Unions take on All Trades Queensland over apprentice wages

Sydney Morning Herald
August 21 2017

Australia's largest employer of apprentices has mounted another legal challenge to keep Queensland-based trainees the lowest paid in the country.   

All Trades Queensland on Monday applied in the Federal Court in Brisbane to reverse the latest decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission, which has already twice ruled apprentices should be covered by a modern federal award instead of an old state award.

Unions claim the application of the outdated award has resulted in the underpayment of millions of dollars in wages to Queensland apprentices, who are the only ones not employed under the federal award.   

Scott Reichman, from the Electrical Trades Union, said any reversal of the FWC's decision would be devastating.

"It means they will be stuck on the old state award rate, and permanently paid less for the same work as apprentices in other states," he said.   

Mr Reichman said the current state award paid first- and second-year electrical apprentices just $9 an hour - $4 an hour less than others in the country.

"It's not a lot but an extra $160 a week in an apprentice's pocket could make a huge difference," he said.

The court heard submissions from union lawyer Warren Friend, QC, who argued the legislation had always envisaged moving all employees across to the new award.

He said a sunset clause that kept apprentices on the old award had since expired, and no longer applied.

However lawyers for ATQ claim definitions in the legislation meant apprentices were still covered by the "unmodernised" award.

The court has reserved its decision.

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this is no way to train an apprentice.

By making him/her identify with your cry baby narrative.

an apprentice has little value in terms of skills and so , because he has little value , he only gets a little bit of money.
thats how it works in the marketplace or as i like to call it "reality".

the gift an apprentice does have ( or should have) is a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of energy. if he has these he will climb the narrow road to success and attract great mentors who will teach him and benefit from his enthusiasm . i call this a win/win.

now , if whiteknight infects this poor lad with his  cry baby story, you are taking away his one advantage. if he loses his enthusiasm and turns up being a sad little puke (like whiteknight is encouraging him to be) then he is farrrked.

i would advice all apprentices to run a mile from any sort of "help" being offered by negative losers and doomsayers

juliar wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2017 at 7:22am:



the chinese are aspirational.
australians are addicted to trying to get happiness from the trinkets and trash churned out by chinese factories.
this is just self gratification
australians have forgotten how to grind it out, work hard and then feel the joy that come from achievment.
they just wish to be "pleasured".
the chinese are quite happy to provide this pleasure for australian losers and they are , essentially, exchanging these trinkets for our jobs, our land, our companies and the things of real legitimate value.

our apprentices should be working their asses off to build great companies , to make great profits, to "buy back the farm".
but thats hard work.
as long as Bill, the unions and whiteknight can offer them "the path of least resistance" they will take it.

what they fail to understand is that, if they think conditions are unacceptable now, just wait until the chinese overlords are running the australian businesses.

fat steve is in for a rude awakening

bill and the unions have cheered him over the cliff