THE building industry’s rostered day off system is under threat from a Federal Government attack on working conditions, a union says.

A tough new building ­industry code, to be voted on in the Senate within weeks, ­includes a clause that bans companies from signing pay deals that reduce productivity.

The generous 26 annual RDOs in the building industry are a target of the new rules, with the Master Builders ­Association saying they cost millions of dollars each year.

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But Electrical Trades Union secretary Troy Gray warns the new code will strip conditions from more than one million construction workers.

“The right to have days off, regular working hours and standard start and finish times — even days off at Christmas — are under threat,” he said.

“The RDOs are designated, gazetted days off, they are family time. They have only been won in the past 10 years or so, before that the industry was seven days a week.”

The Building and Construction Industry (Fair and Lawful Building Sites) Code 2014 will be voted on in the Senate as part of a Bill designed to reintroduce the hardline Australian Building and Construction Commission.

The code bans companies that sign union-friendly pay deals from bidding for lucrative government contracts, ­including major projects such as the East West Link.

The ETU has written this week to all Senators demanding they vote against the deal.

The Electrical Trades Union’s current pay deal ends on October 31, after which time members are legally ­allowed to strike.

The proposed code has ­delayed signing a new agreement, Mr Gray said.

Building unions won the 36-hour week 14 years ago, and the shorter regular hours ­increase their access to higher overtime pay.

Radley de Silva, chief executive officer of the Master Builders Association, said he supported the draft code and the return of the ABCC.

“Restrictive and inflexible union practices around rostered days off add millions of dollars to Victorian construction projects every year,” he said. “No one is arguing against the need for a healthy work-life balance.

“But both employers and employees should have flexibility for taking time off rather than have it imposed on them by the union.”

Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz said: “It is disappointing that the ETU is using the code as an excuse to stall on bargaining for new agreements for its members.”

stephen.drill@news.com.au