Aged care head backs 25 per cent wage rise in fight for gender equality
-
Published May 2, 2022
Content block
Sydney Morning Herald, 29 April 2022
UnitingCare Australia has become the country’s first major aged care network to explicitly back a 25 per cent wage rise for the embattled sector’s workers, calling it a historic opportunity to address the gender pay gap.
Its national director, Claerwen Little, on Friday called for the next government to fund the increase being sought by the Health Services Union – which UnitingCare has previously estimated would cost $4 billion a year – as sections of the national workforce prepare to strike in the lead-up to the May 21 federal election.
Aged care providers uniformly support a pay rise for their workers but until now no major bodies within the sector had endorsed a specific figure.
“Care is neither cheap nor free and we need to reckon with this fact if we genuinely want to progress toward gender equity. Would wages be this low if the numbers were reversed and 86 per cent of aged care workers were men?” Little said in an interview on Friday.
“Our analysis estimates the headline cost of a 25 per cent pay rise to be around $4 billion annually.
That increase is essential and it’s also essential that the increase is matched with equivalent
government funding.”
A Fair Work Commission hearing into the HSU’s wage claim this week was told by Mark Gibian SC, acting for the union, that aged care had historically been characterised as “women’s work”.
Government figures show women make up almost 90 per cent of the aged care workforce, but Nigel Ward, representing employer groups, warned against the wage case turning into one for equal pay.
However, Little said the case presented a golden opportunity “to look at the gendered nature of inequality and the gendered nature of disparity in pay”.
“Women’s economic security is held at ransom by the incredibly undervalued work they do. Women are economically a lot less secure in this country than men,” she said.
According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, women earn on average $255.30 a week less than men. Costings by the Australian Aged Care Collaboration, an umbrella group of which UnitingCare is a part, estimate a single-household aged care worker takes home $112 a week after living expenses.
The aged care sector is in crisis, with hundreds of residents dying during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff leaving the sector in droves, facilities closing and the government forced to send in Defence to help.
Labor has promised to endorse the wage case and fully fund the amount recommended by Fair Work should it win the election, while the federal government has declined to endorse the case but has committed to honouring the outcome.
Labor’s aged care spokesperson, Clare O’Neil, said there was “clear evidence going back decades that female-dominated workforces, and caring roles in particular, are underpaid. But ultimately, I’ll leave that debate to the academics”.
“The basic equation here is pretty simple – a lack of staff has already caused a significant number of aged care facilities to close down,” O’Neil said, warning the next government needed to quickly and fully fund any pay rise.
The government has committed to injecting $18.8 billion into the sector over five years, which includes measures to train more staff. Comment has been sought from Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck’s office.
The United Workers Union says more than 12,000 of its members linked to eight aged care providers are preparing to strike over pay on May 10 in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. They plan to walk off the job in each state around 11.30am, ahead of scheduled rallies in major cities.
-
HSU Newsroom
Unhappy New Year: NSW Paramedics call Minns’ bluff on pay and Triple Zero
The Mandarin, 11 December 2023 Problems continue to mount for the Minns government in New South Wales after private mediation and a wage…
December 11, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
‘Doesn’t add up’ – Paramedics call out proposed pay rise
2GB Radio, 11 December 2023 Questions are being asked after the Health Services Union rejected a hefty pay increase for paramedics from the…
December 11, 2023
-
From the Secretary
Union win! NNSWLHD scraps flawed restructure after HSU members push back
Thanks to HSU members’ strength in numbers and solidarity, NNSWLHD has backed down on its unpopular Business and Finance Restructure. This is what happens when union…
December 11, 2023
-
From the Secretary
Union win! HSU members at Anglican Care win pay increase and back pay!
Dear Member, HSU members at several Anglican Care sites recently raised concerns about their classification and pay rate, identifying that were not being…
December 11, 2023
-
From the Secretary
Cabrini: Update on missing additional leave
Dear Member, Because of HSU members standing together, some progress has finally been made around the annual leave issues and other individual matters…
December 11, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
Chris Minns pleads with NSW paramedics as pay dispute taken to Industrial Relations Commission
News.com.au, 10 December 2023 The NSW premier is pleading with the state’s paramedics to accept a massive pay increase and keep the state…
December 10, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
Chris Minns determined to resolve pay negotiations with NSW paramedics to avoid 'catastrophic' collapse of triple-0 system
Sky News, 10 December 2023 The Health Services Union recently rejected a hefty pay rise offer from the state government for paramedics, arguing…
December 10, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
Health Minister Ryan Park forced to scrap Christmas holidays as pay dispute with paramedics spirals
Daily Telegraph, 10 December 2023 Health Minister Ryan Park will axe his scheduled Christmas holidays if last-ditch pay negotiations with paramedics don’t prevent…
December 10, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
Paramedics dispute to go to tribunal as registration lapse looms
Sydney Morning Herald, 9 December 2023 A pay dispute between the state government and paramedics will be heard by the industrial tribunal on…
December 9, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
NSW paramedics given wage offer ahead of New Year’s Eve deadline that could ‘cripple triple-0’
News.com.au, 8 December 2023 Paramedics will consider a pay offer after a protracted wage battle threatens to remove more than 1900 of them…
December 8, 2023
-
HSU Newsroom
‘Simply rubbish and offensive’: Ambos tipped to reject $34k pay offer
Daily Telegraph, 8 December 2023 A Minns government offer to boost the take-home pay of a sixth year paramedic from $132,544 to about…
December 8, 2023
-
From the Secretary
NSW Government negotiators don't believe attrition numbers
Every single day, NSW Ambulance paramedics are leaving the state for better paying jobs. The current induction class – bright eyed and bushy tailed graduates ready…
December 8, 2023