The Guardian 24 August, 2005
Blokes wouldn’t cop child care wages
If men dominated the child care industry there was no way they would accept the level of pay currently being offered to women, the head of the LHMU Child Care Union said. Speaking at the opening of a landmark pay equity case, LHMU State President Jim Lloyd said the 96 percent female workforce had been subjected to a historical undervaluation.
"There is no way a group of men that exercised that level of responsibility and skill would cop the type of wages that childcare workers get", Mr Lloyd said.
The LHMU is seeking minimum increase of $180 per week in the first private sector test of the NSW Gender Pay Equity principle.
Mr Lloyd says the award has never been subject to a proper work value examination, and this was a "great opportunity" to rectify that.
Employers First claims the pay rises are "unsustainable" and launched its own offensive on child care workers; attempting to increase the span of "ordinary" hours and block a flow-on of a $17 state Wage Case increase.
The case will be heard by a full bench of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission through August and September.
Unions NSW Secretary John Robertson said it is a significant case that would not be able to be run under the federal system proposed by the Howard government.