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Winter 2006

Spotlight’s Two Cents Worth

Prime Minister John Howard’s comments in Federal Parliament have given a green-light to employers to use the Government’s AWA individual contracts to cut back the wages and conditions of Australian working families.

Retail giant Spotlight has used the new industrial relations laws to offer individual contracts to all new workers that remove penalty rates and overtime, and undercut workers pay up to $90 a week. The AWA also removes paid rest breaks, breaks between shifts, maximum and minimum shift lengths, and a cap on the number of consecutive days worked.

In Parliament, Mr. Howard dismissed concerns about the workers' wages:

"At the end of the day the test of workplace relations laws is the contribution they make to the general health of the economy. If workplace relations laws strengthen the economy, they generate more jobs."

ACTU policy officer George Wright responded, "the Government, through Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews has been on record saying that the new workplace laws cannot be used to force down wages and conditions."

Yet, the Spotlight example where workers will lose up to $90 a week and other conditions is proof that the Government's laws have allowed employers to drive down wages and conditions. The Prime Minister's support for Spotlight send a clear message to employers and working families -- this Government is on the side of employers and profits, regardless of the costs to working families.

With increasing petrol prices, rising costs and interest rates moving up, the last thing Australian working families can afford is a $90 a week pay cut. Workers in the retail industry are not on high wages. That these people can have their wages forced down, while the Government sits back and applauds shows how out of touch the Prime Minister and his Government are with ordinary Australians.

The Government has now admitted that their legislation can be used to force down wages and conditions. If a national retailer like Spotlight can get Federal Government support for using the new IR laws to undercut present wages then we fear other large companies will follow.

Source: ACTU