LHMU News
'Cleaners on top for value to society' - report on nef research in The Australian
"He is paid a fraction of a doctor's salary, yet hospital cleaner Jim Anderson reckons his work is just as important. If you're not doing your job properly, infection can spread and people can die."
Jim Anderson is a Canberra hospital cleaner. His story and the above quote feature in a report on the new research by the New Economics Foundation in today's Australian newspaper.
Although the research comes from Britain, the paper reports LHMU's National Secretary Louise Tarrant says the findings are just as valid in Australia, "where Fair Work Australia denied a pay rise to the nation's 1.3 million lowest paid workers in this year".
The paper quotes Louise Tarrant: "Our value system has become very skewed".
"When the highest-paid in our society have wrought such damage and despair on our economy, why should they be considered to be worth more than those who every day contribute something positive?"
The Australian also reports that Mr Anderson earns $17 an hour, juggling three cleaning jobs, seven days a week.
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Source: The Australian, 18 Dec 09, p. 5.
