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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/22/justice-for-chicken-boners-to-office-cleaners-this-is-why-unions-are-being-attacked
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| From poultry workers to office cleaners, unions are being attacked for sticking up for workers' rights | From poultry workers to office cleaners, unions are being attacked for sticking up for workers' rights |
| (about 21 hours later) | |
| Pedro Vannea is a Cambodian migrant. He has been employed by food processing company Royal Bay International since 2007, in the unglamorous role of a poultry boner. When he started working there, his english skills were poor and his knowledge of workplace laws in Australia, unsurprisingly, even poorer. | Pedro Vannea is a Cambodian migrant. He has been employed by food processing company Royal Bay International since 2007, in the unglamorous role of a poultry boner. When he started working there, his english skills were poor and his knowledge of workplace laws in Australia, unsurprisingly, even poorer. |
| At the commencement of his employment for Royal Bay, he was referred to an accountant and duly found himself set up as a business called “Pedro Vannea Pty Ltd”, the idea being that he would now work as an independent contractor on the site. | At the commencement of his employment for Royal Bay, he was referred to an accountant and duly found himself set up as a business called “Pedro Vannea Pty Ltd”, the idea being that he would now work as an independent contractor on the site. |
| Vannea, it goes without saying, did not fully understand the implications of this arrangement. By being sub-contracted in this way, Vannea forwent all the entitlements regular employees receive – penalty rates, holidays, superannuation, sick leave. He was not even guaranteed a minimum hourly wage, receiving instead pay based on the number of chickens he could bone on a shift. He was employed like this for six years – with a take home pay averaging around $450 a week, far beneath minimum wage –and was also personally obligated to pay the government GST on his meagre income and manage his own tax affairs. | Vannea, it goes without saying, did not fully understand the implications of this arrangement. By being sub-contracted in this way, Vannea forwent all the entitlements regular employees receive – penalty rates, holidays, superannuation, sick leave. He was not even guaranteed a minimum hourly wage, receiving instead pay based on the number of chickens he could bone on a shift. He was employed like this for six years – with a take home pay averaging around $450 a week, far beneath minimum wage –and was also personally obligated to pay the government GST on his meagre income and manage his own tax affairs. |
| In December last year, Vannea was dismissed by Royal Bay International for missing two Saturday work shifts, when late notice made it impossible for him to get to work. By this stage, however, Vannea had signed up as a union member, and the union represented him in an unfair dismissal hearing before the Fair Work Commission. | In December last year, Vannea was dismissed by Royal Bay International for missing two Saturday work shifts, when late notice made it impossible for him to get to work. By this stage, however, Vannea had signed up as a union member, and the union represented him in an unfair dismissal hearing before the Fair Work Commission. |
| It was through this process that the National Union of Workers (NUW) found out about how he had been contracted, and made a successful application for the contract to be shredded and his true employment status to be recognised. Vannea was reinstated, now with full pay and all the benefits owing to him as a regular employee. | It was through this process that the National Union of Workers (NUW) found out about how he had been contracted, and made a successful application for the contract to be shredded and his true employment status to be recognised. Vannea was reinstated, now with full pay and all the benefits owing to him as a regular employee. |
| While the NUW have been fighting for the rights of chicken boners, the United Voice union has been pursuing an activist campaign to highlight the appalling employment conditions of many workers in the cleaning industry. | While the NUW have been fighting for the rights of chicken boners, the United Voice union has been pursuing an activist campaign to highlight the appalling employment conditions of many workers in the cleaning industry. |
| This is, too, an industry low in glamour and high in exploitation. There are about 1,500 city office cleaners in the city of Melbourne – a mix of international students from Latin America and the subcontinent as well as an an older workforce derived from migrant communities as diverse as the Philippines, Greece, Macedonia and Eastern Europe. It’s estimated that at least 90% of the cleaning community don’t have English as a first language. | This is, too, an industry low in glamour and high in exploitation. There are about 1,500 city office cleaners in the city of Melbourne – a mix of international students from Latin America and the subcontinent as well as an an older workforce derived from migrant communities as diverse as the Philippines, Greece, Macedonia and Eastern Europe. It’s estimated that at least 90% of the cleaning community don’t have English as a first language. |
| It’s deeply insecure work, as cleaning contracts can be as short-term as a month by month basis - and the work is among some of the lowest paid employment in the country. A seven year campaign by United Voice to demand job security and a living wage has led to the establishment of a new industry-wide Clean Start agreement signed by 52 of the top cleaning companies to provide job security and a 25% pay rise above the award. | It’s deeply insecure work, as cleaning contracts can be as short-term as a month by month basis - and the work is among some of the lowest paid employment in the country. A seven year campaign by United Voice to demand job security and a living wage has led to the establishment of a new industry-wide Clean Start agreement signed by 52 of the top cleaning companies to provide job security and a 25% pay rise above the award. |
| However, some of those companies have been sidestepping the agreement by employing sub-contractors with a particular fondness for employing international students as independent contractors through their ABN numbers. This means they’re paid around a flat rate of $15/16 an hour, again without workcover, sick pay or any other basic entitlements. | However, some of those companies have been sidestepping the agreement by employing sub-contractors with a particular fondness for employing international students as independent contractors through their ABN numbers. This means they’re paid around a flat rate of $15/16 an hour, again without workcover, sick pay or any other basic entitlements. |
| The union has therefore focused on building up the leadership skills of these workers on cleaning sites, like Lina Martinez, a Colombian international student working in Melbourne for the Glad Group. She was distressed to discover fellow international students working beside her were being paid $8 less an hour than she was, because they were employed as contractors while her better work conditions were covered by the union’s Clean Start agreement. | |
| A United Voice member, the appalled Martinez signed up her workmates to the union and led an activist campaign of demonstrations and media exposure against the company until her workmates were employed with the same pay and conditions as she had. The Clean Start campaign has now moved on to Melbourne’s biggest office cleaning contractor, Consolidated Property Services, who have refused to sign the union agreement. This week, cleaners walked off the job for a second time. | A United Voice member, the appalled Martinez signed up her workmates to the union and led an activist campaign of demonstrations and media exposure against the company until her workmates were employed with the same pay and conditions as she had. The Clean Start campaign has now moved on to Melbourne’s biggest office cleaning contractor, Consolidated Property Services, who have refused to sign the union agreement. This week, cleaners walked off the job for a second time. |
| All campaigns are, of course, ongoing – as one workplace wins their rights, another is forced to organised to defend them. | All campaigns are, of course, ongoing – as one workplace wins their rights, another is forced to organised to defend them. |
| As I write this, the Australian Education Union is on strike, with 1,000 preschool teachers and their coworkers amassed on the steps of Parliament House. Their industrial dispute involves preschool teachers and educators who’ve been in negotiations with the state government of Victoria for 14 months. Preschool teachers and co-educators are asking for salary parity with their primary school counterparts; a reform agenda introduced in 2009 increased the teaching demands placed on the preschool sector without increasing the resources for a much-expanded workloads, with educators laden with unpaid overtime to meet performance targets. Currently, preschool teachers receive 5-9% less than their primary school equivalents, while co-educators are taking home only around $15/16 an hour. | As I write this, the Australian Education Union is on strike, with 1,000 preschool teachers and their coworkers amassed on the steps of Parliament House. Their industrial dispute involves preschool teachers and educators who’ve been in negotiations with the state government of Victoria for 14 months. Preschool teachers and co-educators are asking for salary parity with their primary school counterparts; a reform agenda introduced in 2009 increased the teaching demands placed on the preschool sector without increasing the resources for a much-expanded workloads, with educators laden with unpaid overtime to meet performance targets. Currently, preschool teachers receive 5-9% less than their primary school equivalents, while co-educators are taking home only around $15/16 an hour. |
| This is the reality of industrial organising in this country; campaigns for the provisions of workplace entitlement are decried by those with the economic privilege to never have to think about them. Those still confused about why the attacks on unions continue may wish to look at the chicken boners, cleaners and preschool educators taking action and start to ask just how and where union opponents made their money. | This is the reality of industrial organising in this country; campaigns for the provisions of workplace entitlement are decried by those with the economic privilege to never have to think about them. Those still confused about why the attacks on unions continue may wish to look at the chicken boners, cleaners and preschool educators taking action and start to ask just how and where union opponents made their money. |