The Australian Union movement joins with leaders of faith organisations to reject the IR Omnibus Bill proposed by the Morrison Government, which will see a rise in insecure work and further casualisation of the Australian workforce.
These measures will disproportionately affect young people and women, and will be detrimental to Australia's post-pandemic economic recovery.
The ACTU stands with faith organisations in recognising and condemning the dangerous measures proposed in the IR Omnibus Bill, and supports their submissions to the Senate Inquiry.
Quotes attributable to Catholic Social Services Australia Chief Executive Officer Dr Ursula Stephens:
"While the impact on those who are now jobless is stark, there are also more than 1.5 million Australians who are in part-time or casual work but are seeking additional hours of work. The level of underemployment is leaving many Australians in an unstable and precarious financial position."
Quote attributable to St Vincent De Paul Society Chief Executive Officer Toby O'Connor:
"Casual employment grew by over 400,000 positions between May and November, the biggest expansion of casual employment in Australia's history. Young people suffered much worse job losses in the initial months of the pandemic. And while workers over 35 have recovered to pre-pandemic employment levels, younger workers are still experiencing major job losses."
Quote attributable to ACTU President Michele O'Neil:
"This bill will see work become more insecure while we attempt to recover from a devastating pandemic and recession. This will make life harder for millions of workers and prolong the recovery.
"We cannot let struggling Australians, be further marginalised by the damaging measures in this bill."
