UNITE has recently won over $100,000 in payouts for 7-Eleven workers in Melbourne and Sydney. For more details see links below.

Contact the UNITE office on 03 9328 1555.

More information here (and here).

Good news:
Koorong has agreed to meet with the Justice and International Mission Unit and discuss how to move forward constructively on ensuring ethical standards are maintained in the production of goods sold at Koorong.

This follows the National Council of Churches in Australia (as well as Victorian Heads of Churches) endorsing a fair trade in Christian goods.

There is still no word from Word bookstores.

Background info and more

To take action go here (Word)

You are invited to attend Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project’s

Volunteer Training Evenings…

This training provides information about volunteer opportunities with Hotham
Mission Asylum Seeker Project and is designed to equip you to work with
community based asylum seekers.
Attendance at both sessions is required as a prerequisite for volunteering with
Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project.

Tuesday 18th August 2009 (6.30pm – 8.45pm) and Tuesday 25th August 2009 (6.30pm – 8.45pm). Light refreshments will be served.

At the Uniting Church’s Centre for Theology & Ministry, 1 Morrison Close, Parkville (University of Melbourne Parkville Campus) Melways ref. 2B D4.

For more information regarding volunteering, training or training locations, or to book a place, please call Samantha Charlesworth, ASP Volunteer Coordinator on (03) 9326 8343, or email: sam.asp@hothammission.org.au

UNITE’s campaign against convenience store giant 7-Eleven is starting to bring results. After a series of protests and media publicity, UNITE has forced the Fair Work Ombudsman to take action against 7-Eleven franchisees that have been underpaying international students.

Five 7-Eleven stores in Melbourne’s CBD will reimburse 88 workers $112,000. A sixth 7-Eleven store has been instructed to credit almost 1000 hours of annual leave back to 12 workers who were not accruing the entitlement but should have been.

The Fair Work Ombudsman said that “The random audits followed public allegations by a retail union that young employees were being exploited and that some employers were forging employment records.”

The underpayments found at each store were $32,134 for 18 workers, $27,053 for 25 workers, $24,987 for 25 workers, $23,671 for 16 workers and $3,615 for four workers. The major problem was the underpayment of penalty rates for weekend and night shift workers.

The Melbourne outcome follows the recent recovery of $50,000 for 80 workers at 15 7-Eleven stores in Sydney’s CBD. UNITE is still pursuing back pay for several groups of workers employed by 7-Eleven in Geelong.

While this result is very good and shows that international students do not have to put up with super-exploitation, it is just the tip of the iceberg. UNITE estimates that hundreds, if not thousands, more 7-Eleven workers have been ripped off. The next step is to organise 7-Eleven stores to ensure that underpayment is stamped out.

If you work in fast food or retail join UNITE today. We are the only union that fights for young workers and international students rights. Call 93281555.

See also

The newsletter from Maquila Solidarity Network is available (newsletter 14.2)

In this edition find out about the international pressure builds to end forced child labour in Uzbek cotton fields and on the other side of the world – opportunities for worker organizing in the Philippines (and more)!

The International Trade Union Confederation has produced a very short online video on the subject of child labour. Sounds boring, right? Wrong.  Warning – you that you may not want to watch this (you could see this on a show like the Gruen Transfer).

We think some of you are going to love it and others will hate it. Have a look here

April 2010 update

To find out about Youth Allowance changes go to information from the National Union of Students  and the Commonwealth Government. Also note that from 1 April 2010, Equity and Merit-based scholarships have been made exempt from means testing. Full report can be found here.

Student income support update

JustAct has campaigned about this issue. Here is an update.

Clay Lucas, July 9, 2009
Melbourne must be more welcoming to international students by offering them concession fares on public transport, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says.

Source and more

Help survivors of human trafficking in Australia

‘What happened to us was a nightmare. We can never forget. It comes back to us in dreams. This will affect us til we die. It has changed us.

Miki Perkins
July 8, 2009

Source

Victorian students who enrol in a diploma or advanced diploma course who are already qualified at that level or higher — such as someone with a social work degree who wants to do a diploma in youth work — will now be charged full fees, which could be as high as $10,000 a year.

For government-subsidised students, who can defer their fees, the cost of diplomas and advanced diplomas are up from $877 to $1500, and will rise to $2500 by 2012.

More