3-29-06, 8:55 am
Other “criminal acts” under the legislation carry even higher fines or jail sentences for non-compliance with orders. Wages are set to fall, jobs are even less secure and awards and enterprise agreements will be gutted. The Howard Government is deregulating the workforce – for the employers, and to do so workers and trade unions will be regulated as never before. Not just in what they cannot do; workers and union officials will also be gagged and subjected to visits from workplace inspectors.
Never before in Australia have there been so many prohibitions on workers and trade unions.
“These laws are an affront to basic Australian democratic rights. They impose harsh fines on Australian workers and unions simply for standing up for fundamental values like job security and fair treatment for employees”, said Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Greg Combet.
Employer bodies are licking their lips, ecstatic that the Howard Government has at last delivered on the next stage of their anti-worker, union-bashing agenda. “Unions can’t expect to use old fashioned industrial muscle to get around the legislative provisions of WorkChoices”, pronounced Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Peter Hendy.
Monday, March 27 was Black Monday for trade unions, workers, their families and communities – the day when the legislation and regulations came into force. The Government has virtually outlawed all “old fashioned industrial muscle”, and the little industrial action that technically remains lawful places many hurdles in front of unions. Even if they can overcome these the Minister for Workplace Relations can intervene and render their action unlawful.
The devil is definitely in the detail, and while some aspects of the legislation will be felt very soon, there are others that will hit workers and unions in the face as time moves on.
The plan is for awards to wither away (it will be impossible to improve their provisions); to inhibit the ability for trade unions to negotiate collective agreements; and see individual employment contracts (Australian Workplace Agreements – AWAs) replace them.
Free hand for bosses
Employers with 100 or fewer workers will be able to sack workers, virtually at will – even for the reason that the boss does not like them personally. In larger workplaces they just have to say it is for operational reasons. A sacked worker seeking justice will have to pursue it through the court system – something beyond the means of all but the very wealthy. Forget it if you are a clerical, maritime, building or hospitality worker, electrician, mechanic, nurse, teacher, a shop assistant or any other worker. Your union might be able to help, but for how long? Unions have finite resources. One of the Government’s and employers’ aims is to bankrupt unions in the courts and with fines.
Bosses will be able to make signing an AWA a condition of employment for job applicants. It will be “sign or no job!” As for existing workers, there is nothing to stop an employer standing over individual workers demanding they sign away their conditions and accept lower wages with an AWA. A worker has the right to refuse, but this is a meaningless right if the worker is sacked for refusing.
Even when a workplace agreement has been signed, the employer is still free to sign up those covered by the agreement and any new employees to inferior AWAs. These AWAs override collective agreements and awards.
It is an offence for a worker to disclose to anyone, even other family members, the provisions of his or her AWA, or compare wages and conditions with other workers.
The only minimum requirements that AWAs must meet are the minimum wage and four other legislated provisions relating to leave and length of working week. The “no disadvantage test”, which compared an AWA with the award, has gone. The employer lodges the AWA with the Office of Employment Advocate. There will be no inspection or certification of the contents of the AWA by the Employment Advocate or anyone else. Employers simply have to certify that they have met their legal obligations! The contents remain secret.
Wages to fall
The minimum wage under this legislation is a farce. The Government’s guarantee that the minimum adult full-time wage will never fall below $12.75 an hour is meaningless. Employers will be able to vary the wage paid over a year, as long as the average over that time span meets the minimum – what is known as “pay averaging”. Blind Freddie can see the obvious here: pay a worker $6 or $8 an hour for the first month or two – just say times are tough, orders low, etc. Later sack the worker with some other story of failed expectations. It won’t be hard to sack a worker – previous legislation which offered some protection has gone.
The worker has a right to pursue the under-payment, not in the Industrial Relations Commission, but through the court system just as one corporation would pursue another over disputed payments for goods or services. This is the Government’s concept of “fairness” and “justice”. The worker has Buckleys’ chance. As for the Industrial Relations Commission, its main role now is to police industrial action – or rather to prevent it. The Commission is required to report weekly to the Minister on specified matters coming before it. These include applications:
•to initiate, suspend or terminate enterprise bargaining periods
•to hold secret ballots on industrial action
•by union officials for right-of-entry permits to workplaces
•to initiate dispute resolution procedures.
“Prohibited content in agreements”
Any matter in an agreement that does not directly relate to the employment relationship between the employer and ALL persons employed is prohibited and will be unenforceable. Could this mean that paid maternity leave is unenforceable? It does not matter if the employer and workers agree on a provision – to even seek such a provision is illegal. Workers could be hit with $6,000 fines and unions fined $33,000 just for suggesting the inclusion of a prohibited matter. And to make sure employers do not show any sympathy for their workers, they can also be fined for any offence.
The penalties for other offences in relation to industrial action and failing to carry out orders of the Commission or breaching the Act in some other way are much heavier, including jail sentences.
The regulations contain a long list of “prohibited content”, and the Act provides for the Minister to add to that list as things arise that they have overlooked. It is now illegal to include in agreements provisions:
•prohibiting AWAs
•restricting the use of independent contractors and labour hire workers
•allowing for industrial action during the term of an agreement
•providing a remedy for unfair dismissal
•mandating union involvement in dispute resolution
•providing for union right of entry
•for trade union training leave
•for payroll deduction of union fees
•paid union meetings
•restricting on part-time and casual labour
and much more.
The WorkChoices legislation overrides the industrial reations legislation of the States where there is a conflict between the two sets of laws. It will affect training, apprenticeships and a whole host of other matters. The regulations remove current restrictions on training and apprenticeships under state awards, particularly on the length of apprenticeships to allow for much shorter training periods.
As for paid training during the boss’s time, this is “something which people are entitled to do in their own time. It is not part of the job they are doing”, said Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews.
Hurdles to prevent industrial action
Compulsory secret ballots are now required before industrial action is taken. The process has restrictions such as on who can vote, who can take action and for what reason. Such action is restricted to “bargaining periods” – after an existing agreement has expired, when a new agreement is being negotiated and providing there are no “prohibited contents” in the agreement.
Even if all the stringent requirements are met – by no means an easy task – anyone who is affected by the action can intervene and seek to have it halted. The Minister also has considerable powers to intervene.
If the action is deemed “protected” that means those taking the action cannot be sued by employers and third parties affected. But it does not prevent the employer sacking any of those workers or hiring scabs.
With the rights of union organisers and officials to enter workplaces reduced to almost nil if an employer is determined to keep them out, trying to organise members and meet the bureaucratic requirements for a ballot is no easy job.
The above are only a fraction of the detail in the Act and regulations. More information will be provided in future issues of The Guardian.
Defeat the legislation!
Defeat the Government!
The ACTU has re-launched its highly successful advertising campaign. Unions have been educating their members. They now have the difficult task of sifting through the hundreds of pages of the legislation and accompanying regulations. Tactics and campaigning for its defeat have to be worked out.
Local actions are on the rise such as the formation of Your Rights at Work Committees which bring together trade unions, community groups, political parties and individuals. The Inner Sydney Your Rights at Work Committee had a successful march and rally last Saturday (see page 4) and in Adelaide there was a protest outside Senator Minchin’s office on Black Monday.
The CPA is encouraging and participating in the formation of these committees and other groups to fight the legislation. If there is a group you know of near you then join it. If not, then why not get together with others and form a committee. The broader the opposition to Howard’s WorkChoices the stronger the movement.
There are many other ways of joining the campaign and building opposition to the new legislation – talkback radio, letters to the editor, leafleting, holding small meetings and inviting a Party or union speaker. Chat to others in the bank queue or on the bus or train.
Lobby your MPs and Senators. The hotter it gets for them, the better.
May Day is just over four weeks away and provides a great opportunity to show the Government and employers that the new laws are unacceptable. Begin organising now for May Day. A big turnout against this most vicious and dangerous attack on workers and trade unions in 100 years is essential.
From The Guardian
