Krustyburger,

Your comment about more generous conditions applies in situations where somebody who is already on an Award is moving onto an AWA for the same employer.

If you are commencing employment, this does not apply and you are forced to take what is offered.

Now that many employers will be able to sack their staff and re-employ them on AWAs - (whether for restructuring reasons or whatever)- a lot of people will eventually be in the same circumstance.

I was also in the Telecoms industry for almost 30 years , made redundant and later returned as a Contractor.
I was later offered an AWA.

Meanwhile, my compatriots are entitled to an Overtime Meal Allowance for example, but I am not. My hours can also be adjusted so I work Sunday to Thursday (with no penalty rates). The comparisons go on and on.

Personally, it doesn't affect me too much because I will be out of the workforce within the next decade, but my children will not.

I was hoping that they would enjoy better (or at least equivalent) conditions that I struggled for throughout my own working life - not have them stolen way at the stroke of a pen by some political zealot.

In North Queensland at the moment we have philipino "guest workers" being paid $800 p.w. less than their Australian counterparts working as linesmen. The true value of an AWA to an employer. More profit in the employer's back pocket, exploitation harking back to the "master and servant" legislation of the early days.

Just another regressive Howard Government policy bought to you by the business unions Business Council of Australia, Australian [would be] Star Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Bernie

The Accord was between The Government, Unions AND Employers. It was done because all three agreed it was the best thing to do at the time.

Hawke and Keating were honest and open about what they were doing and why they were doing it. Nobody lost wages or conditions.

Contrast this to workchoices, blind freddy could see the difference

As if these two were ever going to give us anything but Labor-serving , Left wing claptrap on Work Choices…give us a break…..as if the feminists and the union mouthpieces haven’t already done enough damage to this country , without weighing in with the pre-election propaganda pretending to inform Australians, but really intending to suck them into the Rudd pen, just long enough to get him over the line.
Of course the media is more than willing to assist in the scam, when David Peetz is regularly introduced as just an expert in his field, without alluding to the fact that he’s joined at the hip with the unions , Labor and the Left …and is never going to do anything but undermine the Howard government…so it’s always just another sneaky , rat cunning ploy to deceive the Australian voters….and every assessment and remark made by this pair has to be seen as sly election material for Labor.
They would do a real service to the Australian people if they informed them about the real nature of their man Rudd and Labor…but people can find out by googling…’The Justice Project’ , ‘The Lindeberg Petition’, ‘Dilkera air conditioning O’Neill’ and ‘Heiner Inquiry’.

real,
Would you like the news item from the SMH describing the situation I have described above, or are you one of those tories whi is too blind to see, or worse will not see.

The Reals of this world do not live in a Real world.

The fact is that most of us do jobs that are not particularly unique that require particularly unique skills apart from all the required qualifications(tertiary or otherwise). It would be rare that many amongst us know when applying for a job that we have that one highly desirable something that will give us an upper hand over other applicants.

AWA's would work wonderfully well when negotiation is conducted at more or less an equal basis. The employee wants that job as much as the employer wants that particular job applicant.

We very well may have the 'lowest' unemployment figures in goodness knows how long, but for me it a case of being underemployed. Plenty of part time jobs, casual jobs, not many full-time jobs. The competition for these are rather fierce.

At the moment I'm applying for a full time position. You can bet your sweet bibby I'm not going to jeopardize that by making too many demands. I'm the main bread winner. Can't afford to not get this. Am I unique? Not when I talk to family and friends. But then not many of us live in a rarefied upper echelon.

But then maybe I'm just a left wing feminist whinger who finds it hard to make ends meet on $480.00 a week with $320.00 rent/week (and not a plasma TV in sight) by wanting too much like certainty that I will be able to pay my electricity and phone bills after our one car bit into the budget by needing an extra repair (brake pads).