An important victory: ACTU supports #KeepTheRate
AUWU urges members and supporters to sign the petition
The Australian Council of Trade Unions launched a petition late on Friday that includes a demand for the government to “keep the rate of JobSeeker at the rate it is now with the Coronavirus supplement”.
The AUWU welcomes the ACTU joining our campaign to #KeepTheRate, which we have pushed for since April.
With waged, unwaged, underemployed and insecure workers now united we have taken a vital step forward for the #KeepTheRate campaign: together our voices will be even stronger.
Thank you to all AUWU members and supporters, including those within the broader union movement, who have helped put pressure on the ACTU, politicians and community organisations to permanently increase the rate of JobSeeker and related payments by $550 per fortnight. This is an important victory.
While we redouble our efforts to keep people in waged work and #KeepTheRate, we must also work to ensure that no one is living in poverty.
The government is still yet to extend the $550 per fortnight coronavirus supplement to disabled people and carers, discriminating against the most vulnerable in our society and keeping them in poverty. Eligibility for all payments must be extended to people living in Australia regardless of the work they do or their visa status.
Social security should mean we’re all above the poverty line.
We urge AUWU members and supporters to sign the ACTU petition to extend JobKeeper and #KeepTheRate here: https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/coronavirus-extend-jobkeeper-and-jobseeker
Sign the petition to #RaiseTheDSP and Carers Payment here: https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/raisethedsp-now-equality-for-disabled-people-and-carers
Media contact: 0413 261 362 / media @ auwu.org.au
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