Job security

A genuine pathway for casual workers to become permanent

Date Published: 13/02/2024
Category: Job security

There are thousands of casual workers who work regular, ongoing hours – often for years – but are are stuck in insecure work. These are some of their stories.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2024/02/13/bringing-together-the-stories-of-casual-workers/

The horrible reasons why big business loves labour hire

Date Published: 30/05/2023
Category: Job security

‘Labour hire’ may sound unassuming but behind the label hides terrible wages, unreliable jobs, and poor conditions.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/05/30/the-horrible-reasons-why-big-business-loves-labour-hire/

New workplace trend leaves more workers below minimum wage

Date Published: 30/05/2023
Category: Job security

Any illusions anyone might have still had about the gig work promise of ‘flexibility’ have been well and truly shattered, thanks to two big pieces of research released last week. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/05/30/new-workplace-trend-leaves-more-workers-below-minimum-wage/

Don’t let big business trick you. There’s nothing good about a sham contract

Date Published: 29/05/2023
Category: Job security

For anyone on an ABN, there’s been a harrowing development: you are more likely to be on a sham contract than a genuine independent contract.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2023/05/29/dont-let-big-business-trick-you-theres-nothing-good-about-a-sham-contract/

University executives enjoy sky-high profits while students have tutorials delivered from a “hospital bed”

Date Published: 03/11/2022
Category: Job security

If you or someone you know is thinking about going to university, here’s something you should know. Universities are not run for the benefit of students. And guess what? They haven’t for years.  

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/11/03/university-executives-enjoy-sky-high-profits-while-students-have-tutorials-delivered-from-a-hospital-bed/

Working From Home arrangements a chance for workers to re-imagine ‘flexibility’

Date Published: 20/10/2022
Category: Job security

When the pandemic hit and many workers shifted to working from home, a new avenue opened. We had a taste of what flexibility on our own terms could look like. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/10/20/working-from-home-arrangements-a-chance-for-workers-to-re-imagine-flexibility/

Secure jobs and a fair share for workers is an economy that works for people

Date Published: 10/08/2022
Category: Job security

Corporate executives and conservative politicians like to pretend that everyday people shouldn’t interfere in economics, but the truth is that our top economic goal as a nation should be to give everyone the chance to get a secure and fairly paid job. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/08/10/secure-jobs-and-a-fair-share-for-workers-is-an-economy-that-works-for-people/

Morrison Government outperforms its own poor predictions at a $2000 cost to workers

Date Published: 27/04/2022
Category: Job security

The release of the 2022 first quarter inflation data has confirmed the worst real pay cut for working people this century.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/04/27/morrison-government-outperforms-its-own-poor-predictions-at-a-2000-cost-to-workers/

Casual workers poorer by $350 a week due to insecure work

Date Published: 11/04/2022
Category: Job security

Casual workers in Australia are earning on average $350 less each week than their permanent full time or part time counterparts, according to a report released by the ACTU. 

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/04/11/causal-workers-poorer-by-350-a-week-due-to-insecure-work/

Latest figures show Morrison may have set you back hundreds of dollars

Date Published: 28/03/2022
Category: Job security

We have had nine years of wage stagnation under successive Coalition Government, and we are already struggling to keep up with the cost of living.

So when ACTU Secretary Sally McManus posed this question on Twitter on Thursday, the responses were eye-opening.  

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/28/latest-figures-show-morrison-may-have-set-you-back-hundreds-of-dollars/

Morrison Government decisions have left the average worker $800 poorer

Date Published: 15/03/2022
Category: Job security

Wage stagnation is a direct product of the Liberal Government’s economic design. They have embedded casualisation and precarious work into our national labour force.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/03/15/morrison-government-decisions-have-left-the-average-worker-800-poorer/

Spotlight on Job Insecurity: South Eastern NSW

Date Published: 30/11/2021
Category: Job security

Workers with insecure jobs have fewer rights, lower pay and limited ability to plan for the future. Read the report into insecure work in FNQ

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/11/30/spotlight-on-job-insecurity-se-nsw/

Spotlight on Secure jobs & Wages: Central Queensland

Date Published: 21/10/2021
Category: Job security

Insecure work is at crisis levels in central Queensland.  Nearly 4 in 10 workers (38.7%) are in casual work. 1 in 2 workers in central Queensland no longer have a permanent job. Mining and manufacturing companies have been deliberately replacing permanent jobs with insecure ones.  Insecure work is incredibly prevalent in central Queensland. The region is…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/10/21/insecure-work-central-qld/

Join the global call for secure jobs on World Day for Decent Work

Date Published: 04/10/2021
Category: Economic recovery Job security

This World Day for Decent Work, unions around the world are calling on Governments to protect secure work. Will you join them?

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/10/04/world-day-for-decent-work/

Record number of Australians working more than one job to survive

Date Published: 28/09/2021
Category: Job security

A new report has revealed a record number of Australians working more than one job to survive.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/09/28/record-multi-jobs/

“Essential workers” or just “essential work”? The cruel risks of automation in a pandemic

Date Published: 24/09/2021
Category: Economic recovery Job security Working life

As big companies move towards automation for profit, we must ensure essential workers are not treated as expendable, writes Lauren Piko

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/09/24/cruel-risks-of-automation-in-a-pandemic/

Spotlight on Job Insecurity and Wages: Far North Queensland

Date Published: 23/09/2021
Category: Job security

Workers with insecure jobs have fewer rights, lower pay and limited ability to plan for the future. Read the report into insecure work in FNQ

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/09/23/spotlight-on-job-insecurity-fnq/

Spotlight on Job Insecurity and Wages: Tasmania

Date Published: 02/09/2021
Category: Analysis Job security

The insecure work crisis is hitting the workers of Tasmania hard. Tasmania has the highest level of casual work (26.6%) in the country – that’s 4.7% higher than the national average. Tasmanian workers earn 13% less than the Australian median weekly wage. One in three workers in Tasmania are on insecure work arrangements including casual,…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/09/02/spotlight-on-job-insecurity-and-wages-tasmania/

A win for workers—and another betrayal by the Morrison Government

The Morrison Government’s IR Bill passed the Senate yesterday, stripped of all but one of its major provisions. This was a win for unions, workers, and the community who campaigned against the changes, writes Chloe Ward.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/19/a-win-for-workers-and-another-betrayal-by-the-morrison-government/

Meet Mark: an imbalance of power

Date Published: 17/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security Working life

Imagine getting laid-off over Christmas, abandoned by your employer, left with nothing while the bills stack up.

It’s a nightmare scenario, but for Mark and 300 of his colleagues, it was all too real.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/17/meet-mark-an-imbalance-of-power/

Meet Sherree: one cut from poverty

One shift can make all the difference for aged care worker Sherree Clarke. But in the midst of a pandemic, she actually saw fewer of them.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/10/meet-sherree-one-cut-from-poverty/

Meet Gaby: a nurse’s concern

Date Published: 03/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security Workers rights

As a registered nurse for the past 10 years, Gaby Norman is used to taking care of others. And that’s why, with the Morrison Government proposing dangerous industrial relations legislation, she fears for what’s ahead.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/03/meet-gaby-a-nurses-concern/

Meet Llwyd: the labour hire roundabout

Date Published: 02/03/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security Workers rights

Llwyd is an electrician based in Brisbane, with nearly three decades’ worth of experience. But he’s trapped on what he calls “the labour hire roundabout”.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/03/02/meet-llwyd-the-labour-hire-roundabout/

Experts warn changes to job security will put public health at risk

Date Published: 16/02/2021
Category: Industrial Relations Job security

No access to paid sick leave and insecure working conditions are putting Australians at greater risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a submission by epidemiologists from ANU in response to the Morrison Government’s proposed IR Omnibus Bill.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/02/16/experts-warn-changes-to-job-security-will-put-public-health-at-risk/

End JobKeeper Uncertainty

Date Published: 15/02/2021
Category: Analysis Job security

End the uncertainty and anxiety about the future of JobKeeper.

That was the message from ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, to Scott Morrison on ABC TV’s “Insiders” yesterday.

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2021/02/15/end-jobkeeper-uncertainty/

Insecure Work in Australia

Date Published: 08/09/2018
Category: Job security

About Australians’ work is becoming less secure. Only 60 per cent of workers are in full or part-time ongoing employment. The rest – around four million workers – are engaged either as casuals, on short-term contracts, in labour hire, or as “independent” contractors. The Issues Casual work was originally limited to those rare cases where…

https://www.australianunions.org.au/2018/09/08/insecure-work-in-australia/