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Australia: Damning report on IR laws’ impact on wages and conditions
A report released last month on the Australian federal government’s regressive WorkChoices laws shows why millions of workers are deeply concerned about the implications for their jobs and working conditions.
Professor David Peetz’s detailed examination of the available statistical data points to deteriorating wages and working conditions, giving the lie to Prime Minister John Howard’s claims that the industrial relations (IR) legislation would provide more jobs and higher pay.
Professor David Peetz’s detailed examination of the available statistical data points to deteriorating wages and working conditions, giving the lie to Prime Minister John Howard’s claims that the industrial relations (IR) legislation would provide more jobs and higher pay.
Given the impact of the laws on working people, one might have expected the issue to be widely discussed in the NSW state election. But the Labor government and Liberal opposition have had little to say. Premier Morris Iemma has avoided the issue, focussing instead on “ensuring NSW is the most ‘business-friendly state’.” His website policy section contains no statement on industrial relations.
Labor is relying instead on a trade union campaign, highlighting Liberal opposition plans to hand all the state’s industrial relations powers to Canberra. Many public sector workers are justifiably concerned that they too will fall within the ambit of the WorkChoices legislation, which abolishes protection against unfair dismissal and other basic conditions.
But the claim that Labor will protect workers’ rights is completely dishonest. For all their posturing and expensive advertisements, Labor and the unions have blocked any genuine fight by workers, and therefore are responsible for allowing the legislation to be implemented.
Professor Peetz’s report, entitled “Brave New WorkChoices: What is the story so far,” establishes what is at stake for working people. Using data from a range of sources, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and private surveys, his research demonstrates that wages and working conditions have declined since WorkChoices began last March. It also makes clear that WorkChoices has not led to a growth in jobs.
Peetz uses the results of an ABS average weekly earnings survey, showing that, in the six months to August 2006, “average weekly ordinary-time earnings (AWOTE) for full-time adult employees, in real terms, fell by 1.1 percent”. Average weekly total earnings (AWTE) fell by a similar amount. Another statistical indicator, the labour price index, “showed a real decline of 0.6 percent in hourly earnings excluding bonuses in the six months to September quarter 2006.”
The research demonstrates that low-paid workers in industries such as retailing and hospitality have been hit hardest. “In the two quarters since WorkChoices took effect, hourly earnings growth in these industries (at 1.0 percent and 0.7 percent respectively) were 47 percent and 61 percent lower than the all-industry average. On average since 1997 hourly earnings growth in these two industries has been 17 to 19 percent lower than earnings growth across all industries.”
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/indr-m08.shtml
Labor is relying instead on a trade union campaign, highlighting Liberal opposition plans to hand all the state’s industrial relations powers to Canberra. Many public sector workers are justifiably concerned that they too will fall within the ambit of the WorkChoices legislation, which abolishes protection against unfair dismissal and other basic conditions.
But the claim that Labor will protect workers’ rights is completely dishonest. For all their posturing and expensive advertisements, Labor and the unions have blocked any genuine fight by workers, and therefore are responsible for allowing the legislation to be implemented.
Professor Peetz’s report, entitled “Brave New WorkChoices: What is the story so far,” establishes what is at stake for working people. Using data from a range of sources, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and private surveys, his research demonstrates that wages and working conditions have declined since WorkChoices began last March. It also makes clear that WorkChoices has not led to a growth in jobs.
Peetz uses the results of an ABS average weekly earnings survey, showing that, in the six months to August 2006, “average weekly ordinary-time earnings (AWOTE) for full-time adult employees, in real terms, fell by 1.1 percent”. Average weekly total earnings (AWTE) fell by a similar amount. Another statistical indicator, the labour price index, “showed a real decline of 0.6 percent in hourly earnings excluding bonuses in the six months to September quarter 2006.”
The research demonstrates that low-paid workers in industries such as retailing and hospitality have been hit hardest. “In the two quarters since WorkChoices took effect, hourly earnings growth in these industries (at 1.0 percent and 0.7 percent respectively) were 47 percent and 61 percent lower than the all-industry average. On average since 1997 hourly earnings growth in these two industries has been 17 to 19 percent lower than earnings growth across all industries.”
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/indr-m08.shtml
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