Income support for casual workers essential to avoid extended Sydney lockdown, unions say
The only way for Sydney to avoid a protracted lockdown is to provide income support to casual workers choosing between forgoing a wage or going to work while potentially infectious, unions say.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said on Monday key workers were leaving home with symptoms and unknowingly spreading the virus.
“Even if you regard yourself as an essential worker, especially in the Fairfield local government area, do not leave home if you have symptoms,” she said.
“We are seeing very, very key workers, unfortunately, leave the home with symptoms or not knowingly spreading the virus. We would prefer you stayed at home unless you absolutely have to leave the house.”
Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool in western Sydney – containing some of the most diverse suburbs in the country – continue to be areas of concern for authorities. They are also where many casual and essential workers live.
Dr Andy Marks, director of the centre for western Sydney at Western Sydney University, said there was “significant” inequality between western Sydney, where much of the outbreak was now centred, and the rest of the city.
“We … have many people in jobs that don’t allow them to work remotely – for example, in essential services teaching, nursing, transport-related sectors.
“When you have no option to earn income and you have no support from the federal government to supplement that during a lockdown … it’s a really challenging choice to have to make, to decide whether or not you maintain your income or you follow public health advice.”
Gerard Dwyer, the national secretary of the union for retail, fast food and warehouse workers told Guardian Australia: “The only effective way out of the current lockdown is to support businesses with wage subsidies and ensure that essential retail and fast food outlets maintain the highest levels of safety.”
Dwyer said retail workers faced a high risk of infection, with shops or shopping centres comprising 64% of close contact sites and 79% of casual contact sites between 2 and 9 July.
“Shoppers have the option of [going] shopping, retail workers do not.
They are at the beck and call of their employers,” he said.
“Jobkeeper 2.0 would enable workers to feed their families, pay for their housing and other essentials of life. It would keep the people of NSW safer and healthier. It would improve the chances of economic activity in NSW returning to normal more rapidly, boosting the entire economy.”
Marks said a series of historical issues were cascading into the latest outbreak, exacerbating an already precarious situation for many people from low socio-economic backgrounds.
“We have concentrations of investment in inner Sydney, whereas you have parts of western Sydney where there simply isn’t comparable investment in job creation, and that’s forcing people to leave their homes and to commute. And that’s not possible during a pandemic.”
Josh Cullinan, secretary of the retail and fast food workers union, was scathing of the state government for not adequately protecting workers, and has called on the state government to provide greater clarity on who is and isn’t an essential worker.
“Huge numbers of retail and fast food workers are employed in casual work and know if they refuse to attend a shift they will be effectively sacked,” Cullinan said.
“It is clear that the industry needs to be directed as to what is essential and non-essential retail. We have many retailers open who do not sell any genuinely essential items.
“Our members are being put at risk and in harm’s way in the pursuit of profit by many retailers and fast food companies despite the lessons being learned in Victoria.
“The industry needs to be directed to shut all but genuinely essential outlets, and all workers need financial support akin to jobkeeper and jobseeker to
see out a genuine lockdown.”
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, told reporters on Monday that discussions between the commonwealth and the NSW government were “ongoing” in relation to an economic and mental health support package.
“The stresses that families, workers, businesses, are facing are real and significant. So these are supports to assist people through the difficult challenging lockdown period,” he said.
“We have done this before, we have done this nationally. We have done this in other states and territories. We have been through this in Victoria … and we will do this again in New South Wales.”