Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
Volume 10 n.3, Spring 1991

Yes, unions can survive (with a little help from young people): Marketing Unions 1, by Belinda Wood
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.12-18.
The trade union movement in Australia is facing a potential survival crisis. This crisis is reflected in the declining success of unions in recruiting and retaining young members. Put simply, young people are not joining unions at levels required to ensure that unions remain a strong force in protecting and advocating for the rights of workers in Australia. This article looks at youth-oriented "strategies for survival" that should be considered by unions in Australia.

It all just feels above me: Marketing Unions 2, by Dave Palmer
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.19-23.
This further examination of marketing unions to young people draws on two research projects by the author. He first looks at young people's perceptions and images of trade unions and which particular young people are knowledgeable or not so knowledgeable about unions. He then looks at the effectiveness of campaigns to generate an interest in union activities among young people, asking who are the targets of such campaigns and is the message reaching the audience that could most benefit from union membership?

Young women workers, by Melanie Raymond & Judith Elton
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.24-26.
Melanie Raymond describes here the work being done by the ASU specifically to address the needs of young women workers who often see unions as esoteric and alienating. Judith Elton writes that young women entering paid employment today still find it difficult to avoid being affected by the tradition of female employment in Australia, a tradition that has been dominated by the view that the paid employment of women is secondary to that of men, who have been assumed to be primary income earners or breadwinners.

Contracts & Agreements: Government reforms in Australia and New Zealand, by Chris White and Judith Bessant Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.27-33.
Chris White met with unions and workers in New Zealand to find out about the impact of the new NZ Employment Contracts Act. In this report he states that under the Act, exploitation, especially of young people, will be easier and negotiation of wages and conditions much more difficult. Reforms on the Australian side of the Tasman are also of a 'tightened' nature. While New Zealand has gone for employment 'contracts', Australia has taken on unemployment 'agreements'. The Australian Government's Newstart program, previously the Active Employment Strategy, began operation in July, attracting considerable criticism from around the community. Key features of the Newstart program are discussed in this report Nomads of the Future, by Judith Bessant, who raises questions about the program's infringement on the rights of the unemployed and an apparent reconstituting of Australia's traditional conception of the welfare state.

The student worker: A new adolescent lifestyle, by Karen Yap
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.34-38.
In the first of two research-based articles on student workers, Karen Yap questions the assumption that the experience of part-time work is intrinsically good for the students, and calls for greater awareness among teachers of the demands of this increasingly common lifestyle.

Working blind: How much do student workers know?, by John Spoehr
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.39-44.
Our second article on student workers reports on a study of students' participation and experience including their awareness of industrial rights and the role of unions.

Condemning their children: Occupational inheritance and the inheritance of patterns of work-related injury, by Claire James
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.45-48.
Many Australian adolescents seek work in the same field of employment as their parents - an occupational inheritance that, according to research by Claire James, also results in the inheritance of predictable patterns of work-related injury.

Alternatives to unemployment: Some outcomes of the Transition Education Program, by Barry J. Fraser
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.50-53.
Concerns over high youth unemployment have a history going back to 1979 when the then Liberal government introduced the Transition Program aimed at improving 'at risk' students' preparation for work. This retrospective account of the Transition Program synthesises case studies of projects in three Australian states and shows that outcomes included improvements in self-esteem and satisfaction with school among groups traditionally alienated by schooling.

Young volunteers save the cinema in A town like Woomera, by Jessica Lockett
Youth Studies: Bulletin of the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
1991 v.10 n.3, pp.54-56.
The world of work takes on many forms for young people. Volunteer work in the community can be one of the most interesting - even if the rewards are not financial. Jessica Lockett writes about an unusual project (in an unusual town) which combines the benefits of fundraising and work experience while providing a service for the whole community.