REITH SUPPORTS PATTERN BARGAIN

Date: 01 June 2000

PATTERN BARGAINING IS OK FOR EMPLOYERS, BUT NOT FOR WORKERS

The Australian Services Union today accused the Federal Government of being complete hypocrites.

Union National coordinator Colin Lynch said today,

"Right now there is legislation before the Senate which, if its passed, will be used to stop Union members helping each other to get a fair go and have some say in their industry. The Government is saying that this "pattern bargaining" is some kind of retrograde behaviour and has to be stamped out. "

Yet while Peter Reith carries on about Unions and the evils of pattern bargaining on the one hand, at the very same time Reith's department is out there promoting pattern bargaining in the call centre industry."

"The Federal Government's very own Office of the Employment Advocate and a major call centre employer organisation, the ATA*, have developed a standard individual contract (Australian Workplace Agreement) which they are pushing call centre employers to adopt."

"It's pattern bargaining, pure and simple said Mr Lynch, " It's just that when the Government and employers engage in pattern bargaining it is apparently OK. It's OK because this kind of pattern bargaining enables call centre employers to force low wages and conditions onto their workers".

"But pattern bargaining isn't OK when workers try to get a fair go at work. In the Government's eyes pattern bargaining has to be stamped out for workers because it is through pattern bargaining that we won things like maternity leave, annual leave and paid sick leave." What makes this case all the more objectionable is that workers have not even been allowed access to this document, it is for employers eyes only. So much for the Minister's claim that the role of the OEA is to assist employers and employees to reach mutually beneficial working arrangements. The OEA and employers are deliberately keeping workers in the dark.

This is all the more of concern, given that we already have evidence that many workers in this industry do not enjoy high job security, or fair conditions necessary for a good quality of working life. Some of the AWAs we have seen introduced to this industry in recent times are giving workers sub standard conditions, and adding to producing high stress workplaces.

"Call Centre workers don't need the hypocrites in the Federal Government forcing sub standard workplace agreements on them. They don't need the Federal Government pushing laws to stop workers from having decent wages and working conditions and a high quality of working life".

*ATA Australian Teleservices Association

For further information

Contact:	Colin Lynch
Union:	Labor Council of NSW
Phone:	029 319 3211
Fax:	029 699 2642
Email:	clynch@syd.asu.asn.au
WWW:	http://www.asuservices.labor.net.au

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