Commentary
The Australian Labor Party and the trade unions have been waging a war against what they call “insecure work” and contracting for some years, but it is only now they are in power that the reality is starting to dawn on employers.
Take BHP.
The mining giant complains that the cost of Labor’s “Same Job. Same Pay” policy will cost it $1.3 billion (US$850 million) per year. Apparently in the mining industry contract labour, hired through a labour hire firm, works for less pay than someone employed directly.
This is apparently by design. When large miners negotiate deals with the unions they tend to accept higher pay rates knowing that they can fill up a significant amount of their labour demand with contractors at a cheaper rate….