UNIONS and state labour councils will hold a national week of action at the end of June in protest against the Federal Government’s planned industrial relations changes
UNIONS and state labour councils will hold a national week of action at the end of June in protest against the Federal Government’s planned industrial relations changes.
The week of action, which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of workers participating in rallies, stop work meetings and protest marches, is the first stage of a campaign to oppose major industrial relations reforms.
A meeting of a special ACTU national campaign committee of Australia’s largest unions and state labour councils agreed that the priority was to oppose a national industrial relations system, along with plans to remove conditions from awards, water down unfair dismissal laws, promote individual contracts instead of collective bargaining and change the way the minimum wage is set.
The national week of protest will also be supported by the Victorian Trades Hall with community rallies in football stadiums, video hook-ups of delegates and meetings in individual workplaces.
ACTU president Sharan Burrow said the week of action was scheduled for 27 June to 3 July, which coincides with the Federal Government’s gaining control of the Senate on 1 July.
The Federal Government had no mandate for the changes, she said, and predicted unions would continue to campaign long after 1 July.
Unions have proposed levying members to establish a fighting fund for a three-year campaign up to the next federal election, encouraging workers to vote at the ballot box.
“Nobody is powerless in a democracy. It is the Australian people who can say to the government this is not what we think makes for a fairer Australia,” Burrow said.
The Federal Government, however, questioned the effectiveness of union campaigns to try and oppose industrial relations reform.
“This is yet another predictable and inaccurate campaign by the ACTU,” said Kevin Andrews, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. “This campaign is no different to the inaccurate campaigns waged against the original Workplace Relations Act in 1996.”
Soon after the Workplace Relations Act commenced, the then shadow minister, Bob McMullan, in a speech to the Australian Industrial Relations Society, laid down five criteria by which it should be assessed.
He asked whether it would lead to fewer disputes; more jobs; fairer distribution of wages; higher productivity; and a low inflation, low interest rate environment.
Minister Andrews said the Workplace Relations Act has passed all of these tests, which begged the question of exactly what it is that the ACTU plans to campaign against.
“The Government will maintain all these features of the current system so that Australian workers are even better off,” he said.
Business groups also questioned the effectiveness of the union campaign, arguing that it was illogical to protest before the ACTU knew the details of planned legislation.
“Industry has no difficulty with proper democratic opposition or protest to policies of governments, but any interference with the lawful conduct of industry is unjustified and quite counter-productive,” said Peter Anderson, director of workplace policy at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
