Outworkers face worse conditions

by Tom Pearson

The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union (TCFU) is fighting against an 
attempt by the Federal Government to destroy legal protections for 
outworkers in the clothing industry. "We are shocked that the Federal 
Government is hell bent on the removal of these legal protections for the 
most marginalised and exploited sector of workers in the country", said 
TCFU National Secretary, Tony Woolgar.

In submissions to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission the 
Government is attempting to strip the award covering outworkers. The 
Workplace Relations Act allows awards to be stripped back to "20 allowable 
matters".

In the case of the already vulnerable outworkers this will result in 
increasing ruthless exploitation, with their last defences taken away from 
them.

The Howard Government has persisted with its drive to strip the award 
despite the NSW, Queensland and Tasmanian Governments supporting the 
union's position to maintain the current award clauses.

After a long campaign, two years ago the TCFU was able to announce that a 
number of major retailers had signed a Code of Conduct, committing 
themselves to only purchase and sell clothing made by workers who had 
proper conditions and wages.

"All the hard work done in relation to these codes will be thrown out the 
window if these clauses are stripped back in any way", Mr Woolgar told 
The Guardian. 

"As far as we're concerned they're to be retained exactly as they are. The 
code relies heavily on those clauses, so if the Commission makes a wrong 
decision — which the employers would love to see them make — it could all 
be wasted and we'd be back to square one again."

He said there are clauses in the award specifically designed to give 
protection to outworkers and that if the Government was serious about 
having those workers protected, as it claims in the Commission, then they 
need to retain those specific clauses.

None of the submissions and witness statements the union supplied to the 
Commission were contested by the Government or the employers.

Witness statements included: workers being paid as little as $2 per hour; 
labouring in dangerous and unhealthy conditions; working for 16 hours a 
day, seven days a week; receiving no long service leave or annual leave; 
working on public holidays; having no access to superannuation; being paid 
no overtime.

"None of that stuff was contested", Mr Woolgar pointed out. "So, they all 
know it's there, they all know that it happens, they all admit that it's 
happening, and yet they are still hell bent on trying to remove the little 
bit of protection that these people have."

The TCFU has even had to call on the Howard Government to enter into a code 
of conduct, as the union has discovered that outworkers are making clothing 
for the Government under conditions of systematic exploitation and for less 
than award wages.