At a recent Political party meeting I heard Julie Warren, President of the Victorian Branch of the National Union of Workers (NUW), talking about the rise of insecure and contract work. Short term contracts, part time work, casual employment and other forms of ‘insecure work’ have been on the rise over the past few years so that over 40 per cent of workers are now employed on a casual basis. According to their research, 80 per cent of workers want to be employed full time and/or permanently. These are some of the numbers that are hidden from the unemployment figures.

Warren has written a paper on the devastating effects this can have on both worker and workplace, especially on women. It makes interesting reading. Her Union is behind the ‘Jobs you can count on’ campaign which is endeavouring to ‘create a new conversation, one that talks about sustainable jobs, dignity at work and healthy communities’.

Some of the consequences of ‘insecure work’ according to the NUW are the inability to commit to a mortgage because of insecure remuneration, effects on friendship and social life, the inability to schedule recreation, social time and appointments because you have to be on call, waiting for the phone call that may never come, and the shift of risk and cost away from the employer onto the employee. Warren points out that this world of work young people have inherited is a source of insecurity and disenfranchisement, even though we live in one of the luckiest and wealthiest countries on earth.

I asked Julie Warren about the common belief that young adults are known for not wanting permanent jobs, for wanting flexibility and freedom to wander not only from job to job but also from country to country. She pointed me to the 80 per cent statistic mentioned above but I still think there are some facts and figures from a different perspective that need to make up the total picture. When you listen to employers, especially in small business, you hear laments of how hard it is to find young people who want to settle into long term positions. Further research is needed.

However, the most concerning thing in all of this is the idea that people within the workplace are not being treated equally. I frequently hear stories from part-timers, casuals and volunteers in workplaces about an ‘us and them’ type of attitude, one where value and worth is associated with permanency and full-time status. That type of attitude is damaging to individuals and to the organisations for which they work/volunteer. Treating people as second rate comes from leadership, full-time staff, and from policies as well.

I think of what Jesus had to say about equality in the workplace in his parable of workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). In this story there are some workers employed at the beginning of the day and then others employed at various times throughout the day. They all receive the same amount of pay at the end of the day. Those employed first complained about this but the employer argues for his right to be generous with the workers hired later. The spiritual significance of this teaching is related to equality in the Kingdom of God, especially concerning Jews and Gentiles, but one of the takeaways from this story is the idea that all workers are to be treated equally. There are verses in the Old Testament book of Proverbs that talk about this same idea of inclusiveness and impartiality (for example see Proverbs 22:2, 24:23, 31:8).

I recently heard a story of how causal employees in a workplace were intentionally left out of communication about social events, were relegated to a different part of the lunch room on break, and who were left out of decision making opportunities. Needless to say those casuals felt no sense of obligation or loyalty to the organisation, and the business suffered.

A counter point to that is another workplace that I heard of which goes out of its way to affirm and encourage volunteers (‘because we don’t pay them and we don’t want to lose them’) and yet does very little if anything to express thankfulness to its staff. Inclusiveness, impartiality, and equality as workplace principles would mean that everyone feels valued and affirmed no matter who they or what their employment status is.

Imagine our workplaces based on the principle taught in Ephesians 4:29, ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen’. A workplace based on self-sacrificial communication. Now there’s an idea!

Food for thought

Dr David R Wilson is Director of Sophia Think Tank, a Bible Society Australia project.