The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) continues to ramp up its strategic attack on the use of labour hire and casual employment arrangements in the resources sector, with a seven-day strike taking place this week at Wollongong Coal-owned Wongawilli Colliery on the New South Wales Central Coast.
As reported by The Australian and Illawarra Mercury newspapers, and shared via the union’s social media pages, the strike which is likely to enter a second week, is aimed at pressuring labour hire firm CAS Mine Services to bring the pay of around 100 coal miners into line with union members employed in nearby mines.
In reply, CAS told Australian reporter Ewin Hannan that the company paid rates similar to comparable labour-hire firms, and the union’s 10 per cent pay-rise claim at Wongawilli would send the business broke. A representative also told Illawarra Mercury the company believed it was “caught up in a national political agenda”.
Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer said industrial action should be taken only as a last resort, and encouraged the CFMEU and CAS to return to the bargaining table. The Minister also defended the use of labour hire and casual employees.
“Labour hire is a legitimate and useful way for employers to access a flexible workforce and is used across the entire economy covering skilled and unskilled work,” her spokesman told The Australian last week.
“Labour-hire employers, like any other form of employer, have an obligation to comply with all their obligations under the law and provide workers with all of their legal entitlements.”
This dispute is an early reminder that, after escalating in 2018, labour hire arrangements will remain a hotly contested political battleground in 2019.
In response to the Federal Court’s controversial full court ruling in the Workpac v Skene case, in December the Australian Government sought to clarify the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees in relation to the application of Australia’s workplace laws regarding casual employment.
AREEA welcomed the proposed new regulation which clarified that if a loading had been paid to casual employees in lieu of entitlements afforded to permanent employees, such as annual leave and redundancy, it may potentially be offset against any subsequent claim to be paid those entitlements.
“Had (the Skene interpretation) been allowed to stand, many SMEs and big businesses alike would’ve been crippled, not to mention the fallout which would have resulted in administrators being appointed and the significant drain on the Federal Government’s Fair Entitlements Scheme,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott said.
However also in December, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten confirmed that an elected ALP Government would introduce legislation enforcing pay parity between labour hire employees and direct-hired employees in Australian workplaces.
“We are going to crack down on the overuse and abuse of labour hire casuals. Because it’s pretty simple really: if you wear the same uniform, in the same workplace, perform the same tasks at the same classification, you deserve the same wages and conditions,” the Opposition Leader said in his address to the 2018 ALP National Conference.
“So we’ll make law, if we’re elected, if you do the same job, you get the same pay. Same job, same pay.”
AREEA has often publicly highlighted that labour hire is a very small part of the resources and energy workforce. According to the ABS, 96.5% of the resources and energy workforce is full-time, while less than 1% of the nation’s casual workforce comes from the industry.
“Nonetheless these arrangements are essential for engaging skilled workers for short-term or contract work, particularly in the more cyclical, project-based areas of our industry,” Mr Knott said.
“On major resources and energy projects, a reliable source of contract labour contributes to the efficiency and success of projects, which ultimately deliver great benefits to the Australian economy.
“Having a wide range of engagement models available to employers and employees is increasingly important in the modern economy, where people demand more flexibility in how, when and where they work.
“It’s clear that the true intention of the ALP’s policy is not ‘same job, same pay’, but to shut down labour hire arrangements at the behest of the ACTU.”
Research released by AREEA late last year shows Australians engaged in part-time, casual or contracting arrangements consider them broadly satisfactory.
The report, A New Horizon – Guiding Principles for the Future of Work, explored how flexible and innovative new models of employment will become more important as broad demographic trends flow through the developed world.
To discuss the use of labour hire, contracting and casual employment in the resources and energy supply chain, or any other themes explored in this article, contact [email protected].
