Casual employment has been the bane of the union movement for years. For unions, casualisation equates to job insecurity and, in some instances, exploitation.

In a nutshell, the unions’ mantra is that casualisation of the workforce is increasing, and employment laws make it more difficult to protect permanent work, leaving millions of workers in insecure jobs. Unions want to make it harder for employers to employ casuals and to give those in this form of employment stronger protection in law.