Minimum wage for fruit pickers seen as a deterrent to best workers

The Fair Work Commission's draft decision late yesterday is seen as a blow for farmers who lobbied to maintain their access to piecework rates plus workers' right to be paid according to their efforts.

The farmers, through the National Farmers Federation, had argued that piecework rate arrangements attracted more ambitious workers and incentivised productivity.

Instead, the Australia Workers Union is claiming the decision to be an historic victory.

The AWU sought to amend the Horticulture Award to guarantee every worker is entitled to take home the minimum casual rate of pay, currently $25.41 per hour.

The union said piecework arrangements had often been exploited and claimed some pickers were earning as little as $3 per hour.

The FWC ruled in favour of the AWU finding "the existing pieceworker provisions in the Horticulture Award are not fit for purpose; they do not provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net".

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said it was one of the most significant industrial decisions of modern times.

"Fruit pickers in Australia have been routinely and systemically exploited and underpaid. Too many farmers have been able to manipulate the piece rate system to establish pay and conditions far beneath Australian standards," Mr Walton claimed.

"The changes our union proposed, and that the FWC has now accepted, will put a safety net under fruit pickers to ensure they get what every worker in Australia deserves: a fair day's pay for a fair day's work."

The decision would push many farmers' wage costs to unsustainable levels and could drive horticulture's most capable workers away from the industry, according to the NFF.

"It is a bitter blow to many farmers who are already doing the right thing, but who are right now facing another harvest with a woefully inadequate workforce," NFF chief executive officer Tony Mahar said

"Farmers want to ensure workers are paid fairly and they also want to be able to reward their most productive workers.

"The increase in wage costs, most farm's largest input, threatens to make the most productive workers unaffordable. The loss of these workers will put a handbrake on agriculture's growth, at a time when our country can least afford it," Mr Mahar said.

Mr Mahar said the NFF had long called for a more streamlined and less complex industrial relations system.

"It's unfortunate that instead of addressing the complexity of the formula required to calculate piece work rates, the commission has opted for wholesale changes that will result in greater complexity."

Mr Mahar said the NFF would now consider its next steps, which some industry analysts say could include an appeal to the High Court.

The decision also means a new requirement on employers to keep a record of all hours worked by a pieceworker for the purposes of enabling monitoring and enforcing the floor.

Growcom chief executive officer Stephen Barnard said the decision was not just a blow for many employers who will no longer able to afford to offer piecerates because they can't pay hourly rates for unproductive workers or carry the extra administration burden.

"Most significantly the decision is also another blow for individual workers within our industry who are only trying to get ahead, and who will now have far fewer employment options where they can make great money through their own hard work and initiative," he said.

"This is the second successive change the FWC has made to the Horticulture Award, against the advice of the industry, which works against the interests of workers."

Mr Barnard said in April 2019 the FWC introduced overtime provisions into the award, all in the name of "modernising" our industrial relations system by treating all industries, employers and employees exactly the same regardless of industry peculiarities, including market power and the capacity of employers to pass on higher costs of labour.

He said a Growcom survey on the impacts of overtime introduction found more than 60 per cent of employers reported staff had quit due to a reduction in their hours.

"We know for many growers labour is their most significant input cost. If they can't wear these increased costs of offering piecerates, then our real concern is that we'll see another exodus from horticulture of the most willing and motivated workers right in the middle of a severe labour shortage when we need them the most."

The Fair Work Commission has called for submissions in response to the proposed draft variation determination by November 26.

No date has been set for a final determination, or for the start of the new provisions.

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