Emma Clancy
Inspired by the example of the French students and workers who defeated their government's attacks on young workers with mass mobilisations, the socialist youth organisation Resistance has called for a student strike against Work Choices on June 1, in the lead-up to the ACTU-called national day of protest on June 28.
Momentum is gathering for the action with the WA branch of the Maritime Union of Australia, the University of NSW branch of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), the Wollongong University Student Association and Education Action Collective, the Sydney University Education Action Group and the Young Workers Solidarity Movement all endorsing the strike last week. The UNSW NTEU resolution also pledges to: publicise the action amongst the union's members; not penalise students who participate in the action; and contribute to the hiring of a bus to get people to the action in Sydney.
Meetings are being organised on high schools and university campuses to discuss the impact of the anti-worker legislation on young people and to plan the June 1 action.
Perth Resistance organiser Trent Hawkins told Green Left Weekly: "Work Choices attacks the rights of all workers, but young people are being affected particularly harshly.
"Most young people need to work around their study commitments in order to make ends meet, and they work casual, low-paid jobs in industries with low levels of union membership. Australian Workplace Agreements will force young people, who are generally in a weak bargaining position, to negotiate with their boss on an individual basis."
New research by the Youth Action Policy Association (YAPA) shows that less than one in five young people (under 26 years) believe they will be better off individually negotiating their pay and conditions with their boss. The majority surveyed thought they would be better off under an award.
The research found that almost one in five young people are dissatisfied with their pay and working conditions, but also that "young people are more likely to put up with poor pay and conditions than to quit and look for another job".
YAPA spokesperson John Ferguson said on April 25: "The new IR system for young people is less about negotiation and more about desperation. With youth unemployment so high and a diminishing welfare system, employers will have the power to hire the young people most desperate for work."
Research conducted last year by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training among people in NSW aged 12 to 25 found that 78% of those who worked had casual jobs, with 60% working in the retail and hospitality industries. Of the young workers, 23% had experienced bullying at work.
In 2005, the NSW Commission for Children and Young People found that 29% of workers aged 12-16 years were paid $4 or less per hour, and 22% earned $6-$8 per hour.
Melbourne Resistance organiser Brianna Pike told GLW: "These statistics show the high level of exploitation and abuse that young people face in the workplace, and we're not going to just stand back and watch it get worse under Work Choices.
"We've had a great response to the call for a strike from high-school and campus students who face this exploitation every day. They're excited about taking action for their rights.
"On June 1 we're going to be demanding that the Howard government repeal its Work Choices and 'voluntary student unionism' legislation, and calling for youth wages to be abolished. We hope that lots of people in the community will support us on June 1."
[Contact your local Resistance branch to find out about the protests in your area, to get material to help build it, of to organise a meeting on your school or campus to discuss the impact of the laws on young people.]
From Green Left Weekly, May 3, 2006.
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