THE AGE http://www.theage.com.au/daily/990618/news/news17.html Unions reject IRC junior wage call By PAUL ROBINSON and ANDREA CARSON Australia's building and manufacturing unions have threatened strike action if the Federal Government tries to introduce junior pay rates in their industries. The warning follows the release of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission's provisional report on youth wages, which has backed the move to keep junior wages. It found alternatives to junior rates were too complex to administer and would contribute further to youth unemployment. The report strengthens the Government's case to retain junior rates after the Senate in March rejected a bill that would have entrenched them. It puts renewed pressure on the Australian Democrats, who agreed to extend junior rates until June 2000 on the condition that the commission held this inquiry. The commission, which delivered its final report to the Government yesterday, suggested that youth rates could be broadened to the building and manufacturing sectors. In its provisional report, obtained by The Age, the commission said ``... it is possible that an expanded application of junior rates in the building and construction industry could result in expanded opportunities for youth employment, perhaps at the expense of some adult employment''. The national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Mr Doug Cameron, said the industry already had a sophisticated skill-based structure. ``Any attempt to move us back to a low-wage approach based on youth rates will be resisted all the way.'' Victoria's building unions convenor, Mr Brian Boyd, said the move was provocative when building unions were preparing to negotiate new enterprise agreements. ``This is just another hand grenade being thrown by (the Minister for Workplace Relations) Mr Reith,'' he said. Evidence submitted to the inquiry showed the number of apprenticeships had decreased by 30 per cent in the past decade. It suggested junior wages could act as a form of affirmative action to offset this trend. Mr Boyd said the decline in building industry apprenticeships had been caused by the privatisation of the gas and electricity industries. New industry agreements would contain apprenticeship quotas to increase employment. The chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, Mr Bob Herbert, condemned strike calls, saying there was a strong case for the continuation of youth rates in manufacturing industry for unskilled work. The Democrats' industrial relations spokesman, Senator Andrew Murray, said: ``Blanket exemption of junior rates only finishes in June 2000, so there is no urgency for us to comment on the draft report.'' ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
