News Release

YOUTH WEEK 12 - 18 JUNE

 

CALL FOR SPECIAL PROTECTION OF YOUNG WORKERS

12 June 2006

Young workers need special protection from the excesses of federal government legislation - and SA Unions is calling on the state Industrial Relations Commission to ensure they get it.

SA Unions Secretary, Janet Giles believes child labour provisions in the state Fair Work Act (section 98A) have the capacity to exempt workers aged under 18 from the federal government's notorious Work Choices legislation.

"The state Act passed last year requires the Commission to review awards that are relevant to the employment of children.  That review is supposed to happen within a year of the Act being passed.  We think Youth Week is a fitting time for the IRC to begin that task," Ms Giles says.

"The special provisions relating to child labour enable the IRC, by award, to decide the types of work or industries children should not be employed in, to impose limits on children's employment hours, to provide special rest periods for working children, and to make any other provisions that the Commission sees fit."

"This represents important protection for the young - the children who are staking shelves, working in fast food outlets, hospitality workers, checkout staff and the like."

"Young workers are the most exploited of all employees.  Many industries are built on the back of their cheap labour.  They face higher rates of injury than other workers, less training, precarious conditions and lack of job security.  Their exploitation is arguably intensified by the federal laws."

"The state Fair Work Act confirms the importance of having a strong state based Industrial Relations Commission to protect young workers from the worst ravages of the federal legislation."

"However, a law only has meaning when it is implemented.  We urge the state IRC to make this review of state awards relevant to young people a priority, starting with those industries where the employment of children is most prevalent," Ms Giles says.