Australian Unemployed Workers' Union | |
 | |
| Founded | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Location | |
| Website | auwu.org.au |
The Australian Unemployed Workers' Union (AUWU), is an Australian union representing unemployed, underemployed and unwaged workers, including recipients of welfare payments and services in Australia. The AUWU is a national organisation, with divisions and branches operating in every State/Territory in Australia.
The AUWU was founded in 2014 as a grass-roots advocacy group for the rights of unemployed workers. [1] As of 2020, the AUWU has grown to include branches in every state and territory in Australia. The AUWU is reported to have approximately 16,000 members. [2] [3]
AUWU's membership is open to all and free; some voting rights are limited to unemployed and under-employed members. Members upon joining must agree to the AUWU's list of demands, guiding principles and constitution. [4] [5] To its members, the AUWU provides a regularly updated "rights guide" for unemployed/underemployed workers navigating the Social Security system, jobactive system, and the Employment Services Industry, online and in-person telephone support services (including a crisis support hotline for the unemployed). They also provide numerous training sessions, workshops and presentations.
The AUWU carries out campaigns, [6] produces original research, senate submissions and reports, [7] analyses Australian unemployment, [8] gathers stories of unemployed workers' experiences [9] and runs a regular "Fight Back" podcast, [10] amongst other activities.
In a June 2017 interview with the Courier-Mail, Greens senator Lee Rhiannon expressed support for the AUWU, and revealed she has donated $300 to the association. [11]
2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham has publicly criticised the union in a statement to news.com.au, claiming it 'coaches people how to dodge responsibilities when it comes to work for the dole or finding a job'. Liberal senator and Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash opined that, "Australian taxpayers and indeed those looking for work would be offended by a 'union' whose sole purpose appears to be keeping members out of gainful employment and encouraging them to shirk their responsibilities," and added that the organisation needs to "take a good hard look at itself." AUWU member Ewen Kloas's response to this criticism was also published by news.com.au. He said, "What we tell people are their rights. When unemployed workers go to employment agencies or to Centrelink and have to jump over the high hurdles and burning hoops just to get their social security and live week to week ... all we do is point them in the direction." [12]
Junkee.com.au reported, in August 2020, that the AUWU is encouraging AUWU members and other unemployed people to respond to the Federal government's reintroduction of mutual obligations for people on JobSeeker and other welfare payments by going on strike, doing so by refusing to engage with job agencies. [13]
In a statement to The New Daily, AUWU spokesperson Kristin O’Connell voiced the AUWU's opposition to any move by the Federal government to cut JobSeeker payments, saying that, "It’s still a poverty payment. Now it’s just above the poverty line." [14]
Unemployment, according to the OECD, is people above a specified age not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period.
The Australian Greens (AG), commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a confederation of green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and the fourth-largest by elected representation. The leader of the party is Adam Bandt, with Mehreen Faruqi serving as deputy leader. Larissa Waters currently holds the role of Senate leader.
Underemployment is the underuse of a worker because their job does not use their skills, offers them too few hours, or leaves the worker idle. It is contrasted with unemployment, where a person lacks a job at all despite wanting one.
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by governmental bodies to unemployed people. Depending on the country and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.
In economics, a discouraged worker is a person of legal employment age who is not actively seeking employment or who has not found employment after long-term unemployment, but who would prefer to be working. This is usually because an individual has given up looking, hence the term "discouraged".
The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 60,000 U.S. households conducted by the United States Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS uses the data to publish reports early each month called the Employment Situation. This report provides estimates of the unemployment rate and the numbers of employed and unemployed people in the United States based on the CPS. A readable Employment Situation Summary is provided monthly. Annual estimates include employment and unemployment in large metropolitan areas. Researchers can use some CPS microdata to investigate these or other topics.
Frictional unemployment is a form of unemployment reflecting the gap between someone voluntarily leaving a job and finding another. As such, it is sometimes called search unemployment, though it also includes gaps in employment when transferring from one job to another.
Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing, downsizing, recession, and new technology, to name a few.
Lee Rhiannon is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales between July 2011 and August 2018. She was elected at the 2010 federal election, representing the Australian Greens. Prior to her election to the Federal Parliament, Rhiannon was a Greens NSW member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1999 and 2010.
Work for the Dole is an Australian Government program that is a form of workfare, or work-based welfare. It was first permanently enacted in 1998, having been trialled in 1997. It is one means by which job seekers can satisfy the "mutual obligation requirements" to receive the Newstart Allowance, now replaced by the JobSeeker Payment. Other "mutual obligation" measures can include: accredited study, part-time work, Australian Army Reserves, and volunteer work.
Social security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by Australian Government to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centrelink, a program of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.
Adam Paul Bandt is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer who is the leader of the Australian Greens and federal MP for Melbourne. Previously, he served as co-deputy leader of the Greens from 2012 to 2015 and 2017 to 2020. He was elected leader following the resignation of Richard Di Natale in February 2020.
A job guarantee is an economic policy proposal that aims to create full employment and price stability by having the state promise to hire unemployed workers as an employer of last resort (ELR). It aims to provide a sustainable solution to inflation and unemployment.
Youth unemployment in the United Kingdom is the level of unemployment among young people, typically defined as those aged 18–25. A related concept is graduate unemployment which is the level of unemployment among university graduates. Statistics for June 2010 show that there are 926,000 young people under the age of 25 who are unemployed which equates to an unemployment rate of 19.6% among young people. This is the highest youth unemployment rate in 17 years. In November 2011 youth unemployment hit 1.02 million, but had fallen to 767,000 by August 2014. The high levels of youth unemployment in the United Kingdom have led some politicians and media commentators to talk of a "lost generation".
99ers is a colloquial term for unemployed people in the United States, mostly citizens, who have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits, including all unemployment extensions. As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in February 2009, many unemployed people could receive up to 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits, hence the name "99ers". An estimated 7 million people are affected.
Unemployment in the United Kingdom is measured by the Office for National Statistics. As of February 2024, the U.K. unemployment rate is 3.8%, down from 3.9% in January.
The Labor policy in the Philippines is specified mainly by the country's Labor Code of the Philippines and through other labor laws. They cover 38 million Filipinos who belong to the labor force and to some extent, as well as overseas workers. They aim to address Filipino workers’ legal rights and their limitations with regard to the hiring process, working conditions, benefits, policymaking on labor within the company, activities, and relations with employees.
Left Renewal is a political faction that exists within the Australian Greens, primarily the NSW Greens branch, which was established publicly in late 2016. Described by elements of the media as hard left, it regularly promotes ideologies and beliefs such as anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, feminism, and anti-racist arguments through its online spaces and community events.
Unemployment in Hungary measured by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office shows the rate of unemployed individuals out of the labor force. The European Union's own statistical office, Eurostat also makes reports and predictions about the Hungarian job market and the unemployment rate in the country. The KSH's most recent unemployment data shows the unemployment rate for men 15–74 to be 3.3% and 4.1% for women.
Barbara Ann Pocock AM is an Australian politician who was elected at the 2022 Australian federal election to become a Senator representing South Australia from July 2022. She was officially declared elected by the Australian Electoral Commission on 15 June 2022. Previously, she ran as the Greens candidate for the Division of Adelaide in the 2019 Australian federal election. She is a professor and economist.