The Federal Government has agreed with the states to develop a uniform national licensing system for occupational trades, one that will allow people to find work across borders without having to meet different requirements.
Kevin Rudd and the state Labor premiers signed a contract last week on consistent arrangements in order that trade workers may be able to move freely without having to apply for new licences.
The deal states that national trades licences for construction workers, bus and truck drivers, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, maritime employees and property agents and conveyancers are the priority.
In the high-demand building industry, special uniform trades licences have been identified for carpenters, electricians, plumbers, glaziers, tilers and joiners.
However, the Government and the states have left unresolved the pressing issue of training qualifications for below trades level, despite the perpetual demand to resolve labour shortages.
Also an issue, argues the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), is that references to carpenters being part of the deal were confused. Assistant national secretary of CFMEU, Lindsay Fraser, stressed that workers in high-risk occupations needed licences.
He went on to say that carpenters, and many other workers in major construction, were not required to have them, and said that only electricians and plumbers were required to have licences under present rules.
The CFMEU has been fighting an enduring battle to prevent any moves to have training courses with trades qualifications that run less than the present apprenticeship requirements of four years.
Two years ago the Howard government first launched the idea of addressing skills shortages by having shorter courses for below trades-level jobs, such as rigging, concreting and scaffolding.
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, is ostensibly committed to such a scheme, but progress has been sluggish due to unions resisting any moves that could push them out of the state-based competency standards system.
Leader of the Electrical Trades Union, Dean Mighell, said he supported a national licensing initiative, as long as it was not used to undermine presently-functional state standards.
Mr Mighell said that unions would strongly resist any move proposed by the former Howard government to "gut the apprenticeship system" by introducing courses with a duration of less than four years.
