It's not a pretty picture

Date: 30 July 2007

Imagine working for US$2.50 an hour, or working two jobs and only having one weeks' paid leave a year.

Three hard working low paid Americans are visiting Australia over the next two weeks to warn of the dangers of heading down the United States path to an economy based on jobs with low wages where working families struggle to afford housing, healthcare and basic living costs.

Reality of cleaners' lives in the USA

For Allen, Iris and Dolores - who all have cleaners jobs in the USA but often have to take other jobs to make ends meet - this is their reality.

Union members hearing the stories of US low-paid workers

It is all part of a grassroots community campaign against the Howard Government's unfair IR laws which is heading in to its final weeks leading up to the Federal election expected in October.

Meeting with church and community workers

Iris Flores is a 36 year old full time bus driver from North Charleston, South Carolina who earns US$11 an hour and also works part time as a cleaner for US$8 an hour to make ends meet. Iris has three children & lives in a trailer home. She has no paid annual leave, no paid sick leave and cannot afford health insurance.

Allen White is 41 and works full time as a day porter/cleaner for a building complex in Charleston, South Carolina for US$9 an hour. After tax and pension contributions, he takes home just US$220 a week, has no paid sick leave and despite being at the same firm for ten years, has only five days paid annual leave.

Dolores McCoy is a 74 year old cleaner from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who benefits from a union agreement that covers her workplace. She cleans 21 floors of an office five nights a week and earns US$13 an hour, has 4 weeks paid annual leave, ten days sick leave, health insurance and a pension fund.

Workers tour begins in Perth

"But they also provide a warning that life could get a lot tougher for Australian working families.

"Our safety net of award wages and conditions is being undermined and individual contracts are becoming more widespread under the Howard Government's industrial relations laws.

Working families lose entitlements as company profits soar

"If the Liberals are re-elected it is likely the IR laws will become even less fair and the rights and entitlements that unions have fought for in the past will slowly but surely be eroded," said Ms Burrow. The US workers touring round Australia are sharing their stories about what life is like for them back in the States.

Watch ABC TV's 7.30 Report

Watch Allen, Iris and Dolores' story on 7.30 Report, ABC, on Tuesday night (July 31).

It's a timely reminder about what could happen to us here in Australia if we keep going down John Howard's path of individual contracts driving down pay and conditions, with workers feeling more and more insecure, afraid to speak up.

For further information

WWW:	http://www.actu.asn.au/

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