www.workinglife.org.au
Issue 11, June 2014
Thousands rally in Melbourne to #BustTheBudget
Photo: ACTU/Mark Phillips Never too old: He might be 84, and have had two legs amputated, but nothing was going to stop Peter Voigt from joining the huge Bust the Budget rally in the centre of Melbourne on 12 June. More pictures on Page 10.
Outworkers fearful of return of sweatshops by MARK PHILLIPS OUTWORKERS fear a combination of changes by the Abbott Government will wind back improvements to their rights at work and again leave them exposed to exploitation and mistreatment. The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union has warned that the changes could see an increase in unregulated sweatshops, which are notorious for underpayment of wages and other entitlements, and for their dangerous health and safety conditions. The changes include the defunding of an
acclaimed accreditation and compliance program, Ethical Clothing Australia, and a review of landmark reforms introduced by the former Labor Government which were the result of years of campaigning by the union and for the first time gave outworkers the same entitlements as other employers. Since the outworker provisions were included in the Fair Work Act, there has been a noticeable improvement in working conditions in the clothing sector, with hopes that sweatshops would eventually be driven out of the industry. But the National Secretary of the
TCFUA, Michele O’Neil, said this was now at risk because of an “ideological crusade” by the Abbott Government and Employment Minister Eric Abetz. “If you combine the suite of government actions against workers in the TCF industry, and in particular outworkers and sweatshop workers, what you see is a systematic rolling back of protections that have been put in place over the last decade,” she said. “And that puts at risk some of Australia’s lowest paid and most vulnerable workers. There is no need to do this. It is unnecessary Continued page 4
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June 2014
Hall of Shame
Cheer up, Gina - we haven’t forgotten about you
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Deep down, in her heart, you know Gina Rinehart just wants to be loved. It must frustrate her ordinary Australians don’t appreciate her contribution.
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ITY poor Gina Rinehart. Recently, she tumbled from 16th to 27th in the annual Forbes magazine survey of the world’s most powerful woman. She’s down to her last $18 billion or so. And her children hate her. To paraphrase Malcolm Fraser, life wasn’t meant to be easy. Not even for a wealthy heiress. Still, you can’t keep a good woman down. So to cheer her up, we’ve inducted Gina Rinehart into the Working Life Hall of Shame. In truth, she should have been admitted to the Hall a long time ago. After all, her contributions to the public debate about inequality, the economy and industrial relations make her a class apart. Beloved by Tony Abbott, Barnaby Joyce and a plethora of other conservative politicians, Rinehart is living proof of the sense of entitlement and privilege that comes with inherited wealth. In recent years, she has stepped up her political activities, firstly leading the opposition to the Rudd Government’s Mineral Resource Rent Tax, and then sponsoring several trips to Australia by the climate change denialist “Lord” Christopher Monckton. Then there is her advocacy for northern Australia to be declared a special economic zone, with low or zero taxes, unfettered use of cheap migrant labour, and exemption from workplace laws. She feels so strongly about the issue, she even wrote a poem. And although her poetry has been universally lambasted, Rinehart has been emboldened to speak out on national issues. And what views they are. In a 2012 article in the Australian Resources and Investment Magazine, Rinehart said that if people wanted to
have more money they should “stop whingeing” and “Do something to make more money yourself − spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working”. She criticised what she saw as the “socialist” policies of the Australian Government of “high taxes” and “excessive regulation” But she was just warming up for her most infamous appearance on the Sydney Mining Club’s YouTube channel where she expanded on her views that Australians were too highly paid. “Africans want to work and its workers
are willing to work for less than $2 a day. Such statistics make me worry for this country’s future,” she said. She has been quieter more recently. Perhaps she’s been preoccupied with her ongoing feud with two of her children. Or maybe she’s busy plotting how to get a seat at the board table of Fairfax so she can begin sacking journalists who write things she doesn’t like, such as business reporter Adele Ferguson. However, she did emerge from her bunker in March to lash out at Australians’ “entitlement mentality” in words eerily reminiscent of those used by Treasurer Joe Hockey. In that article she also heaped praise upon Margaret Thatcher as “a true leader”. Deep down, in her heart, you just know Gina Rinehart wants to be loved. It must frustrate her every waking hour that ordinary Australians don’t appreciate the contribution she has made to our nation. Well, we do. Welcome to the Hall of Shame, Gina Rinehart.
GET IN TOUCH
Want to know more or get involved? Contact our newsdesk by email at editor@workinglife.org.au or phone (03) 9664 7266. Or get in touch by Facebook (facebook.com/ThisWorkingLife) or Twitter (twitter/thisworkinglife). Editor: Mark Phillips. Responsibility for election comment is taken by Dave Oliver, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, 365 Queen Street, Melbourne 3000.
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June 2014
At Work
Wharfies prepare to escalate safety campaign after death
Too many deaths: Wharfies want to avoid more scenes like this. Right: Anthony Attard. MARITIME workers are preparing for a ‘‘massive escalation’’ of safety campaigning following the death of a popular Melbourne wharfie in late-May. Anthony Attard, a father of three in his mid-40s, was killed aboard the rollon/roll-off vessel Tasmanian Achiever, docked in the Port of Melbourne, when he was run over by a cargo loader. The death on 20 May sent shockwaves through the close-knit wharfie community, especially as Mr Attard was a Maritime Union of Australia delegate and representative on the enterprise bargaining committee in his workplace, Toll Group. MUA officials, including Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith and National Safety Officer Matt Goodwin, spent several days in the workplace last week supporting members in the aftermath of the tragedy. But as the shock over the death has receded, it has been replaced by anger at a watering down of safety on the wharves since the Abbott Government was elected. “The way the workers at Toll have rallied together, united, and supported each other, is a credit to each and every one of them,” the union said in a bulletin to members.
“The wharfies and seafarers at Toll are a class act, there’s no two ways about it. This latest tragedy highlights why we must fight to make sure that safety is mandatory. “There is a safety crisis in stevedoring. “These tragedies are not ‘accidents’. There are causes. That’s why we need regulation.” The MUA said a number of serious safety issues had been identified that had to be fixed before work could again begin at Toll’s Port of Melbourne facilities. These include lack of a decent traffic management plan, lack of a dedicated spotter and flagman to coordinate the safe movement of people and vehicles on and off the vessel, and lack of commitment to training by Toll. But the union says there are wider safety issues in the industry that extend beyond Toll. Wharf workers are 14 times more likely to die on the job than the average Australian worker. It says the Abbott Government has blocked a stevedoring code of practice and 12 other lifesaving codes of practice, which have been described as “red tape”. It has also ordered the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to begin dismantling Marine Order 32, described
as “the safety Bible for wharfies for over 30 years”. The union is advising its members to begin preparing for a “massive escalation” of its waterfront safety campaign, beginning with a two day safety conference next month to chart the way forward. “The MUA has long campaigned for better safety and now demands that this crisis in waterfront safety be addressed by regulation,” said MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. “Safety must be mandatory and it must be law.” • The MUA’s Victorian Branch has also set up a fund for Anthony Attard’s family. Donations can be made to BSB 802 884, account number 100040459.
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June 2014
Tony worries about a return to the bad old days LAST Christmas, Tony did something he had never done before in a decade working in the clothing industry. He took a week’s annual leave – and he got paid for it. To most workers, this would be no big deal, but for Tony, it was tangible proof that he was no longer a hidden part of the workforce but a real employee. Tony (who has asked that we not use his full name) is an outworker and for most of his career in the clothing industry has worked for piece rates, as little as $2 or $3 a garment. Tony’s work has not altered in the past year, but his rights have changed immensely. His working conditions are now regulated by the Fair Work Act, and subsequently the clothing label he supplies signed up to Ethical Clothing Australia. He is now paid an hourly rate, receives four weeks paid annual leave a year, can take paid sick leave, and his employer must contribute to his superannuation. “The main difference is it’s less work,” he says. “Before you work a lot,
you have to make 200-300 garments a week. Now I do 150 which is half the time for the same amount of money. “I have more time with the kids. They pay me super and I get four weeks’ holiday. Before they no give you work, you have to look in another place and get work and get money.” To illustrate the difference between his current situation and his days on piece rates, Tony points to his current
order to make 320 polo shirts. For the 80 hours it would have taken him to make the shirts, he would have been paid about $960, or $3 a shirt. Now he is guaranteed $862.22 for a 38 hour week, which includes the Award rate plus a small hourly allowance because he is responsible for the cost of his electricity supply, machinery maintenance and raw materials like cotton.
Outworkers fearful of return that ECA’s accreditation and compliance campaign for the funding to be restored. of sweatshops program has helped 6000 home-based But even if ECA did gain a reprieve and Continued from page 1
and it is vicious and it will only benefit unscrupulous employers in the industry.” The first of the changes was made under the guise of “cutting red tape” to abolish a government procurement policy that made it mandatory that any Australian company with a contract of more than $80,000 to supply uniforms or other clothing to a federal government agency must be accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia. ECA, previously known as the Homeworkers Code of Practice, was established in 1996 to administer an ethical code of practice and accreditation process for clothing manufacturers. It has membership from the TCFUA, peak employer associations including the Australian Industry Group, and several major clothing manufacturers. In the last five years it is estimated
outworkers have greater awareness of their legal rights and entitlements, and receive Award wages and conditions for the first time in their working lives. The defunding of ECA was confirmed in last month’s Federal Budget. It will save just $1 million. Ms O’Neil said the government funding to ECA had been essential to help resource a compliance program operated by the union and it was nonsense that the Fair Work Ombudsman could step into the role. She said the other key role of the ECA has been to educate both workers and employers about their rights and obligations, and it has strong support from those in the clothing industry who want to end its image of exploitation of low-paid workers. The union has combined with one of Australia’s largest fashion brands, the family-owned Cue Clothing Company, to
funding continues, the review of the TCF outworker reforms achieved under Labor is an axe hanging over decent pay and working conditions in the sector. These reforms, encompassed in amendments to the Fair Work Act in 2012, sought to directly address the systemic exploitation of home-based workers in the form of chronic sham contracting, widespread non-compliance with minimum Award and legal conditions, and the spread of sweatshops. The reforms ended an artificial distinction by deeming contract outworkers to be employees, and extending to them most provisions of the Fair Work Act. It also gave them an effective mechanism to recover unpaid wages and entitlements.
TAKE ACTION Reinstate funding to ECA: fairfashion.com.au
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June 2014
ITUC Global Congress
Aussies take centre stage at global union Congress by ANDREW CASEY Asia-Pacific Editor for LabourStart AUSTRALIAN Sharan Burrow has been re-elected for a second term as head of the global union movement. The former ACTU President had faced a challenge in Berlin for her role as General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation from American Jim Baker. But, in the end the win was big. When the vote was declared at the Second ITUC Global Congress, Sharan had picked up 87% of the vote from the democratic union movement across the globe. Sharan is not just the first Australian to hold the post – she is also the first woman. The ITUC represents 180 million workers and met in Berlin with over 1500 delegates from 161 countries. The Australian delegation to the congress actively campaigned for Sharan’s re-election. The ACTU Secretary, Dave Oliver, was up near the front of the queue to register his support for the Aussie candidate. The Australians at the Congress all spent the first few days cornering delegates, asking them to pin ‘Sharan Burrow’ badges on their clothes. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation National Secretary, Lee Thomas, had Sharan Burrow badges overflowing – they were falling out of her pockets and her bag. “I’d just go up and ask. I expected I might have to make an argument, but that wasn’t the case. I don’t think I got one rejection,” Lee Thomas said. Ben Kruse of the Australian Services Union NSW Branch spent the first few days of Congress co-ordinating the Australians. He was the badge man, making sure the Aussies didn’t run out, and they were all asking the right question. “Ninety-nine per cent of those I approached were delighted that they
Solidarity: ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow holds aloft the helmet of a miner killed at Soma in Turkey in May. Photo: HorstWagner.eu/ITUC have an opportunity to vote, to make a small political contribution by wearing a badge,” Ben Kruse said. In her opening speech to the Congress on 19 May, Sharan Burrow said peace and democracy must remain the focus of the ITUC, but in the face of the spread of neoliberal business policies across the world, unions would “fight fire with fire”. “We can be proud of being the strongest democratic force on the planet – but we must do more. We must invest in union growth if we are to seriously take on the challenge to build workers’ power. “We have the political power if we mobilise it. If we are organised and united we can change the world. We are the voice of opposition and we know we are the voice of progress.” Australians took centre stage at the ITUC Congress in other ways as well. During the debate on Women in Work and Unions, Judith Wright, from the Australian Services Union outlined her union’s successful Equal Pay case. There were a few ‘wows’ when she explained 200,000 social and community services workers won a massive pay increase. A rise of up to 45%, on the
grounds their work has been historically undervalued. Dave Noonan of the CFMEU gave a spirited address on Tuesday morning on behalf of the ACTU delegation, highlighting the imposition of austerity policies in Australia under the Abbott government - notwithstanding the complete absence of any economic crisis in the country. Dave Oliver and ACTU International Officer Grant Belchamber attended and spoke at a breakfast meeting on trade agreements. The two of them told the meeting the big global tobacco giant Phillip Morris was chasing the Australian government for compensation over our plain packaging laws. Paddy Crumlin, the global President of the International Transport Workers Federation and National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, in usual style, put a strong argument for the use of workers’ capital to invest in road, rail and ports. Another prominent MUA official, Mick Doleman, participated in a panel on violence against women in the home, and in the workplace.
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June 2014
World News
Brazilian workers strike before the World Cup by MARK PHILLIPS JUST days before the kick-off of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil was hit by a wave of strikes by workers using the global attention from the world’s biggest sporting event as leverage to push for better wages and conditions. Public transport workers in São Paulo were the latest to take to the streets in frustration at poor wages and broken promises that the billions being spent on infrastructure would somehow trickle down to ordinary Brazilians. They suspended their five-day strike just days before the first match after sometimes violent clashes with police and traffic chaos in Brazil’s largest city. But the transport workers were only the most recent to go on strike. Police, teachers and garbage collectors have been among other workers to take industrial action in Brazil’s largest cities in the weeks leading up to the world’s premier sporting event. They have in common anger at lack of services, inequality, and political corruption. Living costs in Brazil have got out of hand as wages have not kept pace with inflation which is running at close to 6.5% a year. In a country where football is a religion and those who wear the famed yellow and blue kit are treated as gods, but where tens of millions of Brazilians also live in abject poverty, the 2014 World Cup has struggled to capture the public imagination. Many ordinary Brazilians feel left behind by the country’s economic advances of recent years, and they have been angered by the opulence of the 2014 World Cup, which has only served to remind them of the vast gulfs of inequality in Brazil. Recent forecasts put the cost of hosting the World Cup to Brazilian taxpayers at US$14 billion, including $3.6 billion on new stadiums. But ordinary Brazilians have seen little of that massive spending filter down to improvements to their lives. They question how so much can be spent on infrastructure when education, healthcare, housing and
Não vai ter Copa: a protester gets the message out. Photo: flickr/Ninja Midia public transport remains so poor. “FIFA has had their slice of the cake. The construction companies have too. Now we want our slice, and not just crumbs,” says Guilherme Boulos, a leader of the Homeless Workers’ Movement. Anger at the World Cup first spilled into the streets last year, in rallies and protests that were quelled by heavy police tactics. Authorities agreed to meet some of the protesters’ key demands by pledging extra cash for public services and transport, and reforms to tackle political corruption, but protests have continued under the slogan of ‘Não vai ter Copa’ (roughly translated as ‘There won’t be a World Cup’). But it is not just inequality and poor services that has fuelled the protests. Under pressure to build the stadiums and infrastructure in time, construction companies have cut corners on workplace safety, and at least nine workers have been killed on building sites. The most recent was Mohamed Ali Alfonso Maciel, 32, who was electrocuted while working on the Arena Pantanal, where the Socceroos will played their first match on 13 June. The global construction union, Building and Wood Worker’s International,
blamedthe “mad rush” to finish the arenas for the deaths. “Meeting FIFA deadlines have been fatal,” said Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary. “For building workers, these events have become World Cups of Shame.” FIFA’s indifference to this human toll has been on display at Qatar, where football’s governing body is standing firm against calls to rerun the vote for host of the 2022 World Cup because of the appalling working conditions of its migrant workforce. The International Trade Union Confederation has estimated that 4000 migrant workers will have died building stadiums and infrastructure by the time Qatar 2022 begins. “Qatar is a slave state,” ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in May. “Workers are dying and if FIFA does not act they share culpability for the thousands of workers trapped in Qatar. They can’t just walk away and leave workers to the mercy of the kafala system.”
TAKE ACTION Call on FIFA to strip the 2022 World Cup from Qatar: rerunthevote.org
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June 2014
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Opinion
Evidence is clear: the minimum wage doesn’t cost jobs by DAVE OLIVER ACTU Secretary
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very year, employer groups say the same thing: a pay rise for low-paid workers will raise unemployment and the sky will fall on small businesses across the country. Every year, the sky fails to fall in and small businesses continue to open their doors This year they’ve followed the usual script, with Joe Hockey, the Treasurer, chiming in from the sidelines. Although the 3% increase in wages for the low paid awarded by the Fair Work Commission is barely enough to keep up with the cost of living, business and the Abbott government think it’s too high. They’re wrong. A 3% increase is, if anything, too modest. The expert panel of the Fair Work Commission, the body responsible for setting minimum wages, has examined the evidence about the effect of minimum wage rises on employment. They found that “modest minimum wage adjustments lead to a small, or zero, effect on employment”. Minimum wage rises don’t necessarily cost jobs in theory, and a growing body of evidence suggests they don’t cost jobs in practice. The labour market isn’t well described by simple supply and demand diagrams. Employers have power in the labour market, which means they’re often able to get away with paying workers less than they’re worth. As a result, it’s possible for minimum wages to secure a fair wage for the low-paid without harming employment. Evidence from overseas supports this view. A famous 1990 study, by David Card and Alan Krueger, compared fast food employment in New Jersey and Pennsylvania after one state increased its minimum wage and the other didn’t. They didn’t find a significant effect on employment. Another landmark paper looked at US restaurant employment in 288
Read Sam Wallman’s comic strip, ‘The Story of the Minimum Wage’ at: www.workinglife.org.au/minimum-wage-story different pairs of adjacent counties that had different minimum wages. They found that minimum wages are effective in boosting pay, but they don’t harm employment. Similarly, when the UK first introduced a minimum wage in 1999, the British government was worried about the sort of negative effects that the likes of Hockey and employers warn about. But they never arrived. The UK’s minimum wage is now 75% higher than it was when it was introduced, while the UK CPI has risen by just 37% over the same period. This large rise in the real value of the UK minimum wage hasn’t cost jobs. In Australia, there’s less evidence about the effect of minimum wages on employment.
It’s true that Australia’s minimum wage is relatively high. That’s something we should be proud of. America’s low minimum wage, which entrenches the working poor in that country, didn’t stop American unemployment reaching 10% in their recent recession. Australia’s employment and unemployment figures have been the envy of the developed world, not just in the wake of the financial crisis but before that as well. Don’t listen to the doomsayers like Joe Hockey, who claim the sky will fall in if the pay packets of the low paid keep up with the cost of living. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that it won’t. This article first appeared on The Guardian Australia website on 11 June
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.org.au
June 2014
Bust the Budget
Angry nurses speak out on Medicare co-payment If anyone is qualified to comment on the changes to Medicare in the Federal Budget, it is nurses and midwives. They will be the ones on the frontline, dealing with the fall-out from the introduction of the a $7 fee for every visit to the doctor, higher medicine costs, and cuts to funding to the states and territories’ public health systems and hospitals. Here, four experienced nurses, give their views on the changes.
“The Budget extends pressure on people who can least afford it” Maureen Buckley, clinical nurse consultant, Blacktown Hospital
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s a nurse in a western Sydney public hospital and a local resident I have grave concerns about what this Budget will do to the local population,” said Maureen Buckley, a clinical nurse consultant in the aged care services emergency team and a NSWNMA branch delegate. “A lot of people around here struggle financially and the $7 co-payment will be problematic for them. “The patients I see – aged people in emergency – are usually on multiple medications. They will bear the brunt when prescription drugs go up 80c for concession holders and pensioners, and $5 for others. “It’s a double hit because while medical care will cost more, pensions won’t be indexed to wage rises and in time they will fall further behind.” Blacktown Hospital services one of the poorest areas of Sydney with many disadvantaged elderly pensioners, a high
level of youth unemployment, a large Aboriginal population and a large refugee and immigrant non-English speaking population. Maureen said the Budget increase in petrol excise would also hurt western Sydney workers who drive long distances to their jobs and already pay high tolls.
“The Government did not think this through” Jackie Holmes, clinical midwifery specialist, Blacktown Hospital
“We are already disadvantaged here in the west in numerous ways so the Budget just extends the pressure on disadvantaged and marginalised people who can least afford it.”
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ackie Holmes, a clinical nurse specialist midwife at Blacktown Hospital’s birthing unit, described the Budget as “a quick moneygrubbing venture” that will impose a huge long-term cost on the public health system. She predicts the $7 GP co-payment will force many disadvantaged people to delay seeking medical attention. “For many local people the $7 GP co-payment will be devastating. It will make the difference between attending for medical care early or presenting when they’re extremely ill and require admission to hospital with more expensive tests and treatments,” said Jackie. “It will be a huge additional cost to the public health system. It seems the Government did not think this through, they just saw it as a quick moneygrubbing exercise. “The Budget seems to have been designed to strip money from a large proportion of the western suburbs population. I think it’s really unfair. This government is siding with big business
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June 2014
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Bust the Budget than any Budget deficit, said Ursula Hollmann, a registered nurse at Campbelltown Hospital’s Waratah adult mental health unit. “We already have “I think all the Government’s talk about fewer resources and a Budget emergency is just an excuse staffing levels.” to do things that will increase the gap Tania Gleeson, between rich and poor,” said Ursula, the clinical nurse specialist, delegate for the Macarthur mental health branch of the NSWNMA. Wagga Wagga Base “Continually running down the public Hospital health system and making it more expensive for patients will have a greater impact on future generations than the budget deficit.” She said Australia has one of the world’s best performing economies. “We have low public debt, a triple-A and with people at the high end of the the already-busy emergency department credit rating, low inflation and fairly low socio-economic scale. once the GP co-payment is introduced unemployment relative to most other “Pensioners who’ve paid taxes all their from July 2016. countries. lives still can’t relax. The aged should not “Is Mr Abbott going to fund more staff “So why are they attacking health in be in that position at this stage of their to manage an influx of patients?” she this Budget?” lives.” asked. “The co-payment starts at $7 but Ursula said the Liberals promised no they will put it up and up and before you cuts to health spending and deceived agga Wagga clinical nurse know it, we’ve got a Americanised health voters by doing the opposite. specialist Tania Gleeson care system. She welcomed the NSWNMA’s stance fears rural and remote There is no way this country would in helping to lead a public campaign to health facilities will fall further behind want to end up with a disgraceful system defend Medicare and the public health metropolitan hospitals as a result of the like that, where if you can’t pay you don’t system generally. Budget’s cut to federal funding of state get treated. This country can’t lower its “We still have one of the best public health services. standard and think that’s okay. systems in the world and the association The NSWNMA is campaigning to “Medicare was supposed to guarantee needs to do what’s best for the members end the anomaly under which nonaccess to health care for everyone and best for the public in regards to metropolitan hospitals such as Wagga regardless of their income level.” defending our health care. Wagga Base are funded for fewer nursing “We don’t want to go down the same hours per patient day than their big city he Abbott Government’s assault track as America.” counterparts. on healthcare affordability “We already have fewer resources and will potentially have worse Nurse interviews from the June edition of staffing levels so cutting the health budget consequences for future generations The Lamp magazine. will only further erode services to rural communities,” said Tania, an intensive care unit liaison nurse and NSWNMA delegate and council member. “Why are they “Facilities that perform the same attacking health?” operations and services should have the Ursula Hollmann, same level of staffing – or hours allocated to those patients – regardless of which registered nurse, facility the patient is in. Campbelltown Hospital “But this Budget means it will be harder to catch up with metro hospitals. “Why should a patient having a hip replacement performed at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, get fewer hours allocated to their care compared to a patient who has a hip replacement at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital?” Tania expects a surge of patients into
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.org.au
June 2014
Bust the Budget
Thousands rally in central Melbourne against Budget
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hey came in their tens of thousands from all industries and all walks of life, united by one thing: pure anger over the Federal Budget. The Bust the Budget rally in Melbourne on 12 June, beginning at Trades Hall and winding its way to the steps of State Parliament, was one of the largest for several years. On the same day in Sydney,
hundreds of union delegates voted in favour of another day of action on 6 July. “The Federal Budget is . . . a recipe for the Americanisation of Australian society - rising inequality springing from huge pockets of poverty and working poor,� ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver told the massive crowd. Photos: ACTU/Mark Phillips
.org.au
June 2014
Can a boss insist on unpaid trial work for a new job? by RIGHTS WATCH
Unpaid trial work is common, but it is unlawful and a cynical exploitation of people trying to find a job.
GOT A PROBLEM AT WORK? You’ve come to the right place. Share your workplace issues with our other readers and get free advice from the Australian Unions helpline if you have a problem with your pay, entitlements, health and safety or anything else at work. Phone 1300 4 UNION (1300 486 466).
SUSANNE writes: I recently saw an ad for a food packing job in my local newspaper. The ad says that there will be a one day trial with “absolutely no payment for the first day”. It then says the successful applicant would need to work 5 to 6 days per week, 8 hours daily and that wages would be based on performance on the first day. Are they allowed to do that? I’m in a state of shock that an employer would be so blatant as to write “absolutely no payment for the first day”. Unpaid trial work is unlawful. I know it’s very common, especially when it comes to industries such as hospitality and retail, but you should be paid for all your shifts – including trial work. I notice on the advert they say the first day will be for no wages – that’s eight hours for no money. Imagine how much that business is saving in wages if they keep getting people in to work for free for eight hours and then maybe/ maybe not give them a job afterwards. Another concern is they say wages will depend on how well applicants perform on the first day. This work is covered by a Modern Award which dictates the minimum hourly rate. This is set
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Ask Us
down in legislation and isn’t something a boss can undercut, deciding whether or not to give you the full amount based on how you perform in some sort of “audition”. But what is especially worrying is if this is what this company feels comfortable putting in writing, what’s going on they don’t want people to know about? I’m sorry if I sound angry Susanne, but exploitation such as this of people trying to find a job is so cynical; and with unemployed workers being told by the Government they should accept any position available it’s going to become more and more prevalent. Why don’t you give the Australian Unions team a call on 1300 486 466? We’ll be able to give you an outline about what your rights are, so that if you come across an employment advert like this one again, alarm bells will start ringing immediately. I wish you all the very best with your job hunting and don’t forget as soon as you know what work you’ll be doing, give us a call and we can join you up to a union to make sure you’re protected for the future (I’d bet money the employer who placed the advert in your local paper doesn’t like unions at all!)
I think I’m being shortchanged HANNAH asks: I’m a 20-year-old barista (I also undertake cleaning food prep and money handling duties) and am being paid $14 an hour, for six months. I recently asked for a pay rise and was told once I reached six months I was eligible for $15 an hour. What is my pay rate I’m owed? And if it’s higher will I get back pay? Under the Modern Award which provides the safety net below which you can’t be paid, the basic hourly rate for a Level 1 Food and Beverage attendant is $16.85 an hour. Although under this Award junior rates apply, as a 20-year-old you are entitled to 100% of the basic hourly rate. So before we even begin to take into account what level you should be at, but looking at the lowest amount of money you should receive, your boss is already shortchanging you. But I think it’s also possible you should at least be paid as a Level 2 under the Hospitality
Industry General Award. In addition to all of this, your employer needs to pay you the correct amount right from the word go – not wait until six months has passed at which point you may (or may not) get a pay rise – a pay rise which, given the amount you’ve quoted would mean your wages were still less than they have to be under law. And this is even before we factor in any casual loading of 25% which might be applicable. Okay, so we’ve worked out that you’re owed money. The good news is that yes, if they’re found to have underpaid you, it’s possible to be back paid. You also have six years to make an underpayment of wages claim, so if you want to wait until you’ve found another job, you can do so. If you give the Australian Unions team a call on they can help you work out exactly how much you should be getting and go through the process with you of lodging a complaint.