Building Workers ‘More Productive Than Most’

Dozens of standard conditions in building industry workplace agreements – including the employment of apprentices and guaranteed public holidays – could be axed under the Abbott Government’s new construction code, unions have warned.

The fate of the new national building and construction code will rest with a handful of independent Senators in coming weeks. It will take effect if legislation to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission is passed by the Senate.

The code will effectively provide the guidelines and rules that the ABCC will enforce if it is resurrected. This reflects the way the ABCC operated from when it was established by the Howard Government until it was dismantled by the Gillard government in 2012.

In the lead up to a vote on the ABCC, possibly next month, the Electrical Trades Union’s Victorian branch is heading a new public awareness campaign about the impact the code would have on more than a million workers and their families.

The ETU says employment conditions which could be prohibited by the new code include clauses that:

• Prevent unlimited ordinary hours being worked per day.
• Guarantee time off on public holidays.
• Encourage the employment of apprentices and mature workers.
• Include agreed stable and secure shift arrangements and rostered days off.

Economic argument debunked

Research commissioned by the union also debunks an economic argument for the new code.

A technical brief by The Australia Institute, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, shows that productivity in the construction sector has matched or exceeded the broader economy for the past 20 years.

Since 2007-8, while the market sector as a whole registered an average annual increase in labour productivity of 3.52%, the average for construction has been 4.81%, up to 6.38% for building.

In 2012-13, the value added per worker by the construction sector was $96,838, compared to an economy-wide average of $94,052.