Control and dissent

By Maree O’Halloran

The Federal Government is poised to ram two extreme and dangerous pieces of legislation through parliament.

The first, the infamous WorkChoices Bill, will establish a legal environment that encourages the rampant use of managerial prerogative by employers. The second, the Anti-Terrorism Bill, strips away civil liberties Australians have taken for granted.

The WorkChoices legislation will allow corporations to exercise more control and power over individuals. The Anti-Terrorism legislation will allow the executive arm of government to exercise more control over individuals. The Federation, with the broader union movement, stands as a voice of dissent to this legislation and as a bulwark against the abuse of power which the new legislation will encourage.

Federation will continue, regardless of punitive industrial relations regimes, to:

• create and campaign for policies that promote public education, social justice and unionism
• dissent from government policies that damage the profession, public education or the fabric of society
• call for and undertake industrial action where warranted
• call for and undertake acts of civil disobedience where warranted.

The answer to the current abuse of government power has to be a resurgence of those activities that have seen trade unions at the forefront of industrial and social improvements for all Australians.

As ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said during the biggest protest meeting of workers in Australia's history on November 15: "We must look this government in the eye and stare them down..... Most importantly unions must fight like we have never fought before."

Unions leaders and union members across Australia must refuse to pay fines for asking for fair conditions in collective agreements or for taking industrial action. The deceitfully-named WorkChoices Bill contains fines of $33,000 to be imposed if unions ask to be included in dispute settlement clauses, ask for unfair dismissal rights in collective agreements, ask for job security for members or ask for a commitment from the employer to collective bargaining. Fines can also be applied for any other matter the Federal Minister considers should be banned.

Unions will be disciplined in our efforts to defend the rights of working people but we will not be intimated by the Government's threats to fine unions for doing their job.

Thank you to all Federation members who were able to attend or contribute to the success of the ACTU's Day of Community Protest on November 15. Numbers at venues across NSW were significantly higher than on July 1. These huge and increased numbers mark, as Greg Comet argued, the beginning of a movement for change. A movement based not just on workers' rights, but on social justice.

Prime Minister John Howard could never have expected to see the protests grow so steadily as the public recognises that the unions' predictions have been deadly accurate.

The Federal Government's claim that workers' rights will be protected by law is the most expensive lie ever perpetrated on the Australian body politic.

In short the WorkChoices Bill:

• removes unfair dismissal rights for most workers
• allows the real value of the minimum wage to fall
• erodes the award safety net, eventually rendering awards redundant
• allows employers to cut take home pay
• makes it harder for unions to operate and for workers to collectively bargain.

There is no economic or social justification for the WorkChoices Bill. The Bill is being rammed through Parliament as an article of Liberal Party faith and based on John Howard's personal prejudices. The campaign against the WorkChoices Bill will continue until it is repealed and replaced with a fair set of industrial relations laws.

In the interim, Federation will secure the best possible legal protection for members who may be immediately affected by WorkChoices. It is possible that TAFE is a constitutional corporation and therefore roped into the Federal Government's legislation. Federation continues to make representations to the State Government to amend State legislation to ensure that TAFE employees are recognised as crown employees, not employees of a constitutional corporation. There are a number of options open to the State Government in this regard. At this stage it does not appear that the State Government is willing to act. This decision sends a chilling message to all workers in NSW who hear, on one hand, the Premier, Morris Iemma, promising to fight WorkChoices and yet see the State Labor Government refusing to act where it can.

Regardless of the State Government's actions, Federation intends to mount a legal challenge to TAFE's supposed status as a constitutional corporation. Federation Officers are also working to ensure that TAFE conditions and salary (including payments due from the salaries settlement) are secure.

The best option appears to be a State Enterprise Agreement which would, under the Federal law, become a preserved state agreement and remain in force for a three year transitional period or until replaced by a federal instrument.

Salary increases payable under the new salaries settlement will be made. Federation has sought and gained assurance that the first payment will be effected by administrative means if necessary. There are no political gains and many losses for the State Government to renege on the salaries settlement now.

The Public Education Alliance (teachers, parents and principals) has worked powerfully and successfully to ameliorate the Federal Government's objectionable proposals for student reporting. The ranking of students into quartile groups for each key learning area was a key Nelson proposition and it has been defeated in NSW. While Federation still has concerns about the new student report card, our campaigning has seen the removal of some of the worst aspects.

Finally, congratulations to members who have been involved in the ongoing campaign to support special education classes. As a result of this campaigning the Minister was forced to make a statement on November 11 that all IM (intellectually mild) classes will continue and that the number of IO (intellectually moderate) class closures will be less than previously announced.

For further information

November 2005 contents