Building sector faces higher union costs

Sky News Investigations Reporter Jonathan Lea has revealed that union enforced rules can see some workers doing exactly the same jobs, being rewarded with potentially thousands of dollars in extra payments each week. The staggering hidden costs of union-controlled construction are strangling businesses and Australia's economic prosperity, according to Meriton Group Managing Director Harry Triguboff. The Electrical Trades Union's latest confidential enterprise agreement has detailed a lift in wages by seven per cent this year and a further ten per cent over the following two years, with a weekly base salary starting at $739 for a first year apprentice and $2970 a week for a grade ten electrician. Sky News can reveal on top of the salaries comes a bevy of allowances adding hundreds if not thousands of dollars each week to a member's wage, starting with a site allowance. The higher a project is costed, the more a worker makes. On a smaller $100 million to $200 million site it's an extra $3.50 every hour, and on a major project over $1 billion and it's an extra $11.00 an hour for the same skills.