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Issue No. 290 | 18 November 2005 |
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The Long March
Interview: Public Defender Legal: Craig's Story Unions: Wrong Way, Go Back Industrial: WhatChoice? Politics: Queue Jumping History: Iron Heel Economics: Waging War International: Under Pressure Poetry: Billy Negotiates An AWA Review: A Pertinent Proposition
The Soapbox The Locker Room Culture Parliament
 Driven to despairWhat lucky countrySwimming with SharksSave Our Culture
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News Bread Winner on $9 an Hour
The 36-year-old mature age electrical apprentice had been working with a Wagga-based national enterprise when his supervising tradesman quit. His replacement was based in Leeton, 120 kilometres away. The apprentice, who does not want to be identified because he is worried about future employment opportunities, was given the option of making the two-hour trip or camping out in accommodation that Electrical Trades Union organiser Matt McCann says, "you wouldn't put a pig in". The ETU advised the apprentice that he was entitled to travel in the company's time or be paid for excess travel time. When the apprentice raised this with his supervisor he was told that if he didn't like it he could camp in rundown company huts or leave. The hut option would have seen him spending three to four nights a week away from his family in conditions McCann described as "filthy and disgusting". The wage rate was another cause for concern, with the ETU concerned it could deteriorate further, given the push to enable the 'fair pay commission' set apprentice rates. The mature aged apprentice started on a first year wage of $6.80, the award minimum. "Most employers will pay mature aged apprentices on trades assistant rates,' says McCann. "Under the new laws those travelling allowances and arrangements he is currently entitled to would be a thing of the past." A Wagga father of three is being forced to travel 240 kilometres to work for $8.90 an hour. The 36-year-old mature age electrical apprentice had been working with a Wagga-based national enterprise when his supervising tradesman quit. His replacement was based in Leeton, 120 kilometres away. The apprentice, who does not want to be identified because he is worried about future employment opportunities, was given the option of making the two-hour trip or camping out in accommodation that Electrical Trades Union organiser Matt McCann says, "you wouldn't put a pig in". The ETU advised the apprentice that he was entitled to travel in the company's time or be paid for excess travel time. When the apprentice raised this with his supervisor he was told that if he didn't like it he could camp in rundown company huts or leave. The hut option would have seen him spending three to four nights a week away from his family in conditions McCann described as "filthy and disgusting". The wage rate was another cause for concern, with the ETU concerned it could deteriorate further, given the push to enable the 'fair pay commission' set apprentice rates. The mature aged apprentice started on a first year wage of $6.80, the award minimum. "Most employers will pay mature aged apprentices on trades assistant rates,' says McCann. "Under the new laws those travelling allowances and arrangements he is currently entitled to would be a thing of the past."
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