Speaking at a protest at car parts manufacturer Dana factory in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Clayton today, ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said: "Now we are seeing the reality of the Howard Government's new IR laws. The three hundred and fifty Dana workers are facing a 5% drop in pay and the loss of important family-friendly entitlements such as Rostered Days Off (RDOs) while new employees will face a 20% pay cut. Dana also wants to cut redundancy entitlements in half and make workers wait longer before accessing long service leave. Top-up payments to injured workers would also be reduced, and income protection lost. The Government spent millions of dollars of workers' money saying that the new IR laws wouldn't see workers losing wages and conditions. They said that workers' pay and conditions would be 'protected by law'. The Government accused the unions of running a scare campaign because we warned that RDO's, overtime, take home pay and leave provisions would be under threat. Well now we see the reality with an employer using the Government's legislation to threaten workers pay, overtime and leave provisions. Working families, many of whom are only just keeping their heads above water financially cannot afford to lose basic conditions and have their take home pay cut," said Mr Combet.

Aggressive Push By Employers To Take Advantage Of New IR Laws

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said: "What we are now witnessing is an aggressive new push by employers to drive down the wages conditions of their workforce under the Government's new IR laws. (EXAMPLES ATTACHED) There is now a proliferation of management and HR advisers who are spruiking for business, offering to help employers bring in individual contracts and reduce workforce costs. For example, a company called 'Industrial Labour Solutions' promises: "In conjunction with the new IR rules we are able to fix the situation permanently... No more EBA's. No unfair dismissals. No casuals forced into full time. No redundancies. No unions. No problems. Decreased costs." These people are vultures preying on the living standards of Australia's working families. They are taking advantage of the Government's new IR laws to help employers gain the whip hand in workplace bargaining."