DUE to the ever-widening gender pay gap, Australian women were effectively working for free on International Women’s Day on Sunday, 8 March.
Speaking on International Women’s Day, ACTU President Ged Kearney called for the Abbott Government to ensure women are not left behind.
‘The ABS figures are clear, Australian women earn on average $298.10 per week less than Australian men across all industries,’ Kearney said.
‘That means from 1 January until 9 March – 68 days – Australian women are effectively working for free. The Abbott Government isn’t doing enough and only last week announced that it is watering down rules for workplace reporting on gender inequality.
‘How can we identify where and why gender pay gaps exist, and take action to address discrimination and barriers women face if we don’t have meaningful data?’
Kearney said the Abbott Government needed to acknowledge insecure work as a key driver behind the gender pay gap.
‘Due to the lack of family friendly working arrangements, many women are forced into low-paid, low-skilled and mostly insecure work with no sick leave, annual leave or job security.
‘It’s obvious that more needs to be done, yet the Abbott Government continues to perpetuate the problem by failing to enact policies to ensure the rights of working women are protected.
‘Having more women in paid employment increases government revenue through income tax, increases economic demand through higher household wealth and spending, and improves economic independence for women with less reliance on welfare.
‘International Women’s Day should be a day to celebrate how far we’ve come but also be a day to reflect and, most importantly, urgently act to address gender inequality.’
Australian Unions call on the government to:
• Expand the existing paid parental leave scheme to 26 weeks (at the minimum wage) and include superannuation;
• Increase childcare funding;
• Target funding to ensure social, community and care workers, who are mostly women, receive decent wages and conditions;
• Support the ACTU’s award review application to ensure employees have the right to return to work part-time following parental leave;
• Revoke the Fair Work Amendment Bill’s proposal to allow employers to ask parents with caring responsibilities to trade off wages and conditions in return for family friendly hours;
• Boost rather than water down the Workplace Gender Equality reporting legislation.
• Meanwhile, the leaders of the country’s largest health union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), joined nurses and midwives for the National Day of Action in capital cities and towns on Wednesday 4th March, in a show of force against the Abbott Government’s industrial relations agenda.
In NSW, ANMF members participated in coordinated industrial action and activities at public hospitals and health facilities in Sydney, the Central Coast, Wollongong and other parts of the State.
Federal Secretary, Lee Thomas, who joined the rally in Federation Square, Melbourne, said the ANMF was fighting hard to preserve its members’ penalty rates and allowances, which could be reduced or removed as a result of the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Workplace Relations.
The warning from Ms Thomas followed the results of a new survey of more than 13,000 nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing, which showed that an overwhelming 93% of them would take action to protect their penalty rates – over 60% said this would include stopping work or strike action.
Speaking ahead of the National Day of Action, Thomas said: ‘Our members have told us that penalty rates and allowances are a very important issue for them and their families, with a cut in their allowances resulting in a 30% reduction in their basic take home pay.
‘If Mr Abbott dares to strip away the compensation our nurses and midwives receive for working nights, weekends and public holidays, they have warned that they would take action to protect their penalty rates.
‘With 87% of respondents also indicating they would stop signing-up for shift work, the amount of quality care able to be delivered at hospitals, nursing homes and health facilities around the country would be dramatically compromised.
‘Mr Abbott must consider this if he tries to touch our penalty rates. Whilst the ANMF is heartened by our victory in defeating Mr Abbott’s GP tax, we aren’t resting on our laurels and we’re now clearly focused on blocking the Government’s industry relations agenda – the most serious for us being an attack on our penalty rates.’
• The Government should reconsider its own hard-line stance towards public servants’ pay and conditions, following its back down on ADF (Australia Defence Force) pay.
Abbott increased ADF pay by 0.5% to 2% a year, with ADF personnel also getting to keep their conditions, following an earlier intervention by the PM last year.
Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) National Secretary Nadine Flood said the PM should now listen to his own workforce and drop his hard-line bargaining approach which seeks to cut rights and conditions in return for annual pay offers of between 0% and just over 1% a year.
‘This is a significant move from a Prime Minister under fire for his attacks on the real wages, rights and conditions of ADF personnel.
‘Defence families, our community and politicians of all stripes have argued long and hard the Government has to do better.
‘Offering our ADF 2% a year with no cuts to conditions isn’t exactly generous, but it is a mile ahead of the attack on rights and real wages on offer from this Government to public sector workers,’ Ms Flood said.
The CPSU represents Defence civilian staff who are preparing to take industrial action in protest at the Government’s unworkable bargaining policy.
‘If the Government can move for our ADF personnel, then why can’t it recognise the Defence civilian staff and the public sector workers who protect our borders in Customs, Immigration and Quarantine?
‘They deserve more than a vicious attack on their rights and conditions.
‘Why can’t the Government recognise the people on average wages in Centrelink and Medicare who deserve some recognition for the tough job they do for our community?
‘With tens of thousands of Commonwealth public sector workers ready to take industrial action, now is the time for the Government to listen to its own workforce, and reconsider its hard-line and unworkable approach to bargaining.’
• As tens of thousands of workers around the nation took to the streets to stand up for their rights at work, new national accounts figures proved that the Government must urgently change its direction.
ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said the Abbott Government’s destructive agenda of savage cuts must be abandoned in favour of support for incomes, wages growth and investment in jobs and skills.
‘The national accounts show our economy is weak which is putting Australians out of work,’ Oliver said. We have said living standards are taking a hit under this Government and the figures show real net national disposable income per person down by 0.9% over the year.
‘Productivity growth is strong and workers continue to do their bit so why has the Government asked the Productivity Commission to conduct an Inquiry into IR laws?
‘The figures show this Government is totally off track and their deep budget cuts are hurting our economy and putting pressure on households.’
Oliver said workers were determined to make the Liberal Government a one term government.
‘Tens of thousands of workers sent the Liberal Government a clear message today – stop with the cuts and start investing more, promoting growth and creating jobs,’ Oliver said.
‘Australians do not want a Government that cuts wages, cuts penalty rates and slashes health and education.
‘We will not stand by while Abbott and Hockey send jobs offshore and destroy the rights and protections the union movement and working Australians have built up over generations.’
Rallies included Melbourne, Mildura, Sydney, Newcastle, Broken Hill, Lismore Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Townsville, Mackay, Hobart, Launceston, Darwin and Tennant Creek.
The biggest crowds were in Melbourne with an estimated 50,000 in attendance and 20,000 in Sydney.
