RESTORING A FAIR GO FOR WORKERS – WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE?

It is clear that Howard’s industrial relations laws will be a key issue at the 2007 federal election - thanks largely to a successful campaign by the Union movement highlighting how the laws have stripped workers of rights.

This is despite the fact that a relatively healthy labour market, confusion around the new laws and who is covered by them and the reluctance of many employers to use the new laws particularly where they have a Unionised workforce means the full effect of the laws is yet to be seen.

It is clear that should the Howard Government win the election many employers will use the new laws against their workers. A combination of competitive pressures to reduce wages and federal government encouragement/coercion through funding and access to Government contracts will spread the effects of these new laws to every workplace in the country.

As well as opposing the laws, the Union movement has developed positive principles for restoring a fair go to Australian workplaces. We will be asking the opposition parties and particularly the Labor Party to adopt these principles for the federal election.

The principles are -

• the establishment of a decent, relevant and enforceable safety net of minimum wages and conditions;
• the right for workers to collectively bargain and make collective agreements;
• not allowing individual contracts to be used to undercut established minimum wages and conditions (or collective agreements where they exist);
• workers being protected from arbitrary and capricious decision making and having the ability to have grievances including those over dismissal dealt with by an independent tribunal with the power to hear and determine such grievances;
• the recognition of the rights of workers to belong to and be represented by a Union and the establishment of rights and protections for Union workplace Representatives;
• the establishment of a system which promotes secure safe and healthy workplaces that are free from discrimination and harassment.

Your Union has been involved in the development of these principles and supports them and voted in favour of the policy based on these principles at the recent ACTU Congress. The adoption of laws based on these principles is essential if we are to restore the concept of a fair go in Australian workplaces.

Laws based on such principles are worth fighting and voting for.

ANDY DENNARD
BRANCH SECRETARY

The policy document is available for downloading below.

Download File:
ACTU Congress 2006 Industrial Relations Legislation Policy [ pdf ]