CTU MEDIA RELEASE
30 June 2007

Youth Rates Proposal Needs Work - CTU

“Parliament is certainly attempting to move forward on abolishing youth rates but the proposal on the table has problems,” Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today, following the release of the select committee report on the Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age Discrimination) Amendment Bill late yesterday.

“The CTU thinks it is untenable that workers should be discriminated against solely on the basis of age. We remain in favour of the complete removal of youth rates, and see problems with the 200 hours ‘new entrant’ rate proposal.”

“A part time worker on ten hours a week would take nearly half a year to qualify for the regular minimum wage when, using the 200 hours proposal’s logic, they would already be well up-to-speed on the work by then.”

“We also remind people that a training rate exists for workers genuinely involved in training for a work-related qualification, and a distinction needs to be drawn between this exemption and someone being paid less just because of their age.

“Movement is being made on youth rates, but our overall policy goal must still be the abolition of youth rates entirely. We will work with Members of Parliament as the bill goes through committee stages in the House to hopefully improve it.”

Unions would also continue to campaign industrially to get rid of youth rates in employment agreements through collective bargaining with employers, Carol Beaumont said.

Ends.