CHANGE THE RULES
Labor backs our push to Change the Rules The coming federal election is an opportunity to win fairer work arrangements and more secure jobs.
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he rules that control our workplaces and job conditions operate well for big business. Profits are booming and executive bonuses are at alltime highs. But for working people, the rules are broken. Company profits have grown more than five times faster than wages since the middle of 2016, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show. While wages struggle to keep pace with inflation, too many people are forced to depend on casual and insecure jobs. Years of legislative changes have stripped the union movement of the ability to effectively represent members and win bigger pay rises. The union movement’s Change the Rules campaign aims to give workers more rights to obtain secure jobs and fair pay rises. The Labor Party has backed important parts of the Change the Rules agenda. Labor says if it wins government at the next election it will stop employees being forced into casual work if the job is not genuinely casual.
18 | THE LAMP FEDERAL ELECTION 2019
‘ Part-time and casual jobs have increased as a proportion of the economy, along with the number of people who say they want to work more hours. Household income is lower in real terms than it was in 2011.’ — The Guardian Under a Labor government, if someone has worked regularly as a casual for over 12 months, they will get the right to convert to permanent work if they wish to do so. Opposition leader Bill Shorten says Labor will change the Fair Work Act so that employers must pay labour hire workers the same as direct employees. He says employers often use labour hire firms purely as a means to pay workers less, or to deprive them of conditions and security. “Our policy is based on a simple principle: if you are doing the same job, you should get the same pay,” he says. Many employers have been telling workers they must get an ABN and set up their own business to do what was once a permanent job.
Labor has committed to stop employers forcing people to get ABNs so they can be paid less than the legal minimum. It has also promised tougher action against employers who engage in “wage theft” – deliberately underpaying workers and refusing to pay mandatory superannuation. Bill Shorten says a Labor government will legislate to fine employers three times the amount they steal from their workers. The ACTU has welcomed the promise, saying wage theft is now so common that in some places it’s the business model. “There are business owners all over Australia getting rich by stealing from their staff and the current industrial laws make it far too easy,” says ACTU Secretary Sally McManus. ■