October 1, 2024
New Same Job Same Pay laws are set to deliver long-overdue pay increases to labour hire workers across Australia. However, the Liberal National Party (LNP) has made it clear that these gains are under threat if they come to power.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton recently proclaimed to mining companies that he will be the ‘best friend you’ve ever had’. Soon after, Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume went on national television and said that that the Liberal Nationals would ‘review’ Same Job Same Pay if elected.
We’re not surprised that the Liberal Nationals are kowtowing to the mining lobby. After all, the Minerals Council haven’t stopped bellyaching ever since new laws passed to close the loopholes allowing them to reduce their wages bill.
You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to connect the dots. The Liberal Nationals have put workers’ rights on the chopping block, and they’ve handed the axe to the Minerals Council with a red bow wrapped around the handle. Mind you, it’s not just Same Job Same Pay they’re coming for. The Liberal Nationals are targeting other critical worker protections, including a fair definition of casual work, streamlined processes for casuals to convert to permanent jobs and limiting the use of rolling fixed-term contracts.
Prime Minister Albanese responded to the mining lobby with the very reasonable point that Australian mining companies don’t need to cut wages or corners to be successful. After all, who wants to tell workers during a cost-of-living crisis that they shouldn’t try to improve their wages? The Liberal Nationals and the Minerals Council apparently.
The reality is that the new laws are already making a difference for workers. For instance, Danielle, a truck driver at Mount Pleasant coal mine in the Hunter Valley, saw her pay rise by $33,000 after Thiess opted to offer direct employment to labour hire workers from Programmed. This change was a direct result of the union’s Same Job Same Pay application to the Fair Work Commission.
As these new laws settle in, even companies have come on board. Recently Boggabri Coal and One Key announced that they would not contest the MEU application for Same Job Same Pay at Boggabri mine in the Gunnedah Basin. The was shortly followed by Stanmore and Workpac who also announced they would not contest our application for Same Job Same Pay at Poitrel mine in Central Queensland.
Even Qantas, one of the most notorious offenders of the labour hire loopholes said that they would support the Flight Attendants Association’s application for Same Job Same Pay for short-haul cabin crews in the Fair Work Commission.
Qantas and BHP have been the biggest corporate drivers of this employment model in Australia. With Qantas accepting the jig is up, the mining lobby is the last holdout.
As for Tania Constable’s statement that the new workplace reforms are bringing conflict to every workplace, this is simply not true. There are more workers reaching agreement with their employers through enterprise bargaining than before. Additionally, last month’s figures from the Australia Bureau of Statistics shows employment figures have remained steady.
It is unfortunate that the Liberal Nationals are insisting on bringing back a toxic and divisive model designed purely to circumvent enterprise agreements and cut wages.
The likes of BHP and Qantas have greatly benefitted from this model for years but the ‘good times’ of wage cutting, and labour hire loopholes has passed.
The overhead lights have come on, the last balloon bobbing in the ceiling corner has drifted to the floor and the host has gone to bed. The party is over.
Tony Maher is the General President of the Mining and Energy Union