Would you want a $4hour trainee working on your car? - AMWU

Christian hater Morrison and barking mad Cash, all smiles at $4hour jobs

Three decades of factory work and I can tell you that the AMWU (Australian Manufacturing Workers Union) is exactly right about this. Indeed, bosses will hire a $4 an hour worker paid for by the gov (on top of the dole) and get rid of them when the gov money runs out. They'll simply hire another dole recipient, paid for by the gov.

This at a time in South Australia where there will be  thousands of qualified workers being unemployed, after the Abbott gov failed to offer the gov assistance needed.

Mr Smith said: “This is cheap labour to be exploited – it’s inevitable some employers will cut back on full-paid employees then get the most menial, dirtiest tasks done by a churning flow of young interns who would each be turfed after their subsidy ran out. 

“Why pay and train an apprentice to do basic tasks in their first-year when you can get a subsidised intern? Why pay a car cleaner or detailer a $17 award rate when you can get an intern for virtually nothing? That would be the logic of many unscrupulous bosses.” 

South Australian AMWU Vehicles Secretary, Scott Batchelor warned of a possible “worst case scenario” on safety for interns and for consumers using small shops to service their vehicles cheaply. 

Interns could be used during their six weeks training plus a 12-week “trial” to free-up auto technicians from the most basic car servicing tasks – such as checking brakes and oil changes. 

“In SA there is no formal qualification required to work servicing cars – would you want an inexperienced intern replacing the brake pads on your family car?” he asked. “Would you trust their work was properly checked by a qualified auto technician? Would you be told?” 

He said claims by the Motor Traders Association of Australia of a 16,000-job shortage that interns could help fill was a furphy, when the industry faced tens of thousands of job losses. 

In South Australia there was already a substantial waiting list for trainees from the Association to be placed with employers. AMWU