Mature-age workers thrown out like broken toys
Australian construction unions believe that there should be set quotas of older workers allowed on major government building sites in order to stop what they call “the days of mature-age workers being thrown out like broken toys”.
The national secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, Dave Noonan, said that “what’s needed is a new approach – one that recognises that construction workers may have a limit on the physical strain they can place on their bodies, but there is no limit to their capacity to build excellence through sharing their experience, knowledge and skills”.
“The days of mature-age workers being thrown out like broken toys must end as part of the resolution to tackle the demographic time-bomb, but also as a matter of social justice.
Just as we require enforceable targets on apprentices, so do we need to start arguing for quotas of mature-age workers on all major projects,” Mr Noonan said.
Australian building workers aged 45 to 54 account today for 20.1% of their workforce compared to 22.2% of that age range employed in all industries. Those aged 55 to 64 represent 11.6% compared with an overall 12.7%, and those aged 65 and over represent 1.6% compared with a total 2.3% for all industries.
