Federal Government moves to ban industrial action

By Barry Johnson

Federation is opposed to the Federal Government's proposed legislation banning teachers and other workers from taking industrial action. The intention to classify teachers as working in an "essential service" will prevent them from engaging in any legitimate industrial action around conditions and salaries.

This legislation will initially affect our colleagues whose unions are registered in the federal jurisdiction. This affects all states and territories except NSW and Queensland where our unions are registered under state legislation. However, we would find ourselves increasingly isolated in disputes with employers about teachers' salaries and conditions. The action we took recently on September 17 in conjunction with colleagues in Victoria and Western Australia would not be possible. This is part of the Federal Government's agenda to further restrict the legitimate rights of employees in pursuit of their interests.

In two recent court decisions (the Emwest and Electrolux cases) the 'right to strike' laws were reaffirmed. Subsequently, the Federal Government has introduced legislation to negate the findings of the Federal Court. If legislation to further restrict the right to strike is successfully introduced by the Federal Government, then teachers in NSW and Queensland are likely to face similar legislation when more conservative governments are returned to power in these states.

Teachers will be aware that the Federal Government has introduced the Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRR). This package of legislation, although targeted at university employees, would also have an impact on TAFE teachers in cross-sectional institutions around Australia. HEWRR tied $404 million of funding for universities to requirements for those institutes to actively promote individual agreements (AWAs), to restrict certain conditions of employment such as paid maternity leave and redundancy payments, and to limit the activities of unions and their members on university campuses. Teachers will be aware of recent industrial action by colleagues in the higher education sector in regard to these proposals. Clearly, the Federal Government's ideological attack on workers who wish to act collectively continues. The civil and industrial liberties, which we once took for granted in Australia, are being increasingly diminished.

Federation will continue to campaign with the Australian Education Union, other unions and peak labour organisations to protect the civil and industrial rights for all workers. It will expose this blatant attack on the collective rights of workers by the imposition on society of the ideological view that the rights of the individual are supreme.

Barry Johnson is the General Secretary.

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