Young Workers Centre

New Campaign Campaigns

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  Stop the exploitation of Apprentices and Trainees

  I was an electrical apprentice and I suffered at the hands of dodgy bosses. I have been underpaid, threatened, bullied daily and not trained or supervised correctly. I wish that my experience was just a once off but it happens to many apprentices and trainees across all industries. Since March, the number of apprentices and trainees that have contacted the Young Workers Centre to lodge a complaint or seek advice has doubled, and now accounts for nearly 50% of our legal centre enquiries. Completion rates are already low enough - 50% of workers drop out of their apprenticeships before they finish their training and they overwhelmingly cite workplace abuse as the reason why. We can’t afford dodgy employers who want to access even cheaper labour for a 1 year period to get away with hiring and abusing apprentices and trainees with no intention of supporting or employing them for the long term. Sign and share this petition so that the apprenticeship and traineeship wage subsidy doesn’t turn into government funded exploitation.

  2,813 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Scott, Young Workers Centre
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  General Pants Co.: Opt us into JobKeeper

  Young, casual workers are too often exploited. This is a company wide issue impacting 100's of casuals workers, many of whom are young. This is a common story, a few weeks ago we heard a similar story from Cotton On workers and now I'm telling you about my experience at General Pants Co. Sadly young workers are missing out on the JobKeeper payment that is designed to help workers like us through this health crisis. We need this money to pay our bills. Young workers are hanging on by a thread. I'm calling on General Pants Co. to opt us into the JobKeeper wage subsidy. Please send a message to that this is not on.

  5,988 of 6,000 Signatures

  Created by Wendy, General Pants Co. worker
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  We need wage theft laws - now!

  Right now, some businesses are exploiting young workers. Instead of contributing to our community, they’re stealing from vulnerable young people, and conditioning them for a life of exploitation. I was one of those young workers. I worked for a year at a cafe in Camberwell, just outside of the Melbourne CBD. During my time there, I was classified as a part-time worker. That means I should have had regular shifts and access to paid annual and sick leave - but instead I was treated as a casual, at the cafe's beck and call, and had no access to paid leave. Over $8000 in wages and $700 in superannuation were withheld from me by my boss in just a year - and it took months of negotiations and a review of my full roster history to get the wages I claimed backpaid to me. I'm just one of thousands. Wage theft is an epidemic. At least a fifth of young workers have reported that their hard-earned wages have been stolen from them in scams; they are paid for fewer hours than they work, are illegally denied correct pay, have their superannuation stolen or their accrued leave withheld. All these forms of wage theft are against the law, but they still happen. Bosses know that they’ll only receive fines or warnings if they get caught- and that they're not likely to get caught. A series of audits by Fair Work in 2016 revealed that almost 58% of hospitality businesses (cafes and restaurants) and 39% of retail businesses were stealing wages. That’s potentially hundreds of thousands of cases of wage theft! But only a fraction of these cases ever end up in court. It shows that the current legal system is stacked in favour of bad employers who choose to underpay workers to increase their profits.

  20,067 of 25,000 Signatures

  Created by Jordan Waters
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  Stop putting the squeeze on workers!

  I’m not the only one they've done this to. I know there are staff who don’t want to leave because they’re scared of getting into a situation like me, of leaving and not being paid their wages. It’s incredibly unfair, especially as the face they put to the public is that they’re so wellness-orientated and the fact that they treat their staff so badly isn’t in line with that. I'm one of many workers who are just trying to get back the wages we have earned. It’s not right that dodgy businesses like Pressed Juices and the people behind them can keep ripping people off. The system is broken when people can keep doing this. Young and vulnerable workers are copping the worst of these dodgy employment practices and the rules need to change to protect us. We need to make wage theft a crime that this won't happen to other young workers like me!

  2,100 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Mingka, former Pressed Juices worker
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  Not YOUR Honey - Honey Birdette Workers Need Safe Workplaces!

  Three years ago I walked into a company that promised me a future of female positivity. I was painted a world of inclusiveness and feminine glamour that I was assured came from the truest intentions of the appreciation of their uniquely selected staff members. I felt the pride of this identity and pledged myself to this company, ran by women, as a job that honoured me equally in my beliefs and work ethic. Honey Birdette promised a dream. They delivered a nightmare. I saw women mocked for daring to apply for a job at Honey Birdette. I saw workers humiliated and threatened by management because they weren't wearing perfectly applied lipstick all day, their heels weren't high enough, and because they didn't "talk the way a Honey should talk". I saw workers sexually harassed and intimidated by customers - and when these women spoke up, management told them to suck it up. In addition, the hours and hours of unpaid overtime we were expected to do - from starting early and finishing late, to skipping lunch breaks and toilet breaks due to the pressure of missing a sale. Honey Birdette's management pretend they're all about empowering women, but they've sacrificed their values and put their workers in physical danger just to make a profit. It's disgraceful and it needs to end. Workers at Honey Birdette boutiques have a right to feel safe and respected at work.

  7,734 of 8,000 Signatures

  Created by Chanelle Rogers
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  Young people need real jobs, not rip-off gigs!

  First, they gave us the PaTH program. Then, while Australia was celebrating a YES result in the marriage equality plebiscite, Social Services Minister Christian Porter was sneaking through a new policy that will see young people end up in insecure, short-term "gig" work. “Y4Y Youth Force” is this government’s latest attack on young people. This new policy will see young people who are looking for secure, long-term work shoved into the gig economy. According to the Government's own fact sheet, young people engaged through "Y4Y Youth Force" can find themselves doing all kinds of work, from gardening to deliveries, catering to hospitality, and even child minding - all without being able to access the minimum wages, penalty rates, superannuation, and WorkCover that they'd be legally entitled to outside of the gig economy. The gig economy isn’t the answer for young people who are struggling to find work. We deserve real solutions, real training, and a real investment in our future. We don’t deserve to be cast off into insecure, short-term “gigs”.

  1,121 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Amy - Young Workers Centre
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  End exploitation at Subway!

  I've worked for two different bosses at Subway - but it's the same experience every time. Wage theft. Unpaid training. Bullying. And I know that there are thousands of other young workers right around Australia just like me. Young workers who are being paid at less than the Award rate, working overtime for no pay, facing intimidation and threats from franchisees, and being expected to complete the official Subway training program "Subway University" in our own time. https://youtu.be/UolcRec2Ezs When I tried to report this wage theft to Subway's head office, I was told that there was nothing they could do. But that's a lie. Subway's head office has a responsibility to make sure the people it permits to run businesses under it's brand are not exploiting workers. This isn't just one "bad egg" franchisee. This is systematic. Subway needs to take responsibility for this mess. Read more about the investigation into Subway's underpayments: https://www.theage.com.au/business/small-business/subway-under-investigation-by-fair-work-over-staff-underpayment-20190809-p52flv.html

  3,485 of 4,000 Signatures

  Created by Renee - Former Subway Worker
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  Hey Grill'd, You're Cooked!

  I work at a Grill'd store in Melbourne. It's company-owned, and they're STILL using traineeships to commit wage theft. They sign up young workers to complete hospitality certificates, but prevent them from completing their qualifications by refusing to schedule training sessions. This strategy is a scam. It rips us off, denying us fair pay and the training we're promised. Grill'd have shown time and time again they will do whatever it takes to make a profit from exploiting workers. This strategy means no qualification, no bonus, no career progression - it's a scam. It's not the first time Grill'd have been caught out ripping off young workers. A year ago they were exposed by workers for using WorkChoices era collective agreements to commit wage theft. Since then, Grill'd have been grilled (pun intended) by the media and instituted a new collective agreement. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Grill'd reckon they're "good for the community" - they should start acting like it.

  5,044 of 6,000 Signatures

  Created by Kashmir S
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  Daiso QV: Don’t be cheap, pay us what we’ve earned!

  It happened to us, and we don’t want other workers at Daiso QV to keep doing hours of unpaid work or being forced to turn up to work sick. That’s why we’re standing up for the current and future workers of Daiso QV. Over the years we tried to raise issues with Daiso management but it’s been brushed under the carpet. We’ve been left with no option but to start a petition and tell our stories. Please send a message to Daiso QV that this is not on.

  1,639 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Lin, Jade, Melanie, Charlotte and Ben, former Daiso QV workers
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  Tell General Pants Co: Long term casuals deserve JobKeeper!

  There are hundreds of General Pants staff across Australia who are missing out on JobKeeper, despite being eligible according to the Australian Tax Office.  These workers are long term casuals, with regular shifts and patterns of employment. Some of these workers have worked at General Pants Co for six years. This is a common story, a few weeks ago we heard a similar story from Cotton On workers and David Jones. Both of those companies have now included all eligible casual workers. Why haven’t General Pants Co? We've set-up this action so you can email CEO Sacha Laing directly, letting him know you support these workers and that he should too.

  925 of 1,000 Signatures