
Issue No 54		19 May 2000

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Politics

Jeff Shaw's Second Wave

The full text of the NSW Industrial Relations Minister's speech to Labor Council announcing the Carr Government's IR reform agenda.


	Jeff Announces his Reforms to Labor Council

In 1996 the Carr Government introduced Labor's Industrial Relations Act 1996 - the cornerstone of industrial relations in NSW.

The Act replaced the Greiner Government's widely condemned legislation and stood in defiance of the Federal Government's undisguised attack on organised labour and workers' rights.

The Carr Government, through its industrial relations legislation:

- ensured an active role for the independent umpire, the Industrial Relations Commission

- required that awards be reviewed every three years

- linked enterprise agreements with the award system

- applied the "no net detriment" test which ensured that no enterprise agreement can, in the aggregate, deliver worse pay and conditions than the relevant award.

In short, NSW Labor stood as the bulwark against the Reith waves of regressive reforms. For the majority of our 1st term, the 1996 IR legislation provided the only fair and productive industrial relations system in the country.

Labor, the political wing and industrial wing, are reaping the rewards. With the election of the Beattie Government, the Queensland Labor Government came to NSW and sought our advise on how best to model an IR system. With the election of the Bracks Government, the Victorian Labor Government came to NSW and sought our advise on how to model an IR system.

NSW's has provided the industrial relations blueprint for the eastern seaboard of Australia. Now Labor Government's in four States are thwarting the Federal Government's agenda to undermine workers' rights and have set up or are seeking to set up practical and broadly supported industrial relations models.

The second term Carr Government went to the electorate with the promise of building and fine-tuning its achievements and with the promise that we would address certain outstanding injustices in the workplace.

We have built and fine-tuned. Latest figures from the NSW Industrial Relations Commission show:

- Awards and agreements filed in the year to December 1999 have increased 93% to 1,925

- OH&S prosecutions have increased 42 per cent to 315

A bill to amend the Industrial Relations Act 1996 is currently being drafted and we hope to have it before Parliament this session.

The Bill will, among other matters:

� Give the IndustriaI Relations Commission the power to declare that particular classes of independent contractors are in fact employees and therefore entitled to all the rights and conditions that that entails. This is a key amendment which is designed to address the evasion of employee status by certain employers. It is also designed to keep the industrial relations system relevant to the growing incidence of work performed outside the traditional employment relationship. In an era of changing work relationships it is vital that our system is organic and takes into account change. The danger is that if we dont, conservative forces will use the opportunity to erode the conditions of working women and men.

� Entitle union officials to give 24 hours notice to employers rather than the current 48 hours before entering a workplace to investigate suspected breaches. Where employee records are maintained away from their place of business, the employer has 48 hours to produce those records

� Enable some employees covered by a Federal award to bring unfair dismissal claims before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission

� Prohibit the sacking of an injured worker while he or she is on accident pay. The Reith agenda of award simplification has led to the removal from some Federal awards of provisions protecting injured workers from dismissal. We would hope that this will provide some protection to Federal award employees who have had this basic right denied

� Give unions the opportunity to become a party to a non-union enterprise agreement where a single member covered by the proposed agreement has requested the union to do so

There are other areas of reform we are progressing or have progressed.

A key recommendation of the Pay Equity report is that the NSW Industrial Relations Commission develop a new Equal Remuneration Principle to guide the valuing of work and the setting of remuneration. The decision by the Commission is currently reserved. Assisting in the development of that principle was a 1999 election promise.

Before the House is a Bill to amend the Anti Discrimination Act to include family responsibilities. An election promise. This will mean that employees forced to take time off to care for a parent, partner or child will be protected from discrimination in the workplace. Employers will be required to reasonably accommodate the needs of employees who responsible for the care of a family member unless it can be shown that it would cause unjustifiable hardship to the employer.

As part of the Industrial Relations amendment Bill, parental leave will be extended to long-term casuals - those who have worked for the same employer for 24 months. An election promise.

The recommendations of the Upper House inquiry into work safety have or are being implemented. An election promise.

We have also added another 25 safety inspector positions to WorkCover making it by far the largest in the country. In the last three years, there has been a 126% increase in the number of prosecutions finalised - an increase from 297 in 1995/96 to 672 recorded for 1998/99.

In other areas, legislation is being prepared to protect outworkers by focussing greater responsibility on companies at the top of the clothing production chain to ensure that the garments they supply are made in accordance with NSW labour standards. An election promise.

The Government, as you know, in its submission to the Industrial Relations Commission, supported the Labor Council's claim for a $15 wage rise in the State Wage Case.

An inquiry is being held into the employment conditions of the transport industry chaired by Professor Quinlan.

With regard to privacy and in particular the privacy of employee email communications and the right of unions to access employer email systems to disseminate trade union information, a Law Reform Commission report on surveillance with a view to legislation should be handed down later this year.

However, after representations by your Secretary, Michael Costa, I have decided to try to speed the process. I have asked the NSW Privacy Commissioner to develop guidelines for the monitoring of email in NSW workplaces.

With regard to right of union access to workplace email bulletin boards, I have asked for legal advise on the State's ability to legislate on this issue as it may be impeded by the fact that it is covered by the Federal Telecommunications Act. Nevertheless, I believe there is a possible way forward for unions by negotiating such rights through industrial instruments. And, where possible, I would encourage you to do so.

You can expect some further announcements in the near future which will address some legitimate concerns of the trade union movement. One of those being an inquiry into labour hire firms and the legal status of their workers.

The Inquiry will seek to clarify the relationship between labour hire companies and host employers and give direction as to employer and employee rights and responsibilites, including occupational health and safety responsibilities.

This is another example of the NSW industrial relations system having the flexibility to adapt to changing work patterns.

We came to Government in 1999 with your support and we came with election promises in the industrial relations arena. These have been delivered , or are in the process of being delivered.

On a personal note, I came to Government in 1995 with the promise that my office would be open to the trade union movement. I believe, I certainly hope, that that promise has been kept in good faith.

In 2000, I repeat that pledge and say that my office remains open to the trade union movement, the Labor Council and its affiliates, and I will seek to address any issues of importance to the best of my ability.

View entire issue - print all of the articles!

Issue 54 contents

Interview: South of the Border
Victorian Trades Hall chief Leigh Hubbard on life under Bracks, militant unionism and why more people march in Melbourne.

Politics: Jeff Shaw's Second Wave
The full text of the NSW Industrial Relations Minister's speech to Labor Council announcing the Carr Government's IR reform agenda.

Unions: Reith's Laws: Just Say NO
The ACTU has called on Labor and the Democrats to reject Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's anti-industry bargaining Workplace Relations 2000 Bill out right.

History: A Breed Of Their Own
Labour historian Greg Patmore explains what makes his fraternity tick - and why they're still going strong and making history.

International: Sony's Asian Showdown
The Japanese electronic giant Sony is threatening to shutdown production facilities in Indonesia - where a prolonged strike has cost it US$200milliom - and move to next door Malaysia where electronic workers are banned from forming a union.

Human Rights: Good Guys, Bad Guys
Everywhere we look -in our newspapers, on the television, in reports by business leaders, academics and politicians - advocacy of human rights seems to be on a collision course with governmental and business interests.

Review: New Workers, New Challenges
A new wave of thought is arguing that working life is changing - but this doesn't necessarily deal unions out the action.

Satire: Rain Man Withdraws Endorsement of Qantas
After the third major safety incident in the space of a year, Qantas has lost the confidence of the most famous public supporter of its once unblemished safety record, the autistic star of Rain Man, Raymond.

» Carr Moves on Casuals

» Democrats Wavering on Reith Bill

» Exit Visas for Child Care Workers

» GST Pay Claims to Target Allowances

» Tide Turns On Competitive Tendering

» Joy Takes Message To The World

» Mines Out as Rio Tinto Torps Talks

» Political Economy for Activists, 2000

» Unions March for Reconciliation

» STOP PRESS: AK-47s used in coup against union-aligned Fiji Labour Government