Unemployed worker stands up to abusive job agency; demands action from Department of Social Services
59-year-old Franklin was harassed at his home in breach of the Disability Employment Services Deed
Today Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union members protested against Multiple Solutions job agency in Kilkenny, the Department of Social Services failure to protect welfare recipients and the privatised employment services model.
A group of about 20 unemployed workers and our supporters gathered and shared rights information and their personal stories of job agency abuse. A waged worker who attended the protest spoke against their taxes being used to abuse people.
AUWU volunteer Raquel Araya addressed the protesters at Alton Reserve, Kilkenny, calling on the government to take responsibility.
The government need to respond to the feedback that people give them, which is job agencies don't work. They're harassment rackets, they're inefficient and waste tax payers money. Let's change that!
The group then marched to the Multiple Solutions Kilkenny office to return a gift card that was given to Franklin Araya by job agency employees who were attempting to coerce him into signing a form he didn’t have to.
Franklin, supported by members of AUWU’s advocacy team, requested to meet with Multiple Solutions manager but was initially locked out, even though he is entitled to visit his employment services provider at their premises. He was eventually allowed to return the card however staff refused to meet with him to discuss his concerns.
Franklin Araya, Raquel’s father who was recently harassed at his home by Multiple Solutions, spoke to protesters outside the job agencies premises.
No more bribes. That’s it, no more, finished. This isn't just about me. There are a lot of people in the community whose voices need to be heard to highlight these abuses. If you need support, we’ll be there.
The incident at Franklin’s home is what prompted today’s protest, however the issues are systemic and widespread.
Franklin and Raquel Araya are seeking justice for systematic harassment by Multiple Solutions job agency
Members of the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union and supporters protesting harassment by Franklin Araya’s Disability Employment Services provider
For far too long abusive job agencies have acted with impunity, continually subjecting unemployed workers to threats, harassment and intimidation. They get away with this because many victims are afraid to speak up against providers that hold so much power over us and our ability to survive – they can cut off meagre poverty payments at any time without oversight from government departments.
Despite unsolicited home visits breaching the Disability Employment Services Deed, Multiple Solutions have openly admitted that they consider it a standard practice to harass people by invading their privacy with these intimidation tactics.
In response to a similar incident last year the employment department told a senate committee hearing that these providers should not visit people at their home.
We call on the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education, Skills and Employment to uphold their duty of care and crackdown on job agencies engaging in practices that are prohibited under the Deed. A detailed list of the AUWU’s demands are below.
The Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union strongly encourages anyone who has been subjected to similar abuse by their job agency to contact our helpline on 1800 289 848 for support and assistance.
Franklin and Raquel Araya are available for interview. Photos and videos of the protest are available for download here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao2X7nRblAZUhcBW7_wm1ZiYw9g-Ig?e=PpL6Lu
Media contact: 0413 261 362 / media at auwu.org.au
Why unemployed workers protested at Multiple Solutions Kilkenny
Two employees from Multiple Solutions harassed one of our members at his home in breach of the Disability Employment Services Deed.
Franklin, 59, has a chronic illness, and he’s a migrant whose first language is Spanish. He found himself a casual job but is still on the books at Multiple Solutions, which is a disability employment services provider.
Multiple Solutions employees tried to bribe him with a gift card so that they could get him to sign a form they had prepared, which it appears would enable them to claim about $2000 of public funds they are not entitled to receive.
Franklin felt intimidated and confused so he signed the form.
This incident is what prompted today’s protest, however the issues are systemic and widespread.
Our demands are that the Department of Social Services:
end their contracts with Multiple Solutions in response to their systematic breaches of the deed;
issue a written apology for its failure to ensure that Disability Employment Services providers uphold their responsibilities under the DES deed;
individually contact all people on the Multiple Solutions caseload to ask whether this has happened to them and provide information about their rights;
conduct an investigation, in conjunction with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, into the prevalence of this practice across all providers in the employment services system;
publicly release the number of people visited at their home by Multiple Solutions and the total by all providers; and
provide detailed commitments about how they will prevent this happening again and their process for ensuring all providers uphold their responsibilities under the deed.