House debates

Tuesday, 15 August 2017

Constituency Statements

Gellibrand Electorate: Dorevitch Pathology

4:18 pm

Photo of Tim WattsTim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Labor is proud of our long history of support for the union movement, and we will continue to support workers like those at Dorevitch Pathology. Last week, 500 HWU workers at Dorevitch Pathology went on strike. Those workers haven't had an enterprise agreement for 10 years. It expired a decade ago. There has been delay after delay with enterprise agreement negotiations. In fact, Dorevitch Pathology CEO, Neville Moller, lasted a grand total of seven minutes in enterprise agreement negotiations. Bargaining over the last 12 months has led nowhere, finishing with a zero per cent wage increase offer. Some of the Dorevitch Pathology workers are currently only earning the minimum modern award rate. In order to match minimum wage award increases over the last decade these workers would need to have a 28 per cent pay increase.

The wage increase offer proposed by Dorevitch is zero per cent. To add insult to injury, a full-time worker at Dorevitch Pathology can earn around $7,000 less a year than the pathology industry average. Dorevitch has proposed reducing sick leave from 21 days to 10 days—keep in mind that these are healthcare professionals. In all parts the health industry has provided higher than average sick leave, as workers are more susceptible to illness due to transmissible workplace illnesses. Dorevitch has turned a blind eye to its workers' needs, all the while raking in profits of $1.2 billion since the last agreement.

On Monday last week, 89 HWU members were locked out by Dorevitch as a result of the 500-member, 24-hour protected stop-work action. Those members were not allowed to return to work and were not paid. Those union members have been deliberately targeted. This is yet another awful example of this government failing to protect workers. We wonder why we live in a world where wage growth in Australia is at its lowest on record and where inequality in Australia is at a 75-year high. It is instances like this and workplaces like this that have created that national situation.

Pathology workers, like so many others, just want to be able to meet the cost of living—to pay their bills, to provide for their family. All they want is a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. When we look at what's going wrong in this country, it is the disconnect between effort and reward and it is people's frustration at this disconnect that is the cause of so many of our problems. When will this government stop protecting big business and stand up for workers? Why are they so intent on gifting billions in tax cuts to big business and banks and, when we look the other way, workers are being taken for a ride? To the workers of Dorevitch on strike this week, I want you to know that the Labor Party won't ignore you and we won't turn a blind eye; we will fight for you. We will always stand for you in this place and in the Australian community.