Unemployed Workers Fight Back is presented by Anne & Kevin on 3CR Community Radio.
Listen live on the second and fourth Friday of every month, 5.30pm, 3CR Community Radio’s SUWA program.
Listen to past shows below…
UWFB: Pelicans, Davos and Daisies
11 September 2020
Kevin & Anne take the vision of a job guarantee to remote Australia. With the help of our guests Dr. James Juniper, Dr. Francis Markham, and Professor Jon Altman, we uncover some local history with a near cousin of the job guarantee – the CDEP. In contrast, we discuss with AUWU’s Jez Heywood the damage done to lives when people are punished for being unemployed through current regimes known as jobactive and the CDP.
28 August 2020
There’s a lot of talk, but not enough government action, around the decimation of the arts and entertainment industry by the Covid-19 lockdowns. Kevin & Anne speak with Shannon Ward, one of the many unsung heroes on the frontlines dealing with the devastation. And we air some awesome local music we guarantee you have never heard before this show!
UWFB: In Pursuit of the Debt Monster
14 August 2020
Don’t worry, be happy – a conservative government is finally running a budget deficit, “as they should”. Still worried about government debt? With the help of our ghostbusting guests, Professor Martin Watts and Dr. James Juniper, @Kevin & @Anne wrestle the debt monster to the ground, and discover it has a strange taste in transport.
UWFB: Let’s Talk Full Employment
24 July 2020
Kevin and Anne talk with ALP federal representative Ged Kearney, who harkens back to the remarkable 1945 White Paper “Full Employment in Australia.” The White Paper demonstrates policy makers knew back then that lack of jobs was caused by insufficient aggregate demand for labour, not because women and robots were taking them away. Now we are facing 25% labour underutilisation, where to from here?
UWFB: Rate Your Employment Services Provider
10 July 2020
Ever had that kind of relationship where you either get parked or creamed? With guest, David O’Halloran, Kevin Gaynor & Anne delve into the nitty-gritties of employment “services”. We also consider the potential of a Job Guarantee, and pause to lament the departure of Comrade Morrison.
UWFB: Inside the Monetary Chook Shed
26 June 2020
Kevin Gaynor & Anne discover the secret ingredients to a well-managed economy are not so different from what make a great pasta. Meanwhile, our guest George Pantelopoulos helps us work through some of our collective trauma around fixed exchange rates.
UWFB: To Issue Or Not To Issue Bonds
12 June 2020
What is the connection between federal government spending, the national “debt,” and government bonds? Our guest, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Martin Watts sorts out that tangle, and saves Kevin’s future grandchildren from debt enslavement.
22 May 2020
What is it about a job guarantee that could rock your world and macro-economics? Anne & Kevin speak with the economist who came up with the idea of a job guarantee in the midst of the great upheavals of the 1970s, Professor Bill Mitchell.
8 May 2020
What happened in 1983 that affects how we manage our emergence from the Covid-19 lock-down? In this episode, Anne & Kevin talk, and talk, and talk, and finally Joshua Dalton of Modern Money Australia gets a word in, and then they talk some more about why all the government spending in response to the Covid-19 is not creating a debt we will have to pay back.
24 April 2020
Speaking with a founding intellectual of Modern Monetary Theory, puts our little show ahead of the media curve — Professor Bill Mitchell, who critiques the government’s stimulus packages. We remember the Raise the Rate campaign, and using decent macro, we look forward to the future! With appearances by economist Dr. Steven Hail, and unemployment activist, Alex North.
UWFB: An Economy for Everyone During a Pandemic
10 April 2020
Anne and Kevin speak with Dr. Steven Hail, lecturer in economics at the University of Adelaide. As a result of the coronavirus we are all in lock-down — consuming less, perhaps learning more about Modern Monetary Theory! Businesses are in the process of shedding hundreds of thousands of workers, and overseas supplies are drying up. What can we expect? What immediate action can the government take? How can we take care of everyone in Australia? How can we do a better job of this in the future?
UWFB: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hits the Economy
27 March 2020
We are all going through a major crisis with the coronavirus pandemic. The economy is taking some massive hits. The good news is, if you apply a Modern Monetary Theory understanding of macroeconomics, you will see what capacity the federal government has to deal with this crisis. Everyone can understand this, and be ready to demand no less from our government.
13 March 2020
Kevin & Anne with special guest Jengis Osman discuss the origins of currency, and how it works in the Australian economy. If it doesn’t grow on rich people as the neoliberals tell us, and it doesn’t come from a hole in the ground like the goldbugs tell us, where does money come from?
UWFB: Unemployed Workers and Macro-economics
14 February 2020
What is macroeconomics? Why does mainstream, orthodox economics get it so wrong? Why was it unable to predict the “Great Financial Crash” (GFC)? What is the alternative as bequeathed to us by John Maynard Keynes, the “father” of macroeconomics? How are students bringing the revolution in economics to their campuses? Guests: Dr. Victor Quirk, Duncan Wallace.
May Program (10/05/19)
- Tanya Cameron from the Country Women’s Association about increasing Newstart benefits to make it a liveable income.
- Sue Bolton, Victorian Socialists candidate for Wills about their election policies.
- Alex North, national coordinator of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union AUWU about their current campaigns.
November program (9/11/18)
PIBCI leader Dr Joe Toscano outlines his upcoming public housing vigil on Parliament steps; AUWU national branch coordinator Hayden Patterson gives an update on recent anti poverty conferences, and anti- cashless welfare card and Geelong AUWU activist Duncan Storer explains policies which financially penalise and demonise single mums and rehab recipients under the LNP Govt.
October program (12/10/18)
Per Capita Communications manager Abigail Lewis talked about the ‘Working it Out’ report written and researched in conjunction with AUWU; AUWU Victorian coordinator, Anne Maxwell brings the latest news from unemployed workers and AUWU’s event ‘From Stigma to Dignity’ for Anti Poverty Week; and Suicide Awareness Advocate, Anthony Smith, discusses the complex and deeply disturbing area of suicide and unemployment.
September program (14/09/18)
Anne and Ewen (Melbourne AUWU) discuss the latest news from the AUWU, including the From Stigma to Dignity event, coming up on 12 October. Anne Bainbridge from the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia (YACSA) discusses youth unemployment and the closure of TAFE colleges.
August program (10/08/18)
Latrobe University cultural sociologist Dr. Sara James discusses unemployed youth disadvantage in Australia with Valerie Farfalla and Jeremy Poxon (AUWU media). Jeremy highlights the police welfare blitz in Werribee shopping centre. Hayden Patterson (S.A. branch, AUWU) examines cashless card trials, along with Amanda Smith from Say No Seven.
July program (13/07/18)
Featuring interviews with: Owen Bennett, Pas Forgione, and Jerry Creaney.
May program (11/05/18)
Featuring interviews with: AUWU president, Owen Bennett, St Vincent de Paul Society special council chief executive John Falzon, and homelessness and poverty advocate, Duncan Storrar.
April program (13/04/18)
Featuring interviews with: AUWU president, Owen Bennett, Per Capita CEO Emma Dawson, and AUWU media officer, Jeremy Poxon.
March program (09/03/18)
February program (9/2/18)
Featuring interviews with: AUWU president, Owen Bennett, Spike from the Homeless Person’s Union, Steve Jolly from the Yarra City Council and Sue Bolton from the Socialist Alliance.
More Audio
Wednesday 5 December, 2018: Big Ideas, with Paul Barclay on RN
Does conditional welfare help the jobless find work?
Lo and behold! Research shows that a patronising, humiliating, demeaning system of forcing people to do pointless activities under threat of having their livelihood taken away by a sometimes small-minded, often overworked, pen-pusher, does not help people find work, and in fact is harmful. Great articulation by UK researcher Peter Dwyer speaking at the ACOSS conference, of the appalling dysfunction that is also going on in this country. Also featuring, Juanita McLaren, David Tennant, Simone Casey and Diana Shaw.
Interviews and more, featuring AUWU representatives.
8 January, 2019: 2SER, The Daily with Alex James
Alex interviews AUWU President, Owen Bennett, about Labor’s promise to overhaul work-for-the-dole programs if they win the next election.
Monday 8 October, 2018: ABC Radio Brisbane, Focus with Emma Griffiths
Are job service providers doing the job?
Focus gives job service providers a performance review, twenty years after the job of finding you work was given to the private sector. Why are so many job seekers critical of the “tick and flick” approach, and will two current reviews into the system bring about change?
Thursday 6 Sep 2018: ABC Radio National, Life Matters
The AUWU Media Officer Jeremy Poxon provides an overview of the Work for the Dole program, and Belinda documents her day-to-day experience. Shockingly, but not surprisingly, we hear how vulnerable women are to sexual harassment in these situations.
Sunday 16 Sep 2018: Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church
At the Sunday Service of the Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church, Anne Maxwell speaks from her personal experience to illustrate the systemic problems with jobactive.
17 July 2018: 3CR, Tuesday Breakfast
Jeremy Poxon, media officer for the Australian Unemployed Worker’s Union, joins Anya Saravanan, Ayaan Shirwa, George Maxwell and Lauren Bull in the studio to discuss Centrelink’s new ‘demerit points’ plan and what it means for NewStart recipients.
8 July 2018: 2GB, Sunday Nights with Bill Crews
Rev. Crews talk with AUWU Media Officer Jeremy Poxon about how the new demerit system will impact on the disadvantaged on NewStart.
21 June 2017: 3CR, Stick Together
AUWU President, Owen Bennett discusses cashless welfare.
11 June 2017: Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church
At the Sunday Service AUWU President, Owen Bennett gives an update on Australia’s employment crisis.
9 February 2017: ABC RN Big Ideas
The role of media in public opinion: how media portrays marginalised groups. AUWU President, Owen Bennett, joins the debate presented by the ACOSS National Conference, 17 November 2016.
2 February 2015: Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church
At the Sunday Service AUWU President, Owen Bennett talks about Australia’s employment crisis.