Fragmentation of the workforce

[Grant Lee <grantlee@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(If anyone was wondering about the roots of Australia's current strong
economic growth ... )

"... a third of the Australian workforce could well be in casual employment
by the year 2010" [according to Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary
Greg Combet]. "That means a third of the workforce without access to a paid
day's sick leave, to any paid holidays [or] to any paid time off."

The ACTU president, Sharan Burrow, said: "The key theme is fragmentation of
the workforce. There's no doubt that when only 7 per cent of people now work
a standard working week, Monday to Friday, hours between nine and five, then
the fragmentation of the workforce is incredibly obvious."

The report says many Australian workers are doing unpaid overtime regularly,
with 1.8 million Australians working more than 48 hours a week.

It found Australia has the highest rate - in OECD countries - of workers
staying at work for 50 hours or more a week, with 60 per cent of overtime
done in Australia unpaid. It found only 37 per cent of permanent employees
working over 41 hours a week were "explicitly paid" for extra hours worked."

(From: "Your prospects: Less money, longer hours, and harder work" Tim Dick,
Sydney Morning Herald,  June 13 2003)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/12/1055220699962.html