June 2012.pdf - RCSA

PRESIDENT’s REPORT
Lincoln Crawley FRCSA
A
large part of my role as President is focused
on working with stakeholders to further the
interests of our industry. And in a tough
business environment, as well as an unstable
political climate, that focus is more important
than ever.
We are proud of the progress we have made
in increasing the professionalism of the industry
and improving the relevance of the RCSA to its
members. But I’d like to take a few moments to
focus on what is becoming a serious threat to
the staffing side of our industry.
One of the biggest challenges our industry
faces right now is a concerted push, by a small
number of union interests, against what they like
to call “insecure work”. Their “inquiry” into this
issue is purported to be independent – even
though it is run by a former senior Labor figure,
Brian Howe, and even though RCSA was rejected
in our multiple attempts to engage with the
inquiry’s organisers. In fact, any engagement
with business and employer groups is glaringly
absent from the inquiry.
Nonetheless, the campaign to which this
inquiry is attached – the ACTU’s Secure Work
campaign, is concerning for a number of reasons.
The ACTU is focused, it says, on the “forty per
cent of workers [who] are engaged in insecure
work arrangements such as casual work, fixed
term work, contracting or labour hire”.
And there’s the problem: the union campaign
sweeps non-traditional work of every type into
one large bundle. It assumes highly-paid IT
contractors, for example, are in the same
position as minimum-wage casual cleaning staff.
The RCSA doesn’t deny that some insecure
jobs exist, but labeling all non-traditional work
models as “insecure”, is misleading at best. It takes
a complex workforce model, then lumps it all
under the emotive name of “insecure work”.
We, as RCSA members, know the value of the
agency work we provide, and the important role
it plays in giving both businesses and employees
flexibility. But we don’t expect policy makers to
simply take our word for it – which is why our
global body, Ciett, commissioned a landmark
report to demonstrate the economic and social
value of agency work.
If you attended the RCSA’s launch of the report
in April, you would have heard Steve Shepherd,
Australia’s Ciett Board member, share the highlights
of the report. It’s full of great content, but one of
the key findings is that private employment
agencies deliver decent work to individuals,
and help match and develop the skills needed
in labour markets. And it provides plenty of
data and modeling to prove it.
This is the kind of robust and fact-based
argument we need to arm ourselves with in the
face of criticism from either unions or governments.
And while we are engaged with government on
both sides of the Tasman, the message from them
is clear – in God we trust, all others bring facts.
So that we can bring these facts about the
Australia and NZ market to our policy makers,
I continue to ask you, our members, to make a
concerted effort to provide us with data where
we need it. Steve Granland will soon share with
you our plans for a member research project,
which will be facilitated by an independent third
party to ensure confidentiality, which I urge you
to support.
The importance of jobs in both our local
and the global economy is paramount. In fact,
the latest report from the International Labour
Organisation calls on governments to place
job creation at the top of the policy agenda.
It also calls out the importance of ensuring that
unemployed people, especially youth, receive
adequate support to find new jobs. That’s what
our industry is in the business of doing – finding
people jobs. We need to make collaboration and
consultation with policymakers a priority not just
for our own businesses but for the broader
economy as well.
We will continue to track these and other
important policy issues at RCSA Board level,
and will keep you updated on our responses
as we create them.
What I’d ask you to do, as an industry, is to
make yourself acquainted with the Ciett report,
and be prepared to act as an advocate for the
great work we do and the positive impact it has.
And, of course, fill in those surveys when we
send them to you!
Lincoln Crawley FRCSA
RCSA President, Australia and New Zealand
What I’d ask you
to do ... is to make
yourself acquainted
with the Ciett report,
and be prepared to
act as an advocate
for the great work
we do and the
positive impact it has.
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