Contents:
Create full employment with your contribution to our
Take a look at this month's additions to the Sleuth
Click here to access our previous newsletters:
UpWords 1 No. 1:
What is BreachingUpWords 1 No. 2:
Young Poor under AttackUpWords 1 No. 3:
Frog Boiling;UpWords1 No. 4::
Welfare Reform;UpWords1 No. 5:
S11;UpWords1 No. 6:
History of Unemployed Movements,
HomelessnessUp-Words No. 7:
Launch of UPM/Latest Breaching StatisticsUpWords1 No 8:
Open Letter to Minister Amanda VanstoneUpWords2 No 1:
Millionaires' Coup for Govenrment
Centrelink Officiouisness hurts us allUpWords2 No 2:
Big Brother is watching you!
Work for the Dole is not workingUpWords2 No 3:
Globalisation - the Excessive Wealth Disease?UpWords2 No 4:
Is Howard a Communist?
Mal Brough, Minister for Compassionate Employment Figure FudgingUpWords2 No 5
Benefits 37% below poverty line
May Day protests worldwideUpWords2 No 6:
The Permanently Alienated Underclass Speaks UP!
The Budget for the Unemployed
Views from the Coal FaceUpWords 2 No 7
Criminalisation of Poverty
Job Network is not working - from rorts to incompetenceUpWords 2 No 8
Work for the Dole can kill!
National Coalition against Poverty Petition
Post card campaign
Poet's Corner:
Views on UnemploymentUpWords 2 No 9
UPM joins Ranks for Peace
International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty
Unemployed Treated Worse Than Criminals!UpWords 2 No 10
Election 2001: UPM's How to Vote Card
Annual General Meeting
How much longer?Up-Words Vol. 2 No 11
Not Drowning - Just Looking for Work
Election Aftermath: ALP Awake!
Human Rights Day Picnic
AGM
Up-Words Vol. 3 No 1
35 hour week or share Argentina's destiny?
Human Rights Day - do we count too?
State Election Issue
No 1: Jobs
My experiences with Job Network ProvidersInsert in this issue:
War against Terrorism - the Police State Agenda
can be found at:
http://www.newdawnmagazine. com/articles/War_on_Terror_ The_Police_State_Agenda.htmlUp-Words Vol. 3 No 2
Is it Australian to bully the unemployed?
Greens support the 35 hour weekUp-Words Vol.3 No 3
New compassionate breaching rules?
Put 35 hour week on the agendaUpWords Vol.3 No 4
New Parking Zones for the Unemployed!
Unemployed must unite against fascism
UpWords Vol.3 No 5
Cruising through Poverty!
43% of politicians are cruisers
New UPU in WA: Budget CommentUpWords Vol.3 No 6/7
The Blocked Brain Syndrome
Model for full employment in Australia
Budget promises a lot of thinking!
AMWU listens!
Should Telstra be privatised?
Link to the Crusing Report and Behaviour Modification advise for the unemployed!
Have a look at our new campaign site:
PO Box
485
Brooklyn Park SA 5032
Phone (08) 8352 4950
Come
to our Meetings
on the last
Tuesday of the month,
5:30 – 7 pm at the World's End
Hindley Street West, Adelaide.
Join
UPM against Poverty
as a member!
Copy
the membership form here!
Kensington Welfare Rights Union Protest in Philadelphia, USA, for housing.
See the Sleuth for more information on arrests of women and children
See
also their web site
Go to http://www.kwru.org
Recent surveys and reports have supported the claims made by the Un(der)employed People’s Movement against Poverty Inc over the last three years that breaching is unfair and has severe impacts on those affected by the breaches and their families and communities.
In August 2001 the Salvvation Army released a report which showed that between 10 - 20% of those people who had been breached and needed emergency financial assistance, resorted o criminell activities to survive. (see http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/media/2001/010829_breachingfinal.asp)
In June 2002 the Brotherhood of St. Laurence surveyed community members and asked whether people thought that unemployed people who did not fulfil their obligations to look for work should be punished and if yes, what would they consider being an adequate punishment?
While many believed people should be punished they also clearly stated that the current breaching system’s fines were far too high. Many considered a reduction of $50 appropriate grading slowly twoards suspension for one payment period at the most. Many were shocked to find out how much money actually gets withheld from the poorest people in this country for minor oversights. (see http://www.bsl.org.au/research_and_library/research.html)
Not answering a letter would cost Minister Vanstone the equivalent of a first breach, 18% reduction of salary, assumed at $170,000 p.a., over six months, $15,300 A meeting missed within the following 2 years would cost her an additional $20,400 and a third mistake within two years of the first would finally cost her $28,333, in total $64,033. Good income for the tax payer!Recently the inaugural Australian Museum’s Eureka Prize for Research in Ethics was awarded to Dr. Jeremy Moss for his article: “The Ethics of Mutual Obligation”. ACOSS’ media release summarised Dr. Moss’ assessment:
ACOSS President Andrew McCallum said in a media release this month:
“Dr Moss rightly argues that there has been too little questioning of the ethical and moral assumptions behind the Federal Government’s increasingly harsh requirements for people who are unemployed.”
“He criticises the Government’s inconsistent and insubstantial justifications for the trend in welfare provision to require unemployed people to ‘give something back’ in return for their social security benefits.”
“Dr Moss argues that just as we do not require patients who seek medical help from hospitals to ‘give something back’, likewise we should not impose requirements on unemployed people.”
“He points out that it is insufficiently recognised that many unemployed have already contributed to the community by being taxpayers — either when they have a job or by paying indirect taxation in the form of the GST — or by being parents and bringing up children.”
“Dr Moss also expresses concern over the ethics of imposing harsh penalties on unemployed people who fail to comply with social security rules. He points out that such penalties are not imposed on the government or business for failing to meet their own obligations such as to provide sufficient job opportunities.”
(see also http://www.acoss.org.au/media/2002/mr0814_eureka.htm) This web site also features a link to the full article.
About two years ago UPM Inc. had a meeting with the Shadow Minister for Employment Services, the Hon. David Cox. We discussed breaching and its implications on the individuals, families, communities and the States.
At the time the Shadow Minister replied that breaching was a ‘politically popular policy’, hence the chance to change it were almost zero.
Well David, the times have changed. The community does not believe any longer that breaching is fair, especially not the extensive fines associated with missing a letter, which never arrived.
We as members of the local community and citizens of this State may have been fooled into believeing that the system is basically fair, that people are given meaningful activities, useful in their pursuit to find employment. They also assumed that nobody will get bullied, or exposed to dangerous work practices, hence no one should have a reason to leave their Work for the Dole or Community Work place.
Australians have further been conned into believing that 18% reduction is not too bad, but do you know that this reduction is implemented over six months and comes off an income which is already around 15% beneath the poverty line?
Did you know that people lose their income for eight weeks for a third mistake within two years, a fine which amounts to $1500? People get lighter sentences for drink driving or assault.
We further were made to believe that this is a huge tax saving for us, which is the greatest fairy tale. Fiancial emergency services are stretched to the limit, people can actually only get help from one service in their area three times a year. If people are lucky they have two or three services in their area they can get 6 - 9 times help per year. A third breach lasts 60 days, one food parcel should last for two days, so who is feeding the breached on the other 54 days?
States provide funding for housing, emergency financial assistance and many other programs through our taxes, local councils provide school breakfast programs, soup kitchens in neighbourhood centres and a variety of other programs to alleviate the effects of poverty. Once again, we pay.
While the Commonwealth saves, the States and local councils bleed and in the end it is us family members, neighbours and friends who pick up the pieces. Usually we are not wealthy either.
The list of organisations who have worked to dispell the myth of the fair breaching system in Australia is growing, almost monthly there are new reports about the impact of breaching.
Recently the Senate has conducted an inquiry into the extension of the mutual obligation scheme to single parents and people with a disability. Any sane Senator just must realise that the breaching regime is excessive and are counterproductive to finding employment. If someone can’t pay their rent and is afraid of losing their home, how can they look for work? No access to transport and communication also severely undermine the chance of getting a job.
No one has the right to take away our basic income and leave us without food and shelter. It is against the International Convention of Basic Human Social and Economic Rights. It is unsustainable!
Participate in the Creation of a Model towards full Employment
In the last Upwords we started a project to develop a website which collects ideas to achieve full employment in Australia. The web site has been put onto the 35hour web site which is hosted by the Un(der)employed People’s Movement.
The purpose of this site is to continue the discussion about a viable and liveable future, in paricular in regards to employment. Everyone is invited to introduce their solutions to solving the problem of unemployment. All ideas and links will be posted on the web site for all to see. From the front page of the 35hour week site anyone can enrol in a mailing list which will be used in the future to discuss contributions or the model.
UPM against Poverty’s management committee has concluded that campaigns for a 35 hour week and restricted overtime are only one part of the picture. No single policy will bring about the change needed to achieve full employment, it has to be a combination of initiatives.
The model is constructed with four pillars which rest on the foundation of a democratic and cooperative society based on human rights and protecting the interests of all its citizens.
The four pillars are: (double click on the underlined text and you will be transferred to the web site)
1 Health and wellbeing at work
2 Social justice, increase employability
3 Strong support for innovative and committed entrepreneurs, training and research
4 Equal opportunity, a fair tax system and a supportive Social Security systemPlease make your contribution, go to http://au.oocities.com/thirtyfivehours/modelfe.html
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit-
rest if you must, but don’t quit.Life is strange with its twists and turns,
as every one of us sometimes learns,
and many a person turns about
when they might have won had they stuck it out.
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow-
you may succeed with another go.Often the goal is nearer than it seems
to a faint and faltering person:
often the struggler has given up
when they might have had the victor’s cup:
and they learned too late when the night came down
how close they were to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out-
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when its seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit-
it’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
Author unknown,
lifted thankfully from the National Coalition of Single Mothers and Her Children's mailing list
Depression is on the rise and people often do not want to admit that they suffer from a ‘mental health disorder’. Yet depression is a very serious impairment. If someone is looking for employment depression and anxiety can prevent a confident appearance and severely undermine his/her chances.
Long term unemployed people need to be aware of the risks of depression, it is not a natural state when one cannot get a job. While not all depressions or depressive moods are caused by unemployment there are high risks associated with it and depression can be considered an almost normal reaction to the circumstances.
Someone who is put under considerable stress to perform by the family, friends and general society and feels excluded from being given a chance to meet some of these expectations, then is put under additonal stress to fulfil all his/her mutual obligations under threat of losing income support and in addition gets rejected and his/her exclusion confirmed three to ten times per fortnight, has enough reason to feel anxious or depressed. Financial and relationship stress is usually added to this explosive mix and the grief which results from the loss of opportunities and career also needs to be worked through.Any normal person would (and many long term unemployed people do) cave in under the overwhelming experience. If you feel overwhelmed, cannot sleep, are anxious and overly concerned about your performance at interviews, go to your GP and talk about it. Also talk about alternatives to medication, don’t accept a pill when you would find help by talking to someone or through other ways of managing your depression.
However, if you cannot find any other relief do not underestimate the power of pharmaceuticals to rebalance your chemicals in the brain. Medication can bring relief, you may be able to rest once again and look with new energy at the life before you.
Most importantly realise that this is not your normal state. Remember the times when you were 'normal, sometimes in a bad mood, sometimes really happy. The fact that you are not able to gain employment does not mean, that your life is finished.
On the contrary, it could mean that it is just beginning. that may be difficult to see when you are feeling anxious and/or depressed about the future. Finding a job can be like winning in a lottery. No one changes their whole life because they keep on losing in the lottery. If you fail to do something to get on top of your depression, you have in fact put others in control of your life, especially those who reject you, and they do not deserve to mess with your life!
So where can you start after you have taken care of the medical side by visiting your GP or trusted chiropractor (yes, they can help!) Start where you feel you are at. A few suggestions may give you some ideas:
Write your story down, if you cannot write, speak it on tape, if you have the skills to write but believe your writing doesn't make sense, don't worry. Just write how you feel and what you think about your situation. UPM against Poverty collects your accounts (anonymously or under observance of privacy principles). We want to use your words when we make submissions, so your account helps our work.
Visit a local action group where you can convert your anger and grief into something constructive, namely taking action. Choose a group whose cause you identify with, and have a look whether you think you can work together with the people in the group.
Form your own local action group. We offer support to any group working to eradicate poverty.
And a final idea: bother your local politicians. They need to know how people feel who have been made redundant and are now threatened with withdrawal of their livelihood if they don't confirm with ridiculous policies aimed at creating compliant citizens.
Take Action, don't let them win!
