Category Archives: Announcements

THE AUSTRALIAN UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNION (AUWU) is launching its Fight4Facts campaign highlighting what it claims is the deliberate underreporting of unemployment by the Coalition Government. 

“It is one of the worst kept secret in the industry that the Australian Bureau of Statistics deliberately underreports the number of unemployed Australians”, said AUWU President Owen Bennett.

“According to the ABS, someone who works only one hour a week is considered employed. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that this data collection of method would underestimate the amount of Australians looking for work”.

Given Australia’s increasingly casualised workforce, Bennett claims that the Coalition is cynically using this shortcoming of ABS data collection to hide Australia’s growing employment crisis.

In its latest release the ABS reported that there are 748,100 unemployed people in Australia. However, according to Bennett this figure is “not worth the paper it was written on as it ignores the underemployed and the hidden unemployed giving a profoundly distorted picture of the Australian labour market”.

“The Coalition has presided over the largest increase in part-time employment as a proportion of the labour force ever recorded. Of the 534,000 Australians employed since the Coalition took office in 2013, more than three quarters were employed on a part-time basis – defined by the ABS as working between 1-35 hours per week. “

“If you combine the ABS data on unemployment with its data on underemployment and hidden unemployment there just under 2.8 million Australians looking for work.”

“Matched against the Government data on job vacancies, there are 17 job seekers competing for every job vacancy – compared to a ratio of 4 to 1 using current ABS data on unemployment.”

“As long as they are allowed to the Coalition will continue to hide behind this dodgy unemployment data, they will continue to sweep the suffering of unemployed and underemployed Australians under the rug.”

“The AUWU’s Fight4Facts Campaign is finally going to call the Turnbull government out on its lies and demand the government take responsibility for this employment crisis.”

As part of its Fight4Facts campaign, the AUWU has released new data provided by employment consultants that shows that 406 randomly selection job vacancies based in Melbourne received 26,977 applications – a ratio of 66 to one.

“The government has to stop covering up this employment crisis and start fixing this before it gets any worse”, said Bennett.

On 20 March, the Dignity Not Debt Movement will launch a campaign of rolling actions at Centrelink offices across the country demanding that the Turnbull Government abolish the robo-debt system.

The Turnbull government desperately wants the robo-debt crisis to go away.

Recently, the Government warned social security recipients that their public information would be publicly released if they criticised Centrelink’s new automated-debt recovery system, while Centrelink workers have been told that they risk losing their jobs if they commented publicly.

Turnbull’s shameless campaign to cover up the robo-debt issue is a disgrace.

However, Turnbull cannot prevent the Community and Public Service Union (CPSU) and the Dignity Not Debt movement from speaking out.

As part of its National Week of Action, the Dignity Not Debt movement – with support from the CPSU – will distribute important information at Centrelink offices across the country detailing what is really going on at the Department of Human Services.

Information on how to fight a debt and make a submission to the recently announced Senate inquiry will also be provided.

This is where we need your help.

To join the Dignity Not Debt’s Week of Action, simply email dignitynotdebt@gmail.com and we will help you coordinate a stall outside your local Centrelink office. You will also be put in touch with the local CPSU representative in order to receive printed materials.

Over the last five years, DHS workers in Centrelink have seen 5000 permanent jobs disappear. These workers also bear witness to the impact of service delivery failures like the robo-debt crisis that are direct result of federal government job cuts.

The Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union is currently looking for a number of volunteers to occupy pivotal roles within the national union structure. Applicants will be required to attend interviews, either in person if in Melbourne or on the phone.

Please send through all expressions of interest to contact@unemployedworkersunion.com

The briefs for the vacant positions are as follows:

• Secretary (Melbourne Branch)

Summary: The Secretary is the beating heart of the Melbourne branch. In addition to occupying a position on the Melbourne branch executive (the highest decision making body of the branch), the Secretary is responsible for organising and structuring union administration.

Job Description: The Secretary is responsible for

(i) Keeping minutes for meetings
(ii) Creating agendas
(iii) Overseeing union correspondence
(iv) Contributing to union’s community Organising and engagement
(iv) Liaising with members and community groups
(v)  Help develop campaigns and strategies through exectutive

Required Skills: Friendly, methodical, moderate IT skills (Gmail, Google Drive, Action Network), eexcellent organisational skills, administration experience, team player

Required Commitment: Two days per week voluntary activity

• Branch Coordinator

Summary: The Branch Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the establishment and organisation of AUWU branches across Australia. Consequently, the Branch Coordinator is a central figure in building union power and empowering unemployed workers across Australia.

Job Description: The Branch Coordinator is responsible for

(i) Responding to emails from prospective and established AUWU branches
(ii) Building networks across AUWU branches
(iii) Community organising and engagement
(iv) Liaising with members and community groups
(v) Helping to develop campaigns and strategies
(vi) Activist development
(vii) Event management
Required Skills: Excellent communication skills, excellent organisational and logistics skills, excellent relationship building skills, administration experience.
Required Commitment:  Two days per week voluntary activity

• Communications Working Group Volunteers

Summary: The AUWU is currently organising a Communications Working Group. This group will be responsible for creating artwork, leaflets, posters, and any other printed material, as well as managing our online content, and social media accounts. Ideally, Comms members will be in regular communication.

We’d love to hear from anyone who can help us with:

• graphic design (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop etc.)
• drawing and illustration (traditional or digital media)
• web design and development (html, CSS, JS, PHP etc.)
• filming, video editing
• TV, radio and public relations experience,
• social media management (facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.)
• research, writing (media releases, news articles, blogs), copy-editing

PRESS RELEASE

Dignity NOT Debt

RALLY to End Centrelink Debt Debacle

“Abolition of the Centrelink Debt Recovery Scheme” is the central demand of a rally being organised by the Australian Unemployed Workers Union on Tuesday 31 January, 12.30pm at the State Library in Melbourne.

President of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, Owen Bennett, said that “The Turnbull Government’s automated debt recovery system has sent around one-quarter of a million debt notices to social security recipients. Up to 90% of these notices are are estimated to be incorrect.

“Centrelink staff have been instructed that they are not allowed to fix obvious errors in the debt notices, unless the recipient of the debt notice makes a formal complaint.

“Some people who are now working full-time have just paid back the debts even though they are incorrect because of the difficulties of getting through to Centrelink to make a formal complaint. Others feel intimidated or bullied into accepting the debt notices, even though they are incorrect.

“Up to 90% of the debt notices which have been reviewed randomly have been found to be incorrect. The consequences of these notices is horrific and could result in an increase in attempted suicides and people losing their housing because they can’t afford the rent or mortgage,”

“Up to 90% of the debt notices which have been reviewed randomly have been found to be incorrect. The consequences of these notices is horrific and could result in an increase in attempted suicides and people losing their housing because they can’t afford the rent or mortgage. Some of our members are facing jail time for debts they may not even owe.

“This system is a shameless continuation of the Coalition’s mission to criminalise social security recipients and dismantle the social security system as a whole. The Dignity Not Debt movement is committed to fighting Turnbull’s punitive approach every step of the way” said Bennett.

The ‘Dignity Not Debt: End Centrelink Debt Debacle’ rally has received broad endorsement, including from organisations like the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Fair Go for Pensioners, Council of Single Mothers and their Children and the Homeless Persons Union. The endorsement list indicates that the Centrelink debt notices are hitting a broad range of groups in the community.

Details of the rally are:

Tuesday 31 January, 12.30

State Library, corner Swanston St and La Trobe St, Melbourne CBD
The rally will then march to the Liberal Party headquarters in Exhibition Street.

Speakers will include: Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale, Freedom from Poverty founder Duncan Storrar and NUS Education Officer Anneke Demanuele. Others include First Nations community leader Meriki Onus, Australian Unemployed Workers Union President Owen Bennett, Zach Brady from Centrelink Class Action and Sue Bolton from Socialist Alliance and Moreland councillor.

For Media comment:

Owen Bennett / contact@unemployedworkersunion.com