WORKERS from a range of industries rallied in Cessnock on Saturday, having their say on the negative impacts of insecure work and casualisation.
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"All industries today are affected by insecure work in one form or another," Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said at the rally.
"Crucially we are calling for same job same pay, a proper definition of casual employment, the real opportunity for workers to convert from casual employment to permanent employment and industry-wide bargaining for workers that are in satellite workplaces.
"We've seen over the last nine years that there's no willingness from this government to make any meaningful change and they actually project things to get worse."
Representatives from the Mining and Energy Union (MEU), Health Services Union (HSU), National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) spoke at the Hunter Workers rally, along with Labor Senator Tony Sheldon and Hunter candidate Daniel Repacholi.
Speakers outlined how job insecurity is impacting workplace standards across a range of industries.
Health workers spoke about a dire situation in aged care, citing the negative effect inadequate pay and job insecurity has on care quality and resident wellbeing.
Mining and Energy Union acting president, Robin Williams, said a common scene in the Hunter is to have a labour-hire employee working alongside a permanent coal miner doing this same job but earning "30 to 40 per cent less" with no entitlements.
"That can be a difference of $40 thousand to $50 thousands dollars a year. So we are not talking about small amounts of money," Mr Williams said.
Elizabeth Adamczyk, a casual academic at the University of Newcastle, spoke at the rally representing the NTEU. While she said people picture universities as an "ivory tower" of employment, the conditions are just at "ruthless and calculating" as other professions.
"In the 20 years to 2020 there's been a 91 per cent rise in insecure work in our universities," Ms Adamczyk said.
"What that looks like is going into a classroom and spending less time on preparation and spending less time interacting with your students.
"It means spending more time doing unpaid hours because we know that if we refuse the work we just won't be asked next time.
Ms Adamczyk talked about the impact insecure work has on worker's mental and physical health.
"We also have no sick leave. I have a colleague who miscarried and because she had no personal leave had to go in and continue to deliver classes. If you don't go and work then you don't get paid."
The rally comes following a final report by the Senate Select Committee on Job Security, released Friday last week, which found job insecurity in Australia had reached "a crisis point".
Labor Senator Tony Sheldon, who chaired the senate committee, addressed the rally on Saturday.
"We are going to be the first generation to pass on to our kids worse conditions than what our parents passed on to us," Mr Sheldon said.
"The inquiry found more than 50 per cent of Australians working do not have permanent full time jobs for the first time in our history.
"One clear example is the aged care sector where one week the boss can have you there for sixty hours but doesn't like the way you said something so the next week you have zero hours. You can't raise a family like that."
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