QCH dispute enters sixth week
Why is there a community protest at the Queensland Children’s Hospital site in Brisbane, Australia? Workers are demanding a union enterprise bargaining agreement with the main contractor, Abigroup, and a clause to ensure that all workers employed by subcontractors on the site are paid the rate for the job. Almost all the workers on the site are employed by subcontractors rather than Abigroup, and rates for similar jobs with different subcontractors can vary by up to $10 an hour. How did the dispute start? It started on 6 August when a gyprocking subcontractor failed, leaving the workers...