
Issue No 24		30 July 1999

Trades Hall

Jennie George on Our Children's Future

Since 1904, Australia has had a fair and just system for the conciliation and arbitration of industrial disputes by an independent umpire, called the Industrial Relations Commission

This means workers, across most industries, have awards which contain comprehensive minimum wages and conditions of employment.

At least a third of the workforce rely solely on their award, receiving no additional payment whatsoever. This system has been central to our nation's efforts to create and maintain a fair and equitable society.

Just as our social welfare system has ensured at least a basic standard of living for those unable, for whatever reason, to participate in the paid workforce, our award system has protected those workers without significant bargaining power from the impact of pure market forces.

The "second wave" of industrial legislation now before the Parliament is designed to reduce the award safety net for the most vulnerable workers, and to weaken the ability of trade unions to represent their members in workplace bargaining.

The "second wave" proposes to:

- Strip awards back even further to basic minimum conditions, and remove important entitlements such as wage maintenance for workers injured at work, tallies and bonuses, job transfer protections and some public holidays.

- Make workers who are dependent on annual safety net wage increases wait until their award has gone through the lengthy stripping process, possibly many months, perhaps even years, before they can get their next wage increase.

- Make it easier for employers to force workers into secret, individual contracts with sub-standard wages and conditions.

- Reduce the power of the Industrial Relations Commission, the "independent umpire", to decide the issues in industrial disputes.

- Make legal industrial action virtually impossible, and increase the penalties for any other action.

This legislation is unfair, and is also inconsistent with Australia's obligations under international law. The International Labour Organisation has already found that our legislation breaches international standards in relation to collective bargaining and the right to strike.

But this is only the beginning.

Peter Reith made it clear in a letter to the Prime Minister, leaked earlier this year, that he intends to link labour market de-regulation with major reductions in the social welfare safety net.

To his way of thinking this is because if workers (particularly the low paid and those with the least bargaining power with employers) are to be coerced into accepting reduced wages and conditions, it is necessary for them to have no alternative. In other words, they would have no source of even minimal income such as social welfare benefits.

This is already the case in the United States where many workers are forced to accept wages which do not enable them to put a roof over their heads or have access to basic health care.

For Australia, Mr Reith proposed a special system of below-award "discounted" wages which would apply to the unemployed, as well as a work-for-the dole scheme to apply to anyone who has relied on benefits for six months.

The Government's obsessive pursuit of de-regulation of the economy has already resulted in private profit at the expense of public services and community benefit. Just take the Longford gas explosion as an example of how self regulation of safety standards can result in a major disaster that costs lives. Labour market de-regulation is no different.

Peter Reith's de-regulation is about treating human beings as commodities, inevitably leading to even greater divisions between the poor and the more well-off.

That's not the Australia we have known, and it's not what we want for our children's future.

NSW unions will rally against the Reith Second Wave on August 24 outside the PM's office in Phillip Street

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  Issue 24 contents

Interview: The Man in the Hot Seat
WorkCover general manger John Grayson cut his teeth in the trade union movement. Now he�s trying to save the state�s workers compensation scheme.

Unions: Turning Up The Heat: Bush Fire Officers Seek Award Justice
"We want an award for the job that we do, not the job other people want us to do". Donald Bushby, and his fellow Fire Control Officers, know what they want. It's simple: an award for FCO's and deputy FCO's, an award that recognises who they are, the job they do, the pressures they have to live with.

International: The Virtual Labour Congress
International trade unions are launching an online debate on Labour in the 21th century.

Legal: The Source of the Issue
Recent legal developments place the spotlight on the outsourcing of government activities.

Review: The Split that Changed a Nation
A new book looks at the Cold War ALP split that redefined politics in this country.

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
Read the latest issue of Labour Review, Labor Council's resource for unionists.

Satire: Man Takes Home Pay - More Pokies Needed
The NSW government has expressed concern following the release of a second report by the Productivity Commission which shows that a majority of employed people still spend their pay on luxury items such as food and clothing for their family.

» Sixty Cents A Week to Protect Entitlements

» Workers Comp � The Rorts Have to Stop

» Steggles Roasted Over Family-Busting Policies

» Youth Worker Death Prompts Safety Fears

» Rail Security Guards Miss Danger Spots

» New South Coast Labor Body Seeks Recognition

» Howard Ministers, Employment Advocate in the Dock

» Management Vandals Take to Sydney Water

» Boston Fiddles While Teachers Burn

» Lundy to Star in Workers Online Net Night

» STOP PRESS - Firefighters Seek End To Safety Apartheid