‘Un-Australian’: Master Builders slams Labor’s IR reforms - Sky News Australia

The head of Master Builders has slammed the Albanese government’s plans to introduce “Same Job, Same Pay” laws, branding them “Un-Australian”.

The Same Job Same Pay laws are set to the centerpiece of a second round of industrial relations reforms to be introduced into federal parliament later this year.

But a coalition of business, farming, and mining groups have already launched a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign attacking the proposal.

Speaking to Sky News Australia, acting CEO of Master Builders Australia Shaun Schmitke said Same Job, Same Pay is an attack on “basic Australian values”.

“Workplace laws in Australia have always fundamentally been about creating a minimum safety net…  but then allowing people the freedom to negotiate up to have arrangements that suit particular employment relationships, and to get paid and recognized for the work that they're doing and experience that they have," he said.

“The (current) laws are all about allowing people to get up and have a go, and have a fair crack, and to basically put in a hard day's work and be rewarded for your effort.

“(They) have always fundamentally been about creating a minimum safety net… but then allowing people the freedom to negotiate up to have arrangements that suit particular employment relationships, and to get paid and recognized for the work that they're doing and experience that they have.

“This policy is completely inconsistent with all of those long held concepts that underpin our workplace relations system.

“I mean, this is a pretty Un-Australian approach and it really does go to undermine a lot of the things I think most Australian workers hold dear.”

Mr Schmitke said that that Same Job, Same Pay is “an attack on both” of the employment market.

“It's an attack on experienced workers. It's an attack on workers right to say, I'm worth more than the guy next to me or the girl next to me, I deserve to be paid more. It's going to stop that,” he said.

“And at the same time, it's going to make it harder for young people coming into the industry.”

The Master Builders acting CEO the proposal would caused particular problems in the building and construction industry.

“We have very, very well paid jobs. We've got one of the highest rates of full-time employment of any industry sector in the country, and one of our biggest problems, aside from a tight labour market, is the future skills needs for our industry,” he said.

“We're going to need at least 400,000 more people in our industry over the next five years. And a policy like this is simply going to make it harder to fill those needs.

“And of course, all of this combines to drive up the cost of construction, introduce uncertainty into the building and construction industry, which couldn't come at a worst possible time.”

Master Builders Australia signed on to the “A Better Way, for Better Pay” campaign alongside the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, the Minerals Council of Australia, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, the National Farmers Federation, and the Recruitment, Consulting and Staffing Association.

The group’s first TV ad – which has already started airing – explains that Same Job, Same Pay “doesn't mean equal pay for men and women.”

“It means by law, employers will have to pay workers with little knowledge or experience exactly the same as workers with a lot of knowledge and experience,” the ad claims.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers defended the proposal on Monday, arguing it “isn’t about stopping businesses rewarding experience”.

“It’s about making sure that workers are eligible for the pay and conditions that the employers have agreed with their workforces,” he told Radio National.

“It’s about closing loopholes to make sure that labour hire, for example, or casual workers or gig workers are used in the way that they’re intended.”

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2023-06-05 19:05:06Z
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