Amid the cacophony of protests, constitutional challenges and the war stories of those already burned by the new IR laws, Sebastian De Brennan argues the voice of young Australia has been drowned out yet again
Amid the cacophony of protests, constitutional challenges and the war stories of those already burned by the new IR laws, Sebastian De Brennan argues the voice of young Australia has been drowned out yet again
Prime Minister John Howard likes to remind us that the current shortage of workers will result in increased worker bargaining power and better arrangements for all. But this is of little comfort to young Australian workers who already feel marginalised in the workplace and dread the day when an economic downturn makes matters worse.
Although the Federal Government has been quick to inform us that the 2004–05 unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent was the lowest in 28 years (and well below the peak rate of 10.7 per cent reached in 1992–93 during the last recession), these figures need to be treated with a degree of caution. The statistics, as they relate to young Australia, are not so promising.
In 2004–05 there were 61,800 teenagers looking for a full-time job, representing 20.1 per cent of the teenage full-time labour force. Thus, the teenage full-time unemployment rate is currently very high – 3.9 times higher than the corresponding figure for the general population. In other words, teenagers have lagged behind the rest of the community in reaping the benefits of an improved labour market since the years 1992–1993.
Indeed, when we talk about older generations losing take-home pay, benefits and conditions, we conveniently overlook the fact that there is already an unprecedented number of young Australians working in casual employment, all of whom have never had the luxury of these ‘entitlements’ in the first place.
In 2005 the NSW Commission for Children and Young People surveyed some 11,000 children between 12 and16. Some 56 per cent had worked in the preceding 12 months. The findings were disturbing. Exactly 50 per cent were casuals and 29 per cent earned $4 or less per hour while a further 22 per cent earned $6 to $8 per hour. Some 40 per cent had been injured at work, 48 per cent had been verbally harassed and a further 23 per cent had experienced physical harassment.
Speak to the average youngster and they will quickly tell you that for all the talk of labour shortages and a booming economy, work conditions are not, and have never been, negotiable. In the words of ACTU secretary Greg Combet, “they are determined by the employer in unilateral terms and people increasingly are presented with them and told ‘you sign this or you don't get the job’”. As articulate and politically astute as a 16-year-old employee may be, it is a nonsense to think that he or she goes to the bargaining table on equal footing.
Nor is the issue of substandard working conditions just about a few teenage waiters and waitresses having a tough time of things at the local café. For example, the wage received by a first year apprentice in the building and construction industry, or the hairdressing industry, is around $231 per week. Even the professions are not exempt. National law firms, for instance, generally have more than 1,000 applicants for some 60 ‘clerkship’ or graduate positions. If you happen to be one of the 60 fortunate enough to be called in by the partner of the firm, you’re hardly going to start insisting on certain employment conditions. The message is clear – be prepared to work 12 and13 hour days for a pittance or go somewhere else.
The youth of today have been described as the most difficult, fickle and selfish generation that has existed, with adjectives such as individualistic, materialistic, apolitical and socially uncommitted also bandied about. As Professor Judith Bessant has noted, rather than glibly accepting these assertions, it would be relevant and helpful to debate the ways that young people are excluded from democratic access to political forums, and to debate the processes and mechanisms, including federal legislation, enabling employers to lawfully discriminate against them by denying them the economic, legal and occupational health and safety rights older Australians already enjoy or take for granted.
Sebastian De Brennan teaches at the University of Western Sydney’s College of Business and is a former member of the Federal Government’s National Youth Roundtable.
