Protest calls for “Jobs with Justice”
On Thursday May 5, some 40 people gathered in a lunchtime protest for “Jobs with Justice” for Aboriginal workers, at the Sydney offices of Mark Arbib, Minister for Indigenous Employment. Under the NT Intervention, working conditions in Aboriginal communities have deteriorated sharply.
As part of the protest, Greens Senator, Rachel Siewert, launched a petition calling for back pay for a number of Aboriginal workers who were paid only Centrelink payments for their work on the $672 million housing program linked to the Intervention.
“The government’s Indigenous housing program (SIHIP) is a key plank of the NT Intervention. It was supposed to have an inbuilt Aboriginal employment scheme, but reports suggest that work for the dole programs are being used instead”, Senator Siewert said.
The petition is in support of a pay claim by a group of Aboriginal workers from Amoonguna, near Alice Springs, who were led to believe they would be employed full-time for Award wages to renovate houses as part of the SIHIP. Instead, they received only the Centrelink payment, with half of that on the dreaded BasicsCard.
“We are told that the government’s aim is about getting people off income support and into real jobs. What we see here is the exact opposite – there were real jobs to be had, with $672 million being invested in housing upgrades. But those real jobs have been turned into CDEP [work for the dole]”.
Barbara Shaw, from the Intervention Rollback Action Group in Alice Springs, told the City Hub, “We’re talking about people going through training, getting a ‘white card’ for working at heights, and still only getting the dole”.
As part of the pay claim, Barbara Shaw and Paddy Gibson, from Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at UTS, conducted field research on the issue, gathering extensive evidence of these facts.
“The Indigenous Housing Minister, Mark Arbib, has flatly denied that SIHIP workers were being paid through the BasicsCard. But we have testimonials, payslips and time-sheets that prove it”, said Gibson.
Graham Merritt, from Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS) explained, “We’re here to enlighten the Minister about the fact that workers employed under his Department are being paid $3.80 an hour and a food card”.
The Construction workers’ union, the CFMEU, is backing the petition, and assisting the workers with their pay claim.
To find out more, visit: www.stoptheintervention.org
BY ANNETTE MAGUIRE
