Though we
have put out various background pieces on websites and blogs about how the
physical site of the UPE happened and about its projects operating since – the
reason for setting up that organisation hasn’t really been published in much
detail. The basis for deciding to create it was partly motivated by a move at a
meeting at the Sydney Uni old “Tin Sheds” to form an Unemployed Workers Union (UWU).
The soon to be President of the UPE had organised a project called the Odd Job Co-op – initially operating from about 1978 in the vacated attic of 41 Phillip St Sydney, where he had been renting from the Head Tenant there since 1975 for an alternative media project. The Tin Sheds meeting was of the Campaign Against Poverty and Unemployment – which we liked as a political movement, because it didn’t pretend to be run by only jobless, but allowed other interested groups to be involved.
Some of our initial group went along – probably even in our Odd Job Co-op light blue T shirts but we horrified to see that other various activist organisations would be sidelined by calling it the UWU. Sure that might get it some money donated by (actual) Unions – but it was sure to go all politically straightjacketed , especially given the well known antipathy of the wider union movement to casual workers and a general exclusion of non-jobless activists.
We had been particularly campaigning to have the amount the jobless could earn - raised from $3 a week (under 21 ?) and $6 if you were older than that. We could already see that having a casual work collective in a welfare rights campaign was the real basis for being able to talk about unemployment with some credibility. The dole back then wasn’t so hard to live on – thanks to it being raised by the Labor Federal Govt under PM Gough Whitlam (1972-5) and also given that there was quite a lot of fairly cheap housing (at least in inner-city areas).
Therefore, we decided to just set up the UPE – starting in 41 Phillip St, which was now emptied of other non- residential tenants. This was for a Sydney City Council road-widening of Phillip St by demolishing the 5 historic terraces to the corner of Bridge St – where the 1788 site of the First Govt House was a car park. Ironically, the union movement itself had its reputation revived by the Builders Laborers Federation (BLF) under Jack Mundey and that other guy – because of their Green Bans, which saved the Rocks and other historic precincts from demolition for gross high-rise overdevelopment.
The “union” model for a jobless rights organisation has never been effective since, unless there is mass unemployment – the actual Unions aren’t actually scared of losing their working members to much of a degree. Only when jobless officially cracked 10% by about 1981 – was their any serious demonstration of the union movement against unemployment (eg in Belmore Park – next to Central station in Sydney). Afterall – unemployment was mostly only affecting school leavers – not the better paid older workers, whose membership dues were bankrolling the union movement.
Interestingly, the usual age of new members of the UPE were 19 year-olds plus they were usually from the outer Western suburbs – theoretically the key demographic of not only the Unions – but the ALP itself. Still, neither the short lived Sydney UWU ever approached us – even after we were put on SEPARATE Channel 9 Midday Shows on an unemployment top around 1980 (we have video of it) and even the big religious Charities – never directly assisted us – though some half-hearted offer of use of some farm land was later made to us, after we got a “lease” of some from Dept Housing NSW for our Arts Farm project (in outer Western Sydney).
The soon to be President of the UPE had organised a project called the Odd Job Co-op – initially operating from about 1978 in the vacated attic of 41 Phillip St Sydney, where he had been renting from the Head Tenant there since 1975 for an alternative media project. The Tin Sheds meeting was of the Campaign Against Poverty and Unemployment – which we liked as a political movement, because it didn’t pretend to be run by only jobless, but allowed other interested groups to be involved.
Some of our initial group went along – probably even in our Odd Job Co-op light blue T shirts but we horrified to see that other various activist organisations would be sidelined by calling it the UWU. Sure that might get it some money donated by (actual) Unions – but it was sure to go all politically straightjacketed , especially given the well known antipathy of the wider union movement to casual workers and a general exclusion of non-jobless activists.
We had been particularly campaigning to have the amount the jobless could earn - raised from $3 a week (under 21 ?) and $6 if you were older than that. We could already see that having a casual work collective in a welfare rights campaign was the real basis for being able to talk about unemployment with some credibility. The dole back then wasn’t so hard to live on – thanks to it being raised by the Labor Federal Govt under PM Gough Whitlam (1972-5) and also given that there was quite a lot of fairly cheap housing (at least in inner-city areas).
Therefore, we decided to just set up the UPE – starting in 41 Phillip St, which was now emptied of other non- residential tenants. This was for a Sydney City Council road-widening of Phillip St by demolishing the 5 historic terraces to the corner of Bridge St – where the 1788 site of the First Govt House was a car park. Ironically, the union movement itself had its reputation revived by the Builders Laborers Federation (BLF) under Jack Mundey and that other guy – because of their Green Bans, which saved the Rocks and other historic precincts from demolition for gross high-rise overdevelopment.
The “union” model for a jobless rights organisation has never been effective since, unless there is mass unemployment – the actual Unions aren’t actually scared of losing their working members to much of a degree. Only when jobless officially cracked 10% by about 1981 – was their any serious demonstration of the union movement against unemployment (eg in Belmore Park – next to Central station in Sydney). Afterall – unemployment was mostly only affecting school leavers – not the better paid older workers, whose membership dues were bankrolling the union movement.
Interestingly, the usual age of new members of the UPE were 19 year-olds plus they were usually from the outer Western suburbs – theoretically the key demographic of not only the Unions – but the ALP itself. Still, neither the short lived Sydney UWU ever approached us – even after we were put on SEPARATE Channel 9 Midday Shows on an unemployment top around 1980 (we have video of it) and even the big religious Charities – never directly assisted us – though some half-hearted offer of use of some farm land was later made to us, after we got a “lease” of some from Dept Housing NSW for our Arts Farm project (in outer Western Sydney).
MORE RECENTLY: our TELEVISION UNDERGROUND (TVU) project
Gets its own Blog: TVUnderground
Read about its attempts to get local MOVIES shown - at:
https://www.timestreamproductions.blogger.com
