Kathryn Bermingham | Why no one should win a bonus for just doing their job

With workers at an Adelaide crane firm collecting a swag of allowances under a new CFMEU agreement, Kathryn Bermingham asks, how low has the bar been set?

A new enterprise agreement that rewards workers at an Adelaide business for showing up on time and wearing the correct uniform begs the question: how low has the bar been set?

In what was described as a “productivity-based wage rate structure” implemented to “maximise productivity”, workers at Wingfield firm Crane Services will earn a base wage plus a swag of bonus allowances.

Some are entirely justifiable. Depending on the circumstances, employees may be entitled to a “site allowance” of up to $6/hour, as well as a multistorey allowance for working at heights.

Those with extra responsibility can earn a responsibility allowance or a first aid allowance, and workers may be entitled to be paid meal allowance or a travel allowance to make their way to and from project sites.

If they are paid any of those allowances, workers are being compensated for a particular job or for a duty beyond the scope of their usual role.

But, under a deal brokered by the John Setka-led CFMEU after tense negotiations, staff at Crane Services also collect a “performance allowance” of $10/day.

This allowance is in a different category to the rest.

Put simply, it rewards workers for meeting the most basic requirements of the job.

As well as showing up on time and wearing the correct uniform, employees must complete dockets and documentation, fill-out log books appropriately, report incidents and be courteous with clients and other employees.

They must not smoke or vape in company vehicles, and must fuel and clean the crane on return to the yard.

In other industries, such a bonus would be laughable.

In most jobs, punctuality is non-negotiable and repeated lateness could land you in a lot of trouble.

Crane Services workers launched industrial action in November after company director John Nicholls said an agreement proposed by the union “would put control of our business in the hands of the CFMEU”. Picture: Matt Loxton

Yet these workers can top up their annual pay packets by more than $2300 annually just by meeting the standards we reasonably expect in the workplace.

For Crane Services, which management has said employs 78 people in total, that will be no small expense.

And, while both company director John Nicholls and the CFMEU said they were pleased with the agreement, others in the industry would be watching on with a level of concern.

As Master Builders Association SA chief executive Will Frogley warned this week, not all businesses will be able to agree to similar terms.

“Construction is a massive industry and each business is different,” he said.

When Mr Setka formally took over the South Australian branch of the union last August, industry chiefs and developers raised fears a more aggressive union would drive up the cost of construction.

The CFMEU said those fears were unfounded, and a more strong and stable union would benefit the whole sector.

But the Crane Services agreement, struck after a lengthy stand-off, shows the union will do what it takes to get what it wants.

Originally published as Kathryn Bermingham | Why no one should win a bonus for just doing their job