Apprentice Taskforce Win!
In the wake of tireless advocacy and activism, Daniel Andrews has now established an Apprentice Taskforce! The Taskfoce will improve regulation, simplify complaint reporting, and establish bans on employers who have mistreated apprentices.
This win was made possible by Young Workers Centre activists who organised community meetings and online actions; shared their stories with media; participated in a roundtable and delivered a Megaphone petition, containing over 9,500 signatures to The Hon Gayle Tierney, Minister for Training and Skills.
For several years, Young Workers Centre (YWC) has called attention to the need for urgent systemic change, having documented an increase in apprentice exploitation across all sectors and a shocking 77% of our legal clients being apprentices. Commonly reported issues include bullying, unsafe working conditions, poor training, insufficient supervision and wage theft.
This shows that when young workers come together, we can achieve big change. We won't stop until we win a safe and fair system for all apprenticeships.