Trade union campaigns to reduce working hours and limit casual employment threaten to destroy jobs for low-skilled and low-paid workers, according to the Centre for Independent Studies
TRADE UNION campaigns to reduce working hours and limit casual employment threaten to destroy jobs for low-skilled and low-paid workers, according to the Centre for Independent Studies.
“The unions are, in the name of shielding workers from the allegedly adverse effects of long hours, closing off opportunities for individuals to make their own decisions about their own working lives according to their own needs and preferences,” said policy analyst Kayoko Tsumori in her report How union campaigns on hours and casuals are threatening low-skilled jobs.
Unions claim that their campaign to limit working hours by law would boost employment by redistributing work to underemployed. But this campaign will undermine rather than improve workers’ wellbeing and destroy job opportunities, Tsumori says.
“Shorter working hours would erode low-paid workers’ income by reducing their overtime earnings and destroying their jobs.
“Whatever jobs are generated by capping hours would elude many of the low-skilled unemployed. Although a cap may generate additional high skilled jobs, there would not be enough underemployed workers to fill them.”
The ACTU has stated casual employees suffer “greater insecurity” and “economic stress” due to casual working conditions, in its bid to secure permanent employment status for casual workers after six months.
In her argument, Tsumori cites surveys that show that many casual employees are satisfied with their jobs, and choose to work casually to reap benefits such as flexible working hours and casual loading.
“Introducing a one-size-fits-all approach would adversely affect the majority who are currently satisfied with their hours or casual employment arrangements,” she said.
However Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show profits and productivity in the main industry sectors employing minimum wage workers have greatly outstripped wage increases, according to the ACTU.
The increase in profit for retail trade for 2002-03 was 21.7 per cent, with the greatest increase in the accommodation, cafe and restaurant sector (12.7 per cent). In each case this substantially exceeds the average increase for all industries, said ACTU Secretary Greg Combet.
“In these industry sectors where minimum wage workers are concentrated, all the indicators of economic health are rosy,” he said.
“Industry output and employment have outstripped the all industry averages. The increase in productivity has outpaced the increase in real wages.
“The hard work put in by employees in these industries has paid off in healthy profits and now it’s time to pass a fair share on. These workers have earned it.”
