Publication Topic Archives - Page 2 of 4

Unions NSW 2021 Annual Report

In 2021, Sydney Trades Hall celebrated 150 years of fighting for working people. However, the actual celebration has had to wait like so many other celebrations. Across our state, hundreds of thousands could not do their jobs due to lockdowns, especially in Sydney’s west and south-west.

by unionsadmin / in Publication Topic

Gender Equality Position Paper

Unions NSW values equality, justice, integrity and progressing the lives of working people. Unions NSW will, in partnership with affiliates, use its powerful civil society voice and formidable industrial influence to advocate to government and employers for workplace gender equality.

by unionsadmin / in Current publications

No Community Left Behind: Survey of Workers in Lockdown

by unionsadmin / in Procurement, Publication Topic

Build it here: The economic cost of offshoring major transport projects in New South Wales

Public procurement is a major driver of economic activity, constituting 15% of GPD – higher than the OECD average of 11%. Through competitive tender processes, governments in Australia have awarded 13% of all public procurement expenditure to international bidders. In awarding tenders for major projects, governments must balance public expectations with the need to ensure that major expenditure commitments represent value for money.

by unionsadmin / in Migrant Workers

Working for $9 hour

Labour is vital to the Australian horticulture industry. Seasonal variation and the transient nature of the work makes the farmworker population difficult to measure. It is estimated that approximately 142,000 people work in the horticulture industry. Fruit grape and nut farms employ around 104,000 workers and vegetable farms employ 38,000 workers.

by unionsadmin / in NSW Budget, Publication Topic

Young, free and living precariously

There has been significant media reporting and public commentary on the impact on young people of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic recession. However, there is limited empirical research into the experiences of young people during the height of the 2020 pandemic. This discussion paper is the result of a survey of over 300 respondents conducted during the final months of 2020.

by unionsadmin / in NSW Budget, Publication Topic

24-hour childcare and tradie toll relief needed in State Budget

A new report finds tradies and shift workers were the state’s forgotten people during COVID and recommends a trial of 24-hour day care and toll relief to help our blue, pink and fluoro-collared workforce. The McKell Institute research for Unions NSW will be presented to Treasurer Dominic Perrottet as a State Budget option paper. It finds many of the workers in question suffered greatly reduced incomes and work hours at the height of the pandemic, all while facing a higher degree of exposure to COVID.

by unionsadmin / in Migrant Workers, Publication Topic

Wage Theft: Horticulture report

At time of writing migration to Australia is at an all-timelow. Many nations have begun their roll out of vaccines for the COVID-19 virus however the pandemic still poses a serious threat to lives and economies. To limit the spread of the virus in Australia the federal government has continued its restriction on international arrivals and particularly its halt on immigration to Australia.

by unionsadmin / in Publication Topic, Wage Theft

Wage Theft: Lighting up the Black Market

In some sections of the workforce underpayment of wages has become routine. Employers are unashamedly advertising below Award rates for vacant positions. This seedy underbelly of exploitation and wage theft has been exposed through high profile examples of migrant worker exploitation. Workers have been threatened against making complaints, with employers taking advantage of workers who have poor English, are on temporary work visas and are young.

by unionsadmin / in Migrant Workers, Publication Topic

Wage Theft: the Shadow Market

The exploitation of temporary migrant workers in Australia is a common and known problem that appears to be endemic throughout Australian workplaces. This exploitation persists despite numerous government inquiries,¹ legislative reforms and in 2019, the establishment of The Migrant Workers’ Taskforce whose recommendations are yet to be implemented.