Issue No 121 | 30 November 2001 | |
NewsMonk's Mad Power Grab from States
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott's plans to wipe out unfair dismissal rights for a large section of the workforce include an audacious attempt to over-ride state industrial laws. New Labor IR spokesman Robert McClelland says the proposal to use corporations power to override state industrial laws is in the small-print of the Coalition election policy. Abbott has signalled the assault on unfair dismissal rights for employees in small businesses will be a cornerstone of his next wave of IR deregulation. The Labor Opposition has signalled it will oppose the bill, despite the Howard Government's latest attempt to use the issue to drive a wedge between Labor and the unions. SDA state secretary Greg Donnelly is leading the charge against the laws amongst unions and wants new Opposition leader Simon Crean to state he will oppose the changes outright. "The underlying principle is clear and I would have thought generally accepted in our society," Donnelly says, "Asn injustice is and injustice no matter how large or small the employer." NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson says the attempt to override state law is the sting in the tail to the proposal. "We have always worked to protect the integrity of the state industrial system and it will take more than a constitutional swiftie for Abbott to get his hands on NSW," Robertson says.
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Interview: Back to the Battle Federal Labor's new industrial relations spokesman Robert McClelland outlines the challenges for the next three years. Politics: The Baby and the Bath Water ACTU secretary Greg Combet gives his take on the debate over the ALP's relations with the union movement. Unions: We're Solid Bradon Ellem charts the history of the Pilbara dispute, and finds a revitalised grass-roots unionism challenging BHP's individual contracts bulldozer Organising: Benidgo Pioneer Comes Up Trumps ACTU Delegate of the Year, Leonie Saunders, is living proof of the way unions are adapting to life under the strictures of a hostile Government. Technology: India: Cricket, Computers and Corruption Russell Lansbury cuts through the hype to look out the so-called hi-tech revolution on the sub-continent. International: Soul Searching The party of labour in Canada � the NDP - is right now undergoing a massive struggle for its heart and soul. History: A Timeless Debate The ALP and unions - it's a debate that's raged for years as this extract from a 1947 Lloyd Ross pamplet shows. Review: In Fear of Security Launching his new book, Anthony Burke argues that the cry of "security" is the last refuge of the political scoundrel
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