Community & Public Sector Union Teresa Davison Director, Communications and Science 30 November 2015 Professor Anthony Forsyth Chairperson Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work Email: Dear Professor Forsyth Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work The PSU Group of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is an active and progressive union with approximately 55,000 members. The CPSU represents employees in government employment, the telecommunications sector, call centres, employment services and broadcasting. The CPSU welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Victorian Labour Hire and Insecure Work Inquiry. Government’s Labour hire workers have less job security, fewer entitlements and as a result are less satisfied with their position. This has flow on consequences for many areas of their lives such as the ability to plan for the future, eligibility for loans and accessing rental accommodation. Insecure work is a significant issue in both the public and private sector areas of CPSU coverage. While there are some circumstances in which there is a legitimate need for the engagement of workers on a temporary basis, the current use of these arrangements goes far beyond this. This submission focuses on the use of Chandler McLeod and Cyient to supply temporary workers to Telstra in Ballarat and outlines some key features of employment of these workers including: employment status, length of employment, pay and conditions, career opportunities, rights and entitlements, financial insecurity, and the difference in treatment of labour hire staff vis a vis Telstra employees. It must be noted that the areas encompass many different CPSU’s membership types of insecure working arrangements including the direct engagement of staff by an employer on a casual or temporary basis; the use of contractors, sometimes hired through a third party provider. and are often given as reasons by employers for Whilst ‘flexibility’ ‘efficiency’ engaging insecure workers, in the experience, benefits afforded to the CPSU’s employer come at the expense of worker entitlements. The CPSU contends that better workforce planning can obviate the need for a high reliance on temporary workers, and provide employers with the benefits of a stable skilled workforce, including limiting recruitment and training costs, and reducing the labour hire
Community & Public Sector Union Teresa Davison Director, Communications and Science 30 November 2015 Professor Anthony Forsyth Chairperson Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work Email: Dear Professor Forsyth Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work The PSU Group of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is an active and progressive union with approximately 55,000 members. The CPSU represents employees in government employment, the telecommunications sector, call centres, employment services and broadcasting. The CPSU welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Victorian Government’s Labour Hire and Insecure Work Inquiry. Labour hire workers have less job security, fewer entitlements and as a result are less satisfied with their position. This has flow on consequences for many areas of their lives such as the ability to plan for the future, eligibility for loans and accessing rental accommodation. Insecure work is a significant issue in both the public and private sector areas of CPSU coverage. While there are some circumstances in which there is a legitimate need for the engagement of workers on a temporary basis, the current use of these arrangements goes far beyond this. This submission focuses on the use of Chandler McLeod and Cyient to supply temporary workers to Telstra in Ballarat and outlines some key features of employment of these workers including: employment status, length of employment, pay and conditions, career opportunities, rights and entitlements, financial insecurity, and the difference in treatment of labour hire staff vis a vis Telstra employees. It must be noted that the CPSU’s membership areas encompass many different types of insecure working arrangements including the direct engagement of staff by an employer on a casual or temporary basis; the use of contractors, sometimes hired through a third party provider. Whilst ‘flexibility’ and ‘efficiency’ are often given as reasons by employers for engaging insecure workers, in the CPSU’s experience, benefits afforded to the employer come at the expense of worker entitlements. The CPSU contends that better workforce planning can obviate the need for a high reliance on temporary workers, and provide employers with the benefits of a stable skilled workforce, including limiting recruitment and training costs, and reducing the labour hire
Submission-CPSU-PSU-group.docx