United Voice News
Work Choices zombie is alive! $13,000 pay cut for TAFE guards
Security officers at TAFE campuses across Melbourne are facing pay cuts of up to $12,730 a year after an incoming contractor with an old, unfair WorkChoices-era agreement won the contract.
The election-eve revelations have put renewed focus on the savage cuts in workers’ wages and conditions under the Liberals and why Tony Abbott can’t be trusted on IR.
Fourteen guards, some who’ve worked at Kangan Institute for ten years or more, must accept a pay cut with the new contractor, BRI Security, or find another job.
“Tony Abbott wants everyone to forget about Work Choices and his passionate support for these harsh and brutal policies,” said Jess Walsh, Victorian Secretary of LHMU, the security union.
“But these guards cannot forget: their choice is to cop a $13,000 pay cut or find another job, thanks to the policies of Tony Abbott and his hero John Howard.”
“This week a key IR academic revealed that an Abbott government could easily cut wages and conditions, and remove unfair dismissal protections, without changing the law, simply by amending the regulations.”
“This is another reminder of why Mr Abbott cannot be trusted on IR.”
“This pay cut will have a devastating impact on guards and their families. We are urgently appealing to Kangan Institute to protect the jobs and current pay rate of their loyal and dedicated guards.”
While Mr Abbott has said he won’t amend Labor’s Fair Work Act in his first term, key IR academic Prof Andrew Stewart, who advised the government on the drafting and structure of the laws, told Monday’s Australian he could "comfortably make radical change" without changing the laws.
Adelaide University’s Professor Stewart said this would allow workers to surrender penalty rates and overtime payments. Mr Abbott could also remove the requirement that a company have an objective, valid reason for sacking a worker.
BRI rammed through its unfair WorkChoices-era agreement in 2007, in the dying days of the Howard government, when it reportedly had just ten workers in Victoria.
Rapid growth as a cut-price contractor has seen its workforce increase to 300, who are all stuck on this agreement until 2012 when it expires.
Guards working a rotating shift will see their wages fall from $972 per week to $727.19 with BRI while those on non-rotating shifts face an even bigger wage cut.
The agreement strips away key Award entitlements including penalty rates and allowances. It also breaches National Employment Standards for redundancy pay.
Kangan Institute has campuses at Broadmeadows, Coburg, Essendon, Melbourne CBD, Moreland, Richmond, Craigieburn and Docklands.
