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AIRC President Speaks Out on Work Choices
24 March 2006
Australian Industrial Relations Commission president Geoffrey Giudice spoke out about the impact of the Government’s new industrial regime recently. He said the Government's new wage-setting body, the Fair Pay Commission, would undoubtedly slow the rate of growth of minimum wages, which would combine with other income-cutting elements of the new WorkChoices laws.
"People with low skills, low bargaining power, are heading for (the five minimum conditions that comprise) the Fair Pay and Conditions Standard, which will have an effect on their incomes," he said. "This will be accompanied by a slowdown in the rate of growth of minimum wages -- that's what the Fair Pay Commission is for ... If those things are going to occur, they'll probably have to be accompanied by a reduction in social welfare, otherwise the incentive to work will reduce."
Justice Giudice also said that the laws could have a significant impact on the incomes of the lowest paid in the community. "I can assure you it's going to affect our society," he said.
The Government's Fair Pay Commission will replace the AIRC as the body that sets the minimum wage. The new laws require the commission to have a stronger regard for economic factors whereas the AIRC's primary goal was to ensure fair living standards.
ACTU spokesman George Wright said the comments of Geoffry Giudice were significant. "This is the person who has heard the living wage case for the last 10 years," he said. "And what he's saying is that working families cannot afford to lose things like penalty rates; they cannot afford to have lower pay increases. Yet this is exactly what the Government's changes will do."
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