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Issue No. 304 | 28 April 2006 |
Canaries in the Coalmine
Interview: Head On Unions: Do You Have a Moment? Industrial: Vital Signs Economics: Taxing Times Environment: It Ain�t Necessarily So History: Melbourne�s Hours Immigration: Opening the Floodgates Review: Pollie Fiction Poetry: The Cabal
Revealed: Bosses Told To Blame Howard New Front on High Court Attack Mining Vigil at Day of Mourning Canberra Confidential, Andrews on the Run
Politics Politics The Soapbox Postcard The Locker Room Obituary
Belly Battles Answer is Easy
Labor Council of NSW |
News New Front on High Court Attack
Lawyers for the unions have told Workers Online they will argue that there is no grounds for using a power over corporations to impose rules on the internal workings of state-based unions, such as internal elections.
Unions NSW legal adviser Jeff Shaw said that while the unions were backing the NSW government's challenge of the Corporations power, the secondary argument would dictate the legal status of state branches. "In the first place, we argue that the corporations power is inadequate to operate the industrial relation system generally," Shaw says. "It was never the intent - Corporations Power aim was to regulate the core functions of trading corporations, not to obliterate state industrial relations powers, particularly where specific industrial relations powers exist elsewhere in the constitution. "But alternatively, we argue that even if the Corporations P-ower does allow regulation of a corporation's workforce -, the power would not extend the power to regulate internal affairs of organisations which have industrial relations dealing with that corporation." "If this is right, that section can not be severed by the broad scheme, because it is integral to broad scheme that the Commonwealth can regulate internal affairs of parties dealing with regulations. "So even if the corporation power stands, it can not cover internal affairs of unions dealing with a corporation because this takes corporations to a universal coverage of every aspect of a nation's life. Despite pundits claiming that the High Court challenge was doomed to failure, Shaw remains up beat. "There is a respectable argument to be put - most constitutional cases are decided by narrow majorities and this will be no different. "It would be foolish for anyone to predict that outcome of this case at a very early stage."
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