Retirement income: what is the future for Australian workers?

Major union slams ALP super policy

The LHMU claims Labor's new policy is naive, reports Fay Gervasoni.

Labor drawn into a superannuation trap

The ALP has again been drawn into a trap set by their political opponents in supporting so-called 'genuine choice' in superannuation, one of Australia's biggest unions declared today.

The LHMU National Council - meeting in Sydney all this week - has condemned a document released on the weekend by the Labor Party's Superannuation spokesman, Nick Sherry.

"There are just not enough safeguards in the new policy to protect workers from being ripped off by unscrupulous employers," the LHMU's spokesperson on superannuation, Brian Daley, said today.

"To pretend that this paper provides 'genuine choice' for our membership shows a dangerous level of naivety."

Brian Daley is the LHMU's National Vice-President, Victorian Branch Secretary and a member of the board of ARF and HOST-Plus - superannuation fund which include large numbers of LHMU members.

The 100 member National Council has gone through the 30 page document released by Nick Sherry and declared the Labor Party has not put forward any case for changing the sound principles on which superannuation policy is currently based.

"The discussion paper released by Nick Sherry makes the point that award regulation of superannuation has led to a stable environment in which workers' retirement savings have been managed by a low-fee structure, sound administration and investment - all protected by the award."

The LHMU represents around 130,000 hard working Australian women and men in such diverse industries as hotels, casinos, hospitality, cleaning, security, private prisons and detention centres, health care, aged care, child care and manufacturing industries.

The LHMU believes that there are many dangers in the choice of fund policy now being promoted by the ALP including:

• Greater confusion amongst workers about their superannuation and its security;
• An increase in the administration costs as all funds dramatically increase their marketing costs;
• An invitation to rogue players to enter the superannuation market; players who would rip-off the savings of many workers;
• A decrease in the ability to enforce compliance with award provisions, which currently require workers' superannuation entitlements to be regularly paid into appropriate funds.

"Our union's National Council has called on the Labor Party to put into place a policy that supports an award system which properly protects the retirement savings of all Australians, including a requirement to pay into an appropriate industry/public sector fund," Brian Daley said.

Also on the Evatt site:

• A certain fusion, by Nick Sherry;
• Workers, women & superannuation: Greg Combet and Diana Olsberg present some of the major issues.

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