- by Anna Pha
- The Guardian
- Issue #2058
Unions WA in Perth, 2017: National secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, launched the Change the Rules national campaign to reassert the need for fairer laws to protect the wages, conditions and rights of workers. Sally McManus (left) and Meredith Hammat.
A coalition of eight major business groups including the Master Builders Association, National Farmers’ Federation, Business Council of Australia, Council of Small Business Organisations, and the Minerals Council of Australia, has launched a multimillion dollar scare campaign on TV and social media attempting to instil fear and alarm in workers and employers.
Their claims are dishonest and outrageous.
“It means by law, employers will have to pay workers with little knowledge or experience exactly the same as workers with decades of knowledge and experience,” the coalition falsely claims.
“It means by law, you cannot earn better pay by working harder or longer, if your colleague does not share your ambition or work ethic.”
The claim that workers with “little knowledge or experience” will be paid the same as workers with decades of knowledge and experience is rubbish. At present a labour hire worker with more knowledge and experience could be, and mostly is paid far less. Surprise, surprise, the employers are not demanding they be paid the same.
The consultation paper makes it clear. Both enterprise agreements and awards contain pay rates for different job classifications and levels based on experience or skill. It is intended for these rates to apply to all workers regardless of forms of employment.
By emphasising division, the employers here make plain their use of labour hire to pit worker against worker.
Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus said it was “crazy and bizarre” to claim the reform meant less skilled workers would be paid the same as more skilled employees.
“As catchy slogans mask the true consequences, the proposed industrial relations changes threaten to strip subbies and independent contractors of their autonomy to be their own boss, negotiate higher wages and conditions, and exercise the right to choose the projects they work on, free from the influence of unions,” Shaun Schmitke, acting-chief executive Master Builders Australia, asserts.
“Free from the influence of unions” gives the game away. That is the aim. Free from unions means lower wages and loss of rights regardless of the relationship with a labour hire firm – employee, subby, or independent contractor.
“Businesses of all shapes and sizes need the ability to ramp up and ramp down, as economic conditions require and as opportunities arise,” Schmitke disingenuously claims. True, there is a legitimate use for labour hire and the consultation paper acknowledges this, but not for 90 per cent of the workforce.
“We all want Australians to have safe, high wage, sustainable jobs, and to be rewarded for their hard work and experience,” says Business Council CEO Jennifer Westacott.
“This is going to really impact on workers who are struggling with cost-of-living pressures and will also make Australia an extremely unattractive destination for people to invest – that means less jobs.”
When did Australia’s largest corporations shed a tear for struggling workers as they hiked up prices and made record profits?
The legislation is expected to be brought before Parliament before the end of the year.
Trade unions are gearing up for a campaign of their own to counter the employer propaganda and fight for Same Job Same Pay.
