Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.

Car Plant Workers Face Impactsof New IR Laws

Workers at a Melbourne car parts manufacturer face significant wage cuts in a case that reveals the real impact of the Howard Government’s WorkChoices legislation.
Dana Australia, located in Clayton, is attempting to force 350 workers onto AWA’s, taking a 5% pay cut in the process. Under the conditions any new workers will be paid 20% less than current wages.
The workers face losing entitlements such as rostered days off (RDO’s), cuts to redundancy payments, longer waits for long-service leave and reduced injury pay.
Unions say the employer’s actions are an indication of what’s to come under the Howard Government’s new industrial relations laws. This comes despite $55 million dollars worth of assurances that no worker would be worse off under the laws.
The government consistently accused unions of running a scare campaign for warning workers that pay and leave provisions would be threatened by the laws. Now the union position has been shown to be true.
The WorkChoices Bill is expected to come into power in March after being passed by Parliament last year.


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