Media Statement - 27th January 2010
Minister
for Employment and Workplace Relations Julia Gillard, today called on
the Opposition Leader to come clean with the Australian people once and
for all and admit the Coalition if elected would reintroduce Work
Choices under a different name.
Mr Abbott speaking to Alan Jones on Sydney Radio this morning said he wanted a return to Mr Howard's unfair industrial relations regime which he said "gave us higher wages".
That would be news to Australia's women workers who when on AWAs, on average, earned $87.40 less per week.
In addition to losing wages, they also lost conditions including penalty rates, overtime, redundancy pay and holiday leave.
In a sample of over 1700 AWAs lodged between April and October 2006, 89 per cent of those AWAs removed at least one award condition that the previous Government's advertising had said was "protected".
- 31 per cent of those AWAs took away rest breaks.
- 49 per cent took away overtime loadings.
- 63 per cent removed incentive based payments and bonuses.
- 65 per cent removed penalty rates.
Women were the big losers under Work Choices and again today Mr Abbott has again made it clear he'd like to see it return.