Over the past decades universities have come to rely upon casual and fixed-term staff to perform essential teaching, research and service roles. At La Trobe University over 70% of staff are not on ongoing contracts. University workers on casual, sessional and fixed-term contracts are bearing the brunt of cuts universities are making in response to COVID19-related revenue deficits. On 16 April 2020 La Trobe University communicated to all staff that due to from 1 May 2020, casuals will only be retained if they are deemed “essential”. This has led to significant job losses and loss of hours for causal staff, with many more still waiting in limbo to be informed about the future of their positions. We condemn the sacking of casual staff. Casual redundancies are projected to potentially save LTU around $1 million, less than 1% of the projected revenue deficit of $120-150 million. Casual redundancies will therefore have only a marginal impact on addressing overall revenue deficit, but the loss of these positions will have a number of significant impacts including on: • the mental health & financial wellbeing of LTU casuals who have lost their jobs and who face the uncertainty of potentially losing their jobs. Many casuals will face considerable financial hardship, especially given the ineligibility of university workers to access JobKeeper. • the student experience and the quality of teaching and learning at La Trobe University, given that the loss of causal jobs necessarily will translate to larger class sizes, the cutting of subjects, especially electives and the reduction of student services; • the workload of remaining staff at La Trobe University who will invariably be asked to pick up additional work to compensate for cuts; We, the undersigned, condemn the sacking of casual staff at La Trobe University and call on La Trobe University to recognise all the work casuals do is essential and protect their hours and conditions during this difficult time. Those of us who have ongoing roles commit to not taking on work that would otherwise be allocated to casual or fixed term staff – recognising that doing so harms the quality of our teaching and/or research as well as enabling the University to take work from our most precarious colleagues.

The loss of these skills will be detrimental to the future of the Deakin as the COVID - 19 pandemic subsides. This is a once in a lifetime event and requires a once in a generation level courage and imagination to support those who make Deakin Worldly .

More than a million people are estimated to have become unemployed in March and April, because of public health measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. On 27th April 2020 the government began paying the “COVID 19 Supplement” to people receiving Jobseeker (previously Newstart) payments, Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance. This is the first increase of these payments for 26 years. The government has confirmed that the COVID-19 supplement is temporary and will end in October 2020. If the Jobseeker payment reduces in 6 months, new claimants and people previously trying to survive on the low rate will be facing a dire situation. Politicians from both sides of Parliament, independents, business groups and welfare organisations have called for the increase to extend beyond six months, citing the increased unemployment rate and the uncertain effect of the pandemic on the economy. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/25/calls-from-within-coalition-to-keep-higher-jobseeker-rate-after-coronavirus-crisis?fbclid=IwAR2Uwvv7vMx5YkNs_aHRqit7kz0TseirJeiHzjEeclAgpkHscH-ppLM4F18 Please support the AUWU’s call to #KeepTheRate

As COVID-19 changes the way we live and work, it’s essential that everyone has access to safe healthcare. Yet there are tens of thousands of people living in Australia without access to Medicare. People who have to make the choice between risking deportation or seeking urgent medical help. They know that hospitals and doctors can report them to the Department of Home Affairs if questions are raised about their visa status. With borders around the world closed and international flights costing upwards of $5000 per person, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are forced to face impossible choices. The Morrison Government’s cruel directive that temporary migrants should just ‘go home’ forces thousands of people to make impossible choices, through no fault of their own. In the midst of a global pandemic, people must be able to access essential healthcare without fear of deportation and family separation.

The TWU seeking fairness in the transport Industry. During this pandemic, if bus drivers are required to self-isolate and are not sick OR if bus drivers are affected by Covid-19 they should be entitled to the same special leave provisions extended to drivers employed by the NSW Government. All bus drivers whose employer is contracted to Transport for NSW should be treated the same and offered the same protections during this pandemic. TWU Buses – Delivering results for all bus drivers in NSW.

Glady Berejiklian and the NSW Liberal Party have not provided any relief to international students and temporary workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Most temporary workers have now lost their jobs and cannot return home. They are trapped here. Many other international workers work in essential services, supporting the whole community - but they have no support extended to them in a time of crisis. NSW is the only state to provide no support.

Virgin Airlines have gone into voluntary administration which means time is running out to save the 16,000 local jobs, spread across Australia, including in regional airports. The Morrison government is at a crossroad where it can choose to invest tax payer money in buying a stake in an Airline that will allow Australia to avoid becoming a country with one all powerful corporate airline in control of the skies or watch as 16,000 jobs are destroyed, tax payers are lumped with an $800 million bill for unpaid entitlements and our domestic tourism industry collapses as ticket prices exploded and services are cut. The foreign shareholders of Virgin Australia are all airlines. Despite the name Richard Branson’s company owns less than 10%. Around the world airlines have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and many other countries have already stepped in to save national airlines.

AVM is a big part of the South Australian hospitality and tourism landscape. Our members at Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Coopers Stadium work daily to present and showcase the State of South Australia and everything it has to offer. These venues have skilled and dedicated staff that are crucial to the running of these venues. We cannot afford to lose the knowledge and experience of this workforce. It is crucial that the Marshall Government support workers through the impacts of COVID-19 by extending this wage subsidy to them. The Marshall Government must commit to match the funding provided by the Federal Government for the purposes of the JobKeeper Payment for employees of South Australian public corporations and statutory authorities and ensure that no worker is left behind.

Freight rail workers are keeping Australia moving during this challenging time. They are making sure necessities and raw materials continue to find their way to supermarkets, retail stores, pharmacies, petrol stations, flour mills, manufacturing plants and construction projects. Changes to working conditions affecting rostering can have significant effects on safety and fatigue levels. The other changes could drastically affect people's families with proposals for forced transfer. The Company's attacks on your conditions is creating an unhealthy and increasingly stressful working environment potentially causing employees to take the focus off COVID-19 issues! If Pacific National get away with this, it's a blank cheque for employers in the rail industry to use the current crisis as an excuse to avoid talking with workplace delegates and offcials about critical changes in the workplace.

These workers pick the fruit and vegetables we eat everyday, they’re in the hospitality industry, they’re delivery drivers and carers, they’re the backbone of our economy. The JobKeeper payment exists to provide a lifeline to those hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis, how can the Morrison Government justify their decision to exclude over 1.1 million migrant workers, temporary visa holders and casuals? The Morrison Government does not address the very real public health crisis that millions of workers are facing. Asking them to ‘go home’ or raid their meagre retirement savings to survive COVID-19 is not only short-sighted, it’s racist. So many of these workers have built lives here and have made Australia their home and with borders closed, these workers have nowhere else to go. The Government must extend income support to all workers. Not doing so risks the entire community’s health and shirks Australia's moral responsibility to look after the wellbeing of all who are here during an unprecedented pandemic. The lack of support for this group of people shows that the Government treats migrants and international students as cash cows. They hire them for cheap labour and ask them to pay huge education fees, but when things get difficult, they wash their hands clean of any responsibility. This pandemic does not discriminate based on visa status or employment status, and neither should we. Everyone deserves to be safe. That's why we need Minister Ruston to ensure a wage subsidy for all workers so that all of us can follow public health advice and stay safe during this crisis.

The Government must extend income support to all workers. Not doing so risks the entire community’s health and shirks Australia's moral responsibility to look after the wellbeing of all who are here during an unprecedented pandemic. The lack of support for this group of people shows that the Government treats migrants and international students as cash cows. They hire them for cheap labour and ask them to pay huge education fees, but when things get difficult, they wash their hands clean of any responsibility. This pandemic does not discriminate based on visa status or employment status, and neither should we. Everyone deserves to be safe. That's is why we need Minister Ruston to ensure a wage subsidy for all workers so that all of us can follow public health advice and stay safe during this crisis. Sign the petition now.

Amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Australians are facing the very real prospect of losing their job and they need the government to act – this is especially true for those in who work in the language colleges, the training sector and universities.   The recent JobKeeper wage subsidy announced by the government excludes casuals and their families in language colleges, private training providers, and universities across Australia. This is serious.  Language colleges bring billions of dollars into the economy and private training providers enrol around 80% of the 4.1 million students in vocational education and training.   Trainers and assessors do the heavy lifting in delivering the quality education and training that makes people job ready, and our universities are involved in cutting-edge research that shapes Australia’s future. Let the federal government know that it is only by keeping people in jobs that the future of Australian workers, their families, their communities and the nation’s economy can be secured. If we guarantee wages now, we will keep people in jobs and ensure that the economy can recover once this crisis has passed.   Sign the petition for a guaranteed wage subsidy for workers in post-secondary education and let the government know it needs to put workers first.