Again, I’ve only got time to copy and paste, so I’ll leave it to my readers to provide civilised discussion
For several weeks now, I have been waiting for someone in the media to challenge Joe Hockey (and the Workplace Authority), for cynically peddling old and irrelevant AWA figures – with obvious intent to confound and mislead. I hope you will set aside a few minutes to peruse the information presented below.
Even Wayne Swan didn’t take up the opportunity to challenge Joe Hockey’s claims when they were presented to him on Lateline last night (see http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2007/11/07/2084781.htm?site=elections/federal/2007 or http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2084781.htm ).
Nor did Julia Gillard when she debated Joe Hockey on the 7:30 Report previously (see http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2023895.htm ) – nor any time since!
After the following seemingly untenable article extract was posted by an infamous Liberal Party hack, on the Yahoo Politics message boards in early October (at http://au.messages.yahoo.com/news/politics/62442 ), I checked for the relevant Workplace Authority stats posted at the links below:-
By: slr2007mclaren
5/10/2007
5:31 pm
Yahoo! Profile:
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Workers on AWAs earn MORE
Reply to this message http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22535943-5005962,00.html
THE Federal Government’s Workplace Authority has released figures showing workers on Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA) earn more on average than those on awards or collective agreements.
The data’s release comes just days after a stoush between senior government ministers and academics who did a study which found the opposite for low-skilled workers.
The study by Sydney University academics found low-skilled workers on AWAs earned on average $106 a week less than those on collective agreements.
Senior academics from the university are threatening legal action after Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey questioned the study’s credibility because it was partly funded by unions.
The workplace agreement data to September 30, 2007, released today, showed workers on AWAs had average weekly total cash earnings (AWTE) of $963.70.
This was 12.2 per cent higher than workers on collective agreements and 96.2 per cent higher than workers on awards, the figures showed.
The Workplace Authority said that since the Government’s fairness test was launched in May this year, 150,443 AWAs had been lodged.
Of these, 145,814 had been actioned and 38,050 had been assessed.
http://www.workplaceauthority.gov.au/graphics.asp?showdoc=/news/researchStatistics.asp
AWA earnings data from ABS Employee Earnings and Hours Survey (May 2006):
Average weekly total cash earnings (AWTE) of AWA employees: $963.70
Compared to AWTE of federal registered collective agreement employees:
+12.2%
Compared to AWTE of award only employees:
+96.2%
Click to access factsheet_monthly_aug07.pdf
Click to access factsheet_monthly_sep07.pdf
At the time, I noticed that they were:
1. Not actual Workplace Authority figures – but re-published ABS Survey data.
2. From May 2006 and therefore only 2 months into the WorkChoices era.
3. Mostly (if not almost exclusively) related to Pre-WorkChoices AWA’s.
4. Not differentiated in any way – neither by pre/post-WorkChoices, gender, job, industry, &/nor region, etc.
5. Therefore largely – if not totally – irrelevant to AWA’s being ‘negotiated’ in the deregulated WorkChoices regime.
More recently, I noted the cumulative WorkChoices AWA stats on this page – especially the as shown on the graph entitled, ‘Monthly graph of employee coverage by agreement type:4’
http://www.workplaceauthority.gov.au/graphics.asp?showdoc=/NEWS/researchStatistics_quarterly.asp
Clearly, the ABS Survey contained very little (if any) AWA data under the WorkChoices regime. Yet, both the ALP and the media are letting Joe Hockey, the Workplace Authority and the Liberal Coalition get away with their deceptive and dishonest AWA charade!
Meantime, I note that the October monthly Workplace Authority stats were due to for release on 5 November 2007 (also per http://www.workplaceauthority.gov.au/graphics.asp?showdoc=/NEWS/researchStatistics.asp ) – and therefore that they are now 3 days overdue!
I also note the Govt’s and Workplace Authority’s ongoing refusal to publish real AWA data for due and proper public and academic scrutiny!
SO, OUT OF SHEER FRUSTRATION AND DISMAY, I ASK:
WHY IS NOBODY HAMMERING JOE HOCKEY ON THIS!?
I have sent this in the vain hope that you will look into this and publish a more coherent and politically savvy appraisal of this situation in due course. For obvious reasons, I also intend to send something similar to various academics and media outlets.
In anticipation of some major exposure of the Govt’s serial AWA data farce!
John Quiggin 
Joe Hockey is being hammered – he just keeps spouting the same old lines. Secrecy doesn’t help though as study after study shows that the system is letting women, young people, migrants and others down.
The Labor Party knows that it won’t win on the statistics but on the many, varied stories of unfair treatment. That is what people understand best.
i would find the notion that “i’m entitled to a pay packet” amazing, if it weren’t so popular here.
i still think you’re only entitled to what an employer is willing to give you, anything else is theft with menaces.
i agree that employers will use their position to oppress employees, but the answer to that is political: employees should form labor co-ops and bargain with employers as one organization to another, under equal protection of the law.
such a co-op would provide training, insurance, and superannuation, all under the immediate control of the people in it. at the same time, competition in the labor market among these co-ops would put them under the same economic limits any business must endure. seems fair to me.