|
|
 |
|
|
| Home | Ask Neale | Calendar | Links |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
LABOR ATTACKS AWAsDate: 30 March 2001
Labor Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Arch Bevis, today stepped up Labor's attack on the Howard Government's Australian Workplace Agreements in a speech to the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association. "Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week shows very clearly that when you compare registered individual contracts (most of which are AWAs) with registered collective agreements (most of which are union agreements), non-managerial workers - that is most Australians - on AWAs are $55.10 per week worse off," Mr Bevis said. "This week Tony Abbott has tried to cloud the issue by including managers and senior executives employed in the Australian Public Service in the ABS figures he has quoted. Some of these Commonwealth Government executives on AWAs earn over $173,000 per year - this equates to more than $3,300 per week. "Including these high income employees skews the figures. Tony Abbott either doesn't understand this effect or he wants to deliberately overstate the average wages for employees on his failed AWAs. "The vast majority of Australians are not highly paid executives. They are non-managerial employees and the figures prove that they are hugely disadvantaged if they are on AWAs. "AWAs are being used to force wages down as the Howard government and its corporate mates engage in some sort of ridiculous race to the bottom for workers wage rates. "Labor will abolish AWAs and put in place appropriate transitional provisions. Employees who prefer an individual agreement will be able to use common law contracts as they always have - it is important to note that unlike AWAs that have scarcely been adopted, common law contracts are used by 38 per cent of the workforce. "I call on Tony Abbott to help lift wages for the Australia's working poor by joining Labor to abolish AWAs," said Mr Bevis. P0901
For further information
|
|
Privacy | Disclaimer | Sitemap |Feedback | Links |
|
© 1997-2002 LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW 10th Floor, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: (02) 9264 1691 Fax: (02) 9261 3505 http://www.labor.net.au/news/892.html Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 18:35:53 EST
LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed |
    |
