General

Australian Workplace Agreements

ACTU: Bring on ban on new AWA's

A ban on new Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) will begin to restore the rights of Australian workers taken away by the former Liberal Government's Work Choices IR laws say unions.

The law to ban new AWAs is part of the first stage of the Rudd Government's bid to overturn Work Choices and should be enacted as soon as possible now that the Bill has passed the Senate late Tuesday night.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:

"For more than ten years the Liberals and Nationals used AWAs to attack workers' rights and drive down their pay and conditions.

"The Senate Report into the Rudd Government's Bill to ban new AWAs that was tabled this week confirmed that thousands of Australian workers lost pay and conditions under Work Choices AWAs.

"It showed that workers suffered big cuts to their take home pay through the loss of public holiday pay, annual leave loading, shift allowances, overtime pay, penalty rates and other job conditions.

"Recently released official figures show:

· Nine in ten workers (89%) lost at least one formerly protected award condition under Work Choices AWAs.

· Three quarters of AWAs (75%) did not provide workers a guaranteed wage increase over the life of the agreement, some for up to five years.

· Almost one in three workers (31%) that were put onto AWAs lost their rest break entitlements.

· AWAs led to a wider pay gap between male and female workers.

· AWAs were inherently inefficient for businesses and provided no flexibility for employees.

"It is important that the legislation is enacted before Easter and new AWAs are banned now the Coalition's control of the Senate is no longer an obstacle," said Ms Burrow.

© 2001 Community & Public Sector Union - State Public Services Federation (CPSU-SPSF) - National Office

http://www.cpsu-spsf.asn.au/latest_news/general/20080319_work.html
Last Modified: 19 Mar 2008