E D I T O R I A L

Unfair and Dismal
As the credibility of the Howard Government sunk under lies and conceit this week, Tony Abbott � for a moment - looked uncharacteristically subdued.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: If Not Now, When?
New Labor Council organiser Adam Kerslake talks about his plans to bring unions back to basics.

Activists: Fighting Back
Jim Marr talks to Keysar Trad, a unionist who's left the security of the Tax Office for a much bigger challenge.

Industrial: Croon And Divide
Fly a kite, obfuscate the issues, divide your opponents and continue to hammer people: the one-card-trick Howard Government�s latest kite is unfair dismissal reports Noel Hester.

Politics: Politics of Extinction
Trade unionism is a spent force; a dinosaur. This alleged truism is often heard these days, in one form or another. Rowan Cahill unpacks the lie.

History: Harry Bridges: International Labour Hero
Zoe Reynolds marks the centenary of the birth of an Australian waterfront worker who went on to lead one of America's largest unions.

International: Rats in the Ranks
The relationship between Britain�s Blair Labour Government and the union movement has hit a new low, as Andrew Casey reports.

Review: Follow The Fence, Find The Truth
Tara de Boehmler reviews a new flick that sheds light on the debate around the Stolen Generation.

Satire: Howard Screws Refugee Kids: G-G Turns Blind Eye
Startling claims that Prime Minister John Howard screwed refugee children prior to the last election, and also during a hunger strike at Woomera, have been dismissed by the Governor-General Peter Hollingworth.

Poetry: Let It Be
When a certain former Minister for Defence visited England recently, he met Sir Paul McCartney. The former Beatle thought there was something strange about him, but he didn't say anything. He decided to just Let It Be.

N E W S

Building Workers' Bid to Win Back Lives

Dog-Tired � Long Hours Leave Beagles Buggered

Home Care Workers Reject Sweat

Building Commission's Costly Spin

Caltex Asked To Explain Price Hikes

Palm Sunday Resurrected for Refugees

Dismissals: Labor Blocks The Lot

Company Collapses: Union Wants Bank Powers

Women Wanted for Wharf

Sanity Returns to the West

Big Brother Raises Hackles

Legal Action to Block Job Exports

New Dawn for Dili Workers

Councils Targeted in Contracting Campaign

CFMEU Constructs Lebanese Bridge

Israeli Aircraft Destroy Most Of Palestinian Union HQ

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Shorten's Suite
AWU national secretary Bill Shorten outlines his vision for unionism - from the relations with the ALP to its efforts to regain the heartland.

The Locker Room
Bunnies in the Headlights
Despite their triumphant return to the League, Souths story won't be the last example of tradition being trampled, writes Jim Marr.

Week in Review
Tories in Turmoil
With a constitutional crisis and a dangling mandate, it was compelling viewing for the Howard jeer squad.

L E T T E R S

WHAT YOU CAN DO

	About Workers Online
	Latest Issue
	Print Latest Issue
	Previous Issues
	Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation

Croon And Divide

	Croon and Divide

'Employers will decide who works here and the circumstances in which they can do so,' might well be preamble to the latest legal atrocity coming out of the Mad Monk's office.

For the third time Tony Abbott has brought back legislation with the beautifully Orwellian title 'the Fair Dismissal Bill' which will allow employers with 20 employees or less to get rid of staff pretty well on a whim. With it he has rehashed the tired and discredited assertion that it will create an extra 50,000 jobs. (Hallelujah! A miracle!)

Stripped of Coalition doublespeak the truth is of course grimmer and more spiteful. Exempting small business from unfair dismissal laws would remove the rights and job security of millions of workers who could be sacked for no reason. Women and young workers, casuals and part timers - that is, the most vulnerable in the workplace - will bear the brunt of Abbott's malevolence.

Abbott's new law is based on two dodgy assumptions:

Abbott Bull One: Unfair dismissal laws are a major burden on small business

The reality: less than 0.3% of small businesses experience federal unfair dismissal claims annually. Over 90% of the 2,800 small business unfair dismissal claims lodged on average each year in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission are settled by agreement or do not proceed. Now people can represent themselves in the AIRC and lawyers are not required.

Abbott Bull Two: unfair dismissal laws inhibit jobs growth:

Yet a unanimous Full Bench of the Federal Court has ruled: 'In the absence of any evidence about the matter, it seems to us the suggestion of a relationship between unfair dismissal laws and employment inhibition is unproven.' (Hamzy v Tricon International Restaurants trading as KFC). And in the last comprehensive Federal Government survey, only 0.9% of small businesses gave unfair dismissal laws as a reason for not hiring staff.

This is backed up by polls the ACTU recently conducted among small business in two Liberal heartlands, Tony Abbott's own electorate of Warringah and in Mr G.S.T. Costello's Higgins seat.

Both surveys found the lack of need or insufficient work as the reasons for small business not recruiting more staff. (79% of respondents in Warringah, 72% in Higgins). Asked if their reasons for not hiring were "other" than those listed, not one respondent in either survey cited unfair dismissal laws.

Both polls highlighted the obvious - the GST remains by a long way the main Government policy concern of small business.

A Lullaby of Hate

ACTU President Sharan Burrow says Abbotts's latest foray has nothing to do with solving the problems of small business nor is it an attempt to increase employment.

'The modus operandi behind this new law to sack people unfairly is becoming all too familiar: fly a kite, obfuscate the issues, divide your opponents and continue to hammer people. Ultimately it would divide workers into tiers: those in large enterprises who would have rights and those in small businesses who would have no rights. And, of course, there is the obvious and real reason behind the screen - a futile attempt to drive a wedge between the union movement and the ALP.'

'This Government is always about division. With refugees they've managed to divide not only the electorate but even the armed forces. With this bill they're trying to divide workers and their representatives. Howard and Abbott, like two crooners in harmony, like to sing populist tunes. But this government really sings a lullaby of hate - against refugees, the unemployed, republicans, single mothers, unions, indigenous people. At the end of each verse you have to ask yourself: who's next?'

The ACTU is campaigning with a coalition of community, union, student and advocacy groups to have the Bill defeated in the Senate. For more information including materials to download go to http://www.actu.asn.au/vunions/actu/article.cfm?objectid=4C0E03F0-F67C-4E7B-834AD8A46F37F51B

   Visit the ACTU

  View entire issue - print all of the articles!

  Issue 125 contents

  Email this page to a friend

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/125/b_tradeunion_abbott.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005