Working conditions stripped under Howard Government's IR laws: study
Thursday September 13, 2007
Workers in the hospitality and retail sectors have lost up to a third of their incomes since the introduction of the Howard Government's IR laws.
Some liquor store employees had lost between 12 and 31 per cent of their incomes, while workers in bakeries and fast food outlets had seen their wages decline by 12 to 25 per cent.
The results come from a study by the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre. The Centre looked at every Collective Agreement signed between March and December 2006 - the first nine months of the Howard Government's IR laws.
70 per cent of the Agreements studied contained only the minimum legal requirements under the Howard Government's system - a minimum wage, 38-hour week, four weeks holiday, 10 personal leave days and unpaid maternity leave.
"Redundancy rights and severance pay have been largely eliminated, casual loadings have been significantly reduced, and part-time workers in particular have lost important hours provisions to allow for work-family balance," the report said.
Workers on non-union Collective Agreements fared the worst. The research found 80 per cent of such Agreements removed annual leave loadings, 76 per cent took away Saturday penalty rates, and 71 per cent stripped away Sunday penalty rates.
However, the 10 per cent of union-negotiated Collective Agreements in the retail and hospitality sectors provided working rights above the Howard Government's minimum standards.
National Secretary Charlie Donnelly said the study was more evidence of the need to remove the Howard Government and their IR laws.
"Here is another study showing the Howard Government's IR laws reduce the wages and conditions of working people. These laws have to go if employees are to be treated justly at work.
"Working families will soon have the chance to vote for a new IR system from a new Federal Government that will protect working peoples' rights, not just employers' profits."
To read the Age article by Michael Bachelard about the report, simply click on the following link:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/09/12/1189276809758.html
Last modified 2007-09-13 04:49 PM
