Australia has one of the highest rates of casualisation in the OECD. Over 27% of the Australian workforce is currently employed on a casual basis. For young workers aged 15 -24 years, the figure is much higher at over 60%.

What is casual work?

A casual worker is employed by the hour or by the shift rather than being employed on an ongoing permanent basis. Technically its temporary work, although the majority of casual workers have been in the same position for over a year!

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What is a union?

A union is an organisation which brings together workers or students to fight for their collective interests. In a workplace this might mean fighting for better wages and conditions and on campus this might mean fighting for lower fees and better services for students.

When workers or students work together in a collective they have much improved bargaining power. The members of a union support each other so that we don’t have to face a problem or negotiate with the boss on our own. When workers stick together like this we have a much better chance of getting a better deal. The more union members the better the deal.

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Unite Union membership in New Zealand has more than doubled to nearly two thousand in Restaurant Brands stores after a union employment agreement was reached last week covering 3500 workers in Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut nationwide.

“The enormous surge in growth of membership reflects the workers support at the outcome of negotiations for a new union collective agreement,” said Unite National Secretary Matt McCarten.

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Low pay in the form of youth wages is the biggest problem facing young workers and students today. Even though young workers, students and apprentices are working longer hours than ever, more and more young people are living in extreme poverty.

One in seven undergraduates report going without food or other basic essentials. Students often now spend more than half their income on rent! One in four students, regularly miss classes to keep up with work commitments (Latrobe 2006 study), while many students have to drop out of higher education and training altogether because they simply can’t afford to study and work!

One way in which we can fight against student poverty is to organise our workplaces, and to fight for better wages and conditions. The first step, for all workers is to know your rights at work. Many students and young workers are not aware of their rights, and are often ripped off at work.
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If you are going to the Big Day Out in Melbourne next Monday be sure to take some time between bands and come past the UNITE information stall.

We will be promoting the ‘Boost Our Pay’ campaign and handing out our new leaflets that we have produced in conjunction with the RMIT Student Union. The new info will focus on youth wages and health and safety at work.

Are you planning on getting a casual job to make some extra cash over the holiday period? This is one of the busiest times of the year for the retail and fast food industries. Most shops put on extra staff to cover their increased work load.

It is common for bosses to try and rip young workers off during this period. Problems you may face at work include the underpayment of wages, not being given rest breaks, bullying and harassment or unsafe working conditions.

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UNITE sees the Eureka flag as a symbol of working class struggle. This is why we have used the eight pointed star from the flag on our own logo. The Howard Government has banned the Eureka flag on building sites around Australia. This is an outrageous attack on our democratic rights and freedoms.

We call on all of our supporters to attend the Eureka Rebellion Anniversary Rally and oppose this attack on democratic rights. Rally at 5pm Friday 23^rd of November on the State Library steps, Swanston St, City.

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About 75% of high school students over the age of 15 work in part time and casual jobs. But while we are busy enjoying our new found cash, we don’t always realise the extent to which we are being ripped off at work.

By Kirk Leonard, Year 11, St Helena Secondary College, Eltham North

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UNITE calls on all members and supporters to attend the workers rights rally called by the Building Industry Group unions in Victoria. A growing number of Victorian unions, including UNITE, have agreed to mobilise their members to drive home their ongoing opposition to the Federal Government’s IR Laws and other anti-worker policies.

Meet at Trades Hall on the corner of Lygon and Victoria Streets Carlton South at 10am on Wednesday 26th September 2007. The rally will march through the city to Flinders Street. Bring your family and friends as well as banners and flags.

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UNITE is proud to support the Rouge Education Conference being held at Trades Hall, 14th - 16th September 2007. As many of our members are students, we are concerned about the problems young people face on campus.

Among the many speakers at the conference will be UNITE Secretary, Anthony Main who will be speaking about building fighting unions in the areas where most students work – fast food and retail.

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The following is an open letter to the leaders of the Australian Labor Party, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. It was written by Michele O’Neil who is the Victorian State Secretary of the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA).

The TCFUA, like UNITE are extremely disappointed at Labor’s latest sell out in regards to their industrial relations policy. UNITE calls on all sections of the union movement to join with us and begin to seriously discuss the question of political representation of working people. Workers deserve much better than Rudd’s Labor Party.

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Only 12% of people aged under 25 are a member of a trade union. This Friday August 17th the ABC’s JTV program will investigate why this is so. Are unions irrelevant to young people or is there a problem with the politics and approach of the established unions. If this trend continues what will it mean for the future of trade unions in Australia?

Reporter Steve Cannane spoke to several people including Anthony Main Secretary of UNITE, Jeff Lawrence Secretary of the ACTU and Danielle Archer from the Young Unionist Network in Victoria to get some different points of view. Click on the link below to watch the Vodcast on the JTV site.

Click here to watch the JTV vodcast - Young over unions?

A typical Victorian worker on an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) earns 23 per cent less than a comparable worker on a collective agreement, according to a study commissioned by Industrial Relations Victoria the Age newspaper reported today.

This is much greater than the 16.3 per cent shortfall for workers nationwide. The gap for Victorian workers is greater probably because of the different industry composition in Victoria. Victoria has fewer well-paid mining jobs and a bigger AWA use in retail, fast food and hospitality.

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SKA TV is currently producing an excellent weekly television show covering work and trade union issues. It can be seen every Monday at 8.30pm on Channel 31. The episode on July 16th will be on young people and work. It will feature UNITE Secretary Anthony Main and NUW Organiser Godfrey Moase. Be sure to check it out and support our own independent media.

For more info contact theunionshow@yahoo.com.au

Do you get paid your superannuation? Do you know what superannuation is? It seems a growing number of workers are owed superannuation entitlements from employers.

Superannuation is basically a pension scheme. It has a compulsory element whereby bosses are required by law to pay a proportion of their employee’s wages (currently set at nine percent) into a superannuation fund, which can be accessed when the employee retires.

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