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
But 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.
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Labour productivity in the Australian building and construction industry may also be as much as twice that of the United States, despite the application of “union-friendly” laws and higher union density here, the report says.

The report also debunks concerns about profitability in the construction industry, showing that the rate of return on capital in the construction industry of 107% far exceeds the next best industry of financial and insurance services and is almost five times the average for all industries.

Construction generated total sales and service income of $327 billion in 2012–13, about 21 of GDP.

“When looking at all the data, it’s clear that the construction industry is already a productive one, and continues to grow strongly” said the report’s author, David Richardson.
‘Malicious lies’
The Secretary of the ETU’s Victorian branch, Troy Gray, said the report destroyed the government’s justification for the new construction code, which will apply to all government construction projects and tenders.

“The report clearly shows that construction workers have not bargained for wage rises above their productivity contribution and the value they create,” he said.

“The evidence from the ABS contained in the report clearly demonstrates that [Employment] Minister Eric Abetz’ lines about poor productivity in the construction sector are malicious lies, for political purposes.

“Minister Abetz has been misleading Australians about construction productivity to justify the most extensive government intervention into private businesses, to savage construction workers’ rights, incomes and conditions, ever witnessed in Australia: the Building and Construction Code.”

Senator Abetz accused the building unions of running “dishonest scare campaigns” to frustrate the passage of the ABCC legislation.

“The Government has a clear mandate to restore the ABCC and a strong building code, having taken these policies to the last two federal elections,” Senator Abetz said.

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