Sparkies better off working at Macca's

Electrical apprentices get less than a starter at McDonald's, a report has found. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

UNSKILLED people flipping burgers at Macca's will earn considerably more cash than first-year apprentice electricians, putting many sparkies below the poverty line.

In a submission to the upcoming Fair Work Australia Modern Award Review, the Sydney University Business School has found a electrical apprentices are only getting $7.50 an hour while an up-start at McDonald's will get $14.20.

The chronically low wages are forcing many apprentices to go elsewhere for work because they simply can't afford to make ends meet - especially if they are unsupported and living out of home.

Apprentices are also getting older, with the proportion aged 25 years or over going up from 8 per cent to 26 per cent between 1996-2006.

Report author, Sydney University Professor John Buchanan, said electrical apprentices are massively underpaid and their wages haven't been adjusted for a long time.

''If they are dependent on awards they are better off at Macca's,'' he says.

''When we got down to the gory detail I was surprised how low the pay was. I knew they were low but not that low.''

A first year apprentice under the Electrical Power Industry Modern Award gets $288.37 per week, while at Macca's they get $540.14.

''The prospects of living independently away from the parental home, even at the meagre low cost standard is beyond the reach of even second year apprentices,'' the report said.

It has called for a lift in the minimum wages and recognition of prior learning and employment for older first year apprentices who are coming from other industries.

Third-year electrician Tom Gorrie changed employers in his first year after he realising he would have had no chance of supporting his wife and child.

''When I first started I was on the award which was $7 an hour or $270 a week and there was no way I could survive on that,'' he said.

''It was pretty hard to make ends meet and I had to stay at home. I was pretty lucky I could be at home.

''If they were to pay first-years more then it would probably encourage more people to get into it. Once you get over the first years it is OK.''

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