NECA calls on employers to turn their back on union enterprise agreements

The Victorian Chapter of the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) has called on its members, and all electrical contracting industry employers, to engage directly with employees to achieve enterprise agreements.

The current Electrical Industry ‘Pattern’ Agreement expired on 31 October and discussions with the Electrical Trades Union have been very disappointing, said Kevin McCosh, executive director, NECA Victoria. McCosh has warned the industry that short-sighted and unreasonable union demands made by the ETU will result in massive job cuts across the electrical contracting industry as Victorian electrical companies close their doors. And at the same time creating greater opportunities for interstate contractors to move in and win Victorian electrical work by undercutting on price.

“In Victoria, electrical contracting businesses who have union enterprise agreements are finding it particularly hard to win work. The high cost of labour associated with these companies is fast making them uncompetitive. A worker who is employed by such companies is currently paid $45.66 per hour for a 36-hour week, receives double time for any overtime and shift work, receives 26 rostered days off a year, and on top of that also has over $120 per week paid on their behalf into a redundancy and income protection fund. These conditions are great for workers but are costing electricians their jobs on a daily basis,” McCosh said.

In order to secure a new agreement, the union is demanding the following: a 20% increase to wages and allowances over a three-year period; an immediate increase in superannuation guarantee contributions to 12%; and an additional 18% increase to the employer contributions into the severance and income protection fund in addition to the establishment of portable annual leave and sick leave schemes.

He added that electrical contractors in Victoria are urgently seeking new enterprise agreements that will be compliant with the anticipated new Building and Construction Code. “This is an extremely important issue for contractors as they will need to be code-compliant in order to access government-funded work, which currently constitutes 42% of all electrical work undertaken.”

McCosh said that employers had nothing to fear from negotiating enterprise agreements directly with employees as this had been a growing trend in the industry over the past two years.