By Peter Boyle
MELBOURNE — About 140 representatives of government, Industry, the ACTU and Community organisations were invited to a forum titled "Youth Employment and Training — A Bridge to the Future" at Victoria's Parliament House on June 25. This was to be the Kirner government's response to 46% youth unemployment in the state — but only five young people were invited!
Kirner's main proposal was to create about 5000 new "youth trainee" positions (there are 33,100 unemployed 15-19 year olds in Victoria and about 100,000 nationally) in the private sector by offering subsidies of $2000-$3000 to employers for each "trainee" taken on. With existing federal subsidies, she said, employers could get up to $6000 per trainee kept on for a year. A "typical trainee" in the retail industry (which employs most 15-19 year olds in the work force) would get $144.15, and the employer would have to pay only $48 of this.
Kirner also said that she would ask the federal government to create 2000 more university places in Victoria, fast-track the proposals in the Carmichael Report and create work for the dole schemes for youth to serve on "conservation and community care youth teams".
However Francesca Davidson, the representative of the youth organisation Resistance to the forum, condemned Kirner's proposal as a "youth slavery scheme".
"That young people should be required to work a full working day for around $50 below the poverty line is outrageous. It is comparable to the conditions forced upon young people in the Industrial Revolution. Does the government think that we eat less or pay less rent?"
There was no guarantee that the one year traineeship would lead to permanent jobs, Davidson said, and "lower wages don't necessarily mean more jobs, as a glance at the unemployment figures of countries like Bangladesh will show.
"In the climate of a recession these so-called traineeships will undercut other workers and serve to drive wages down."
Resistance demanded that the dole be raised to the level of the poverty line at least, and that all young unemployed people be entitled to it, not simply those over 21, said Davidson. There should also be no breaking of award wages in job creation schemes.
"Young people want environmentally friendly jobs at living wage awards. We demand that a huge project of public spending be put into action. This would provide huge job creation potential and firm up our already fragile infrastructure.
"Our public transport system needs to be extended and improved, as does our health service. A tremendous amount of work is needed to fix move to environmentally sustainable development. Our health, women and migrant services need more people, resources and support. The education system could be expanded and improved to provide places and teachers for those who were excluded this year.
"And finally, we want a shorter working week with no loss in pay. The money to finance this job creation scheme should come from the military budget."
Davidson rejected work-for-the-dole schemes. "Twenty thousand Koori people already work for the dole. We heartily condemn this. As young people, we demand our right to environmental jobs at living wage awards."
She also condemned the lack of consultation with young people. Davidson's criticisms, which received wide press coverage, alarmed Kirner, who used her position as chair to prevent Environmental Youth Alliance representative Wendy Robertson from addressing the forum.
Business executive and head of the State Training Board Ian Deveson told the forum that Australia would be left out of international markets if governments did not succeed in removing all impediments to business, massive restructuring of the economy and society, corporatisation, privatisation and job shedding.
Deveson even suggested that if youth unemployment remained a problem, young people should be trained on military bases in interpersonal and vocational skills and in physical education.
Laurie Carmichael was to be the "star" of the forum. He said that technological change meant that the labour market was changing and shrinking. The new labour market had to be skilled to suit high-tech industry. But the Carmichael Report put forward a program to skill the work force not to create jobs, he admitted.