Workers better off under Collective Agreements
Monday July 16, 2007
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National Secretary Charlie Donnelly
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New research shows a typical worker on a Collective Agreement earns 16 per cent more than an employee on an Individual Contract.
The research - by IR Professors David Peetz and Alison Preston - was commissioned by Industrial Relations Victoria.
Across Australia, Individual Contract earnings in 2006 were $20.50 per hour. This was four dollars an hour lower than earnings for employees on Collective Agreements, or 16.3 per cent.
The figures are based on median earnings - that is, the earning level where half the workforce earns more and half earns less.
Nationally, the difference is even greater for female employees. Female workers on Collective Agreements earn close to 20 per cent more than female workers on Individual Contracts.
Meanwhile, median wages for Collective Agreement workers grew two percentage points more than the median wages of workers on Individual Contracts between 2004 and 2006.
In Victoria workers on Collective Agreements earn $24.40 an hour, compared to $19.90 on Individual Contracts. This represents a difference of 23 per cent between the two groups of employees.
NUW National Secretary Charlie Donnelly said the figures were further evidence that Collective Bargaining provided higher wages for working people.
"This research - based on figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics - proves once again that workers who bargain collectively are better off.
"There is a 16 per cent difference between the hourly wages of workers covered by a Collective Agreement compared to an Individual Contract.
"This is a huge sum; the difference between families who can make ends meet and ones that struggle to keep their heads above water.
"The Federal Government has spent the last two years, and millions in taxpayer dollars, telling workers that their Individual Contracts provide higher wages.
"This report is yet more evidence that their claims are simply false. Their laws do not help workers when compared to the outcomes employees receive under Collective Agreements.
"It also shows why the vast majority of Australians want workers to have the right to Collectively Bargain with their employer.
"The only way workers will receive this right - and gurantee good wages and conditions for they and their children into the future - is to vote for a new Federal Government that will introduce a new IR system during this year's Federal Election."
Last modified 2007-07-16 02:55 PM
