The following is abridged from a speech given by first-year apprentice carpenter HILLARI LOGAN to a Youth Wages and Conditions forum organised by the Victorian TAFE Student and Apprentices Network (VTSAN) at Trades Hall in Melbourne on July 18.
Under the federal government's new Workplace Relations Bill, apprentices and those doing formal traineeships will be paid only for the time spent doing "productive" work. This means that time we spend training is seen as "unproductive work".
Currently, when we attend trade school we still receive our basic pay. And when we are being taught a new job or skill on site, we still get paid. Under the new bill, this work can be defined as "unproductive".
The bill gives employers more protection and leeway than they have now. Who's to say that the employers or employer agencies and group training companies won't define productive and unproductive work however they like? All the shit-kicking jobs that apprentices and trainees do could be defined as unproductive and unpaid. I'm often sweeping, cleaning up and carting materials and tools, for example. This adds up to about three hours of work a day. If my boss decides that this is unproductive work, my wages would be substantially cut.
I receive about $230 a week. After I pay for rent, bills, food, cigarettes and transport to and from work, I'm left with a surplus of about $20 a week. That's just enough for one night out with a couple of beers. If I had dependents, I'd probably be in deep shit by now.
This bill will make it difficult for apprentices to make ends meet. I attend trade school for one week a month for five months. When I recently attended the first week of trade school, I was expected to bring $225 for fees. It was hard enough trying to find that extra week's wages for the fees, but this new bill will make it worse since apprentices won't even get paid during their time at school. Instead of earning $920 a month, I'll only be taking home $420, after paying my fees. My rent and bills almost add up to that, so what am I supposed to eat with? Those who are expected to conduct a six-week training block are basically going to be fucked! Financially I would be better off I had remained on the dole, and that's crazy.
The job security of apprentices and trainees is also threatened by employers' option to take on trainees and apprentices on a part-time basis. Those who attend trade school for one day a week are going to be the most vulnerable to being classed as part-time workers and have their hours of work and wages cut further. These people may find themselves working only a couple of days a week, or a couple of hours each day. A standard four-year apprenticeship could then take six years or longer to complete.
Under another section of this bill, our bosses and employer groups will have control over what type of training we receive. This means if we're working for a particular company we may be trained only in areas that the company views as important for that job.
I am currently working for a company that installs shopfronts. If I was to complete my apprenticeship with this company under the proposed changes, I would not receive training in any other facet of carpentry. Once I finished the apprenticeship, I would be a qualified tradesperson who could basically work only for this company or a similar one.
I could not build a house or do renovations or extensions or steel framing. I would not feel comfortable calling myself a qualified carpenter. I chose to do a carpentry apprenticeship to become a carpenter with versatile and portable skills. I did not choose a career in the installation of shopfronts.
Unless we make some noise, and heaps of it, this government is going to walk all over us. If we just sit back and complain in our lounge rooms, the government is going to assume that we agree with this bill.
We must all get together and let everyone know that we don't want our wages cut; we don't want the burden of trade school fees and then to lose pay for conducting formal training; we don't want to be trained to meet the needs of one specific company; and given that the wages and working conditions of apprentices and trainees are already shit, we don't need industrial conditions that will make them worse.
VTSAN is there to support apprentices and trainees. The student unions and trade unions are also there and have the resources to support us. We must ask for their help in opposing these changes. I'm asking you to attend the rallies and stop-work meetings, sign and distribute petitions and go to your student and trade unions and demand that they do something about these changes.
Apprentices and those doing formal traineeships have every right to be angry, and we need to direct this anger towards the government.