.

The government initially committed $45m for the country’s 28 VTECs to place up to 5000 indigenous Australians into “guaranteed jobs”. A further $25m was committed to the program in last year’s budget under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.

We Want You!

As the weeks roll by the questions mount up, and so does the demand for answers.

‘What can I do? What are my rights?’

‘My provider says that I have to work 25 hours a week to keep my payments – is this true?’

‘When are you guys going to organize flash crowds outside of my local Jobactive provider?’

First, in answer to the enquires on what to do; we’re working as fast as we can to produce both an on-line version of ‘Unemployment Workers Rights’ as well as a hard copy. This document will be a complete reference guide of the rights Newstart recipients have at Employment Service Provider, Work for the Dole and at Centrelink

In conjunction, we’ve almost finished setting up a national ‘hot line’ that you can call and get advice on dealing with Jobactive providers and Centrelink, and we’re hoping to be able to provide advocacy as well. But it’s not enough.

We need YOUR HELP to carry it on and spread the word. We need volunteers to distribute ‘Unemployment Workers Rights’ outside every Jobactive provider’s office in every city, town and suburb. We want to make unemployment one of the key issues in the coming election. For all Parties, major, minor or independent.

Our ultimate goal is to get rid of this abhorrent system and the parasites who feed off it. This will take time and dedication but it can be done and we need to take the next steps NOW! We’re not asking you for money, just an hour or two of your time to hand out booklets to help the unemployed. As a union, we have no membership fees. Anyone can join, unemployed, under-employed or fully employed.  Coast to coast there are 1.8 million unemployed and under employed. As individuals, there is very little that we can do to fight the system. As a collective however, we represent a powerful force for change and NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE!

JOIN US AND HELP CHANGE THE SYSTEM.

Download a membership form here: https://www.mediafire.com/?dl611zjs2in6xtx

Government Response to Open Letter

Below is the grossly inadequate Government response to the open letter we sent to the Minister of Social Services Scott Morrison demanding the Government address its punitive and socially disastrous approach toward unemployed Australians.

The Government response failed to address any of our concerns regarding:

Any amount of waiting period imposed on Newstart applicants
The new punitive system of fines for Newstart recipients
The insufficient rate of Newstart which is $280 per fortnight below the poverty line
The socially disastrous expansion of the discredited and punitive Work for the Dole program
The failure of the Coalition Government to address the worsening unemployment crisis in which there are 12 job seekers competing for each job vacancy going by official ABS figures.

The Australian Unemployment Union will be escalating our demands to the Federal Government. We will begin this campaign by clogging the phones of the Minister of Employment Eric Abetz (telephone: 03 9954 2845) and the Minister of Social Services Scott Morrison (telephone: 02 6277 7560) until our demands are met.

All organisations who signed the initial open letter will be encouraged to join our campaign. We will not rest until the Government addresses its punitive and socially disastrous approach toward unemployed Australians.

Any organisations or individuals interested in helping with this campaign please contact the AUU at contact@unemploymentunion.com.au to discuss the best way to continue this campaign.