Rudd’s IR policy: An absolute disgrace!
In mid April, leader of the Labor Party, Kevin Rudd gave a speech to the National Press Club. In the speech he outlined several parts of his IR policy which he will implement if he is elected to power later this year. Rudd explained that contrary to previous statements he would not be tearing up Work Choices, instead he will be tinkering at the edges of the legislation whilst retaining significant parts of it.
Pretty much the only good piece of news in Rudd’s announcement was that he planned to abolish Australian Workplace Agreements or individual contracts. UNITE welcomes this announcement. This should be seen as a victory for the union movement as these contracts are Howard’s sharpest tool used for driving down wages and conditions. It is obvious that the union movement has won the debate about individual contracts and this is reflected in Labor being forced to follow through with its promise to abolish them.
Rudd’s policy however made a clear attack on every workers fundamental right - the right to strike. Under a Rudd government workers will only be allowed to take protected industrial action during a “bargaining period”. This is only when workers are negotiating a new enterprise agreement. All other forms of industrial action will be deemed illegal. The only real weapon that workers have is their ability to withdraw their labour. Everything that the union movement has won in the past was won by workers going on strike. In many cases this was done illegally and it seems that under an ALP government this will have to continue.
Rudd stated that he supported mandatory secret ballots of workers before any strike action was taken. This is not an issue of democracy as Rudd and Howard would have us believe. It is more about giving employers the ability to restrict the right of workers to bargain with their muscle. Conducting secret ballots is a long drawn out affair. Under Work Choices in most cases it has taken over a month from the time workers decide to conduct a ballot to the time they actually go on strike. This gives employers plenty of time to prepare for a strike. In most cases they can outsource work, stockpile goods or organise scabs. Unions should be able to determine how they run their own organisations. There are no such restrictions on companies why should they exist for workers.
Rudd reinforced Howard’s policy of outlawing pattern bargaining. This means unions will be restricted in their cause to pursue industry wide agreements and workers will not be able to strike to support a level playing field in their industry. This means workers in smaller workplaces who have less industrial muscle will be forced to accept lower wages and conditions compared to workers doing the same work at larger companies. Rudd made no mention of employer pattern bargaining especially under Work Choices where bosses are forcing workers to sign identical individual contracts in order to drive down wages across the board.
The ALP will reinstate unfair dismissal laws but only after workers serve a “probation” period. The period will be 12 months for workers in businesses with 15 employees or less and 6 months for workers in businesses with over 15 employees. This means that all new employees will have to tread carefully. Raising safety issues or being active in your union will guarantee you to be found ‘unsuitable’ for your job. Whilst this is a slight improvement on Howard’s policy it is by no means good enough. It still legalises the unfair sacking of workers.
The other announcement that the ALP made this week was that a Labor government would scrap the three bodies that run the Howard Government’s Work Choices regime, including the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and replace it with a new body called Fair Work Australia. Whilst UNITE agrees that under Howard, the regime is a dogs breakfast we also understand that this body will not be ‘independent’. It will in fact be used to stifle industrial action.
In reality Rudd’s IR policy is an absolute disgrace. There is also nothing in it that is good news for casual workers. In fact as some employer groups have stated these policies will only encourage further casualisation. Employers are already saying that if they can not lock workers into low paid jobs through AWAs, and if they can not sack full time employees at their whim, they will leave people working for long periods as casuals.
If Labor was serious about looking after working people they would restore the right to strike, support pattern bargaining and make it illegal to sack any worker unfairly. They would also develop policy to look after the almost 1 in 3 workers who are currently employed as casuals and living with absolutely so security in their lives. UNITE will continue to campaign for a policy that ensures that casual workers have the right to be made permanent after a period of 6 months.
UNITE will be campaigning hard to make sure Howard is removed from office this year. But unlike other unions we refuse to sow any illusions in the ALP. UNITE has not given one cent of our members money to Labor. We are opposed to giving total uncritical support to Labor, especially without getting any prior commitments on policy. UNITE does not think that the ALP are any alternative to the Liberals instead they just another party of big business. Rudd’s policy announcements are further proof of this fact.
UNITE calls on other sections of the trade union movement to begin to seriously discuss the question of political representation of working people. We can not continue forever without our own party that represents our interests as opposed to those of big business. There is no doubt that whoever wins the next federal election the major issues facing working people will not go away. Whether it is Rudd or Howard in power workers will still have to fight for every cent.