NSW LABOR FAILS COMMUNITY WORKERS

August 10, 2011

Minister for Family and Community Services Pru Goward and Minister for Ageing and Minister for Disability Services Andrew Constance today slammed the Opposition for hypocrisy in the Australian Services Union’s (ASU) Equal Remuneration Test Case.

“The former state Labor Government made a mess of this case, making submissions which neither questioned the merits nor the quantum of the claim,” Ms Goward said.

“NSW Labor told the public they were in favour of the ASU claim but at the same time told Fair Work Australia that they neither supported nor opposed it, and they failed to plan for the case in either event.

“The NSW Government’s latest submission stems from an interim decision handed down by Fair Work Australia on 16 May 2011.

“The full bench of Fair Work Australia was not able to identify the extent to which gender had inhibited wages growth in the social and community services industry, or how best to remedy the situation.

“The quantum of the ASU claim has changed twice, first in their revised submission late last year and then in their submission in response to the latest interim decision of Fair Work Australia.

“In assessing the budget impact of the ASU’s revised claim, the overall impact would be $774 million over five years, vastly increased from the cost of their previous claim of $347 million.

“ASU union bosses have failed ASU members. State Labor has failed the people of NSW.

“John Robertson told the ALP state conference in July that he was “horrified at the number of times that Labor in Government let the people of NSW down.”

“Labor’s handling of the ASU case - in Government as well as today in the Parliament - is another reason why John Robertson feels horrified.

“The NSW Government strongly supports the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal or comparable value.

“It is very important for everyone to realise that the ability of the NSW Government to assist in this case has been very much hamstrung by the refusal of the Commonwealth to specify the actual level of funding it is willing to commit to.

“We have highlighted problems with the ASU’s latest submission and we have brought to the attention of Fair Work Australia a number of factors that we believe should be considered in the final determination,” Ms Goward said.

Minister for Ageing and Minister for Disability Services Andrew Constance said it was clear that Labor didn’t do their homework before question time.

“When Paul Lynch was the Industrial Relations Minister, he had the chance to stand up for the rights of social and community service workers, but put forward a spineless submission to Fair Work Australia,” Mr Constance said.

“Now that they’re in Opposition, Labor wants to be seen as standing up for the rights of workers despite being silent on the issue when they were in Government.”