ID :
206515
Sun, 09/11/2011 - 14:07
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/206515
The shortlink copeid
Govt to hold jobs forum in October
Sydney (AAP) - 11 Sept - Future jobs in a changing economy will be the focus of a one-day forum to be held by the federal government in October.
Around 80 representatives from business, unions, government and academia would attend the Future Jobs Forum at Parliament House in Canberra on October 6.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said changes in the global economy and technology, a move to clean energy and a shift in the nation's demographics offered opportunities for new jobs.
"The forum will look at further ways to best position our economy for the years ahead and how to best spread the benefits of strong growth to all corners of our patchwork economy," Ms Gillard said in a statement on Sunday.
Among the major agenda items at the forum would include the changing structure of the national economy, drivers to create jobs and to lift investment, and how manufacturing adapted to a high Australian dollar.
The jobs forum will be held a day after the Tax Forum, which will take place on October 4 and 5.
Official data last week showed Australia's jobless rate rose to a 10-month high of 5.3 per cent in August.
ACTU President Ged Kearney said the forum should focus on the crisis of insecure work in Australia and not be a vehicle for business groups to attack workers' rights.
"Insecure work, where millions of Australians have no certainty about their income, or even if they will have a job, from week to week, is building a fragile house of cards in the economy," Ms Kearney said.
"Non-permanent jobs should exist only where they are absolutely necessary, or when it genuinely offers benefits for both employer and employee.
"We do not want to see it continue to be used as a way of undermining pay and conditions and shifting the risk from business to workers."
The rise in the jobless rate last month showed Australia could not afford to be complacent, Ms Kearney said.
"We cannot accept these job losses as the norm, and there is a need for industry planning to consider issues confronting the manufacturing sector in particular, which is under extraordinary pressure from the booming dollar and unfair competition from illegal foreign (products) dumping."
Around 80 representatives from business, unions, government and academia would attend the Future Jobs Forum at Parliament House in Canberra on October 6.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said changes in the global economy and technology, a move to clean energy and a shift in the nation's demographics offered opportunities for new jobs.
"The forum will look at further ways to best position our economy for the years ahead and how to best spread the benefits of strong growth to all corners of our patchwork economy," Ms Gillard said in a statement on Sunday.
Among the major agenda items at the forum would include the changing structure of the national economy, drivers to create jobs and to lift investment, and how manufacturing adapted to a high Australian dollar.
The jobs forum will be held a day after the Tax Forum, which will take place on October 4 and 5.
Official data last week showed Australia's jobless rate rose to a 10-month high of 5.3 per cent in August.
ACTU President Ged Kearney said the forum should focus on the crisis of insecure work in Australia and not be a vehicle for business groups to attack workers' rights.
"Insecure work, where millions of Australians have no certainty about their income, or even if they will have a job, from week to week, is building a fragile house of cards in the economy," Ms Kearney said.
"Non-permanent jobs should exist only where they are absolutely necessary, or when it genuinely offers benefits for both employer and employee.
"We do not want to see it continue to be used as a way of undermining pay and conditions and shifting the risk from business to workers."
The rise in the jobless rate last month showed Australia could not afford to be complacent, Ms Kearney said.
"We cannot accept these job losses as the norm, and there is a need for industry planning to consider issues confronting the manufacturing sector in particular, which is under extraordinary pressure from the booming dollar and unfair competition from illegal foreign (products) dumping."
