Howard finally falters

By Maree O’Halloran

At last sufficient numbers of the Coalition caucus have discovered the courage to defy John Howard and act with humanity, writes MAREE O'HALLORAN.

The Prime Minister was forced this month to withdraw from the Senate a bill designed to ensure that all refugees or asylum-seekers arriving by boat were "processed" offshore.

The tide of public opinion appears to be turning on some issues. This gives us hope that we can make positive interventions in other areas critical for social justice such as public education and balanced industrial relations laws.

During his decade as Prime Minister, John Howard has created a more fearful and intolerant Australia. In Canada, where a conservative Prime Minister has just been elected, trade unionists are looking with alarm at the changes conservative governments can wreak with sufficient power. To date Canada has avoided the subservience to United States foreign policy which has characterised Australian decision-making. It also appears to be a more progressive society regarding questions of individual human rights and liberties. For example, the Canadian Federal Parliament has legislated to allow same sex civil marriages. In Australia the Federal Parliament, including the ALP members, voted to exclude the possibility of same sex civil marriage.

In Washington during July, I met with members of the National Education Association (NEA) collective bargaining team. They reacted with dismay and horror when John Howard's industrial relations laws were explained. Bargaining rights differ across the United States and in some states teachers do not have the right to collectively bargain. Nevertheless, the concept of an employer being legally allowed to negotiate a collective agreement and then proceed to offer new employees (or those taking up a new position) fewer conditions via an individual contract was a shock to the NEA officials. From their point of view it was not bargaining in good faith and should be unlawful.

John Howard may have finally, through the WorkChoices Act, breached the social compact of a "fair go" and "equal opportunity" which Australians want to believe in. Corporate Australia is waiting to exploit the favourable legal environment in which they find themselves. Qantas has signalled more redundancies and its subsidiary, Jetstar, will employ long-haul flight attendants on individual contracts on greatly inferior rates of pay to that of Qantas. The scene will be set for award-stripping across Qantas. Qantas is the largest employer in Australia with approximately 35,000 employees. For this reason it is more than appropriate that on November 30, 2006 following the ACTU industrial relations SkyChannel broadcast at 9am trade unionists and community members will march on the Qantas building in Sydney. Meetings and rallies will also be held in regional areas.

Jackie Kelly, the Liberal member for Lyndsay, has told the Prime Minister that the industrial relations issue is hurting in her electorate. I hope that every Coalition Member of Parliament is hurting on this issue.

The Federal Coalition has been unable to directly attack public education teachers' award conditions because we are State Government employees and, therefore, beyond the reach of the WorkChoices Act. However, the Coalition has another weapon in its armoury which is to threaten to cut federal funding to public schools unless individual contracts and so-called "performance pay" is introduced. TAFE has already been threatened in this way and individual contracts have been made available to employees. To date no members of TAFE's educational staff have taken up these individual contracts.

The Federal Minister, Julie Bishop, has called directly for school principals to be able to award cash bonuses to teachers who "produce outstanding results". Her ignorance and contempt for the profession apparently knows no bounds and she feels herself qualified to label the profession "unaccountable". I don't know any other profession whose work is under such intense scrutiny as ours. What is clear, however, is that Julie Bishop's foray is nothing more than the Federal Government's award-stripping agenda in another guise.

It is important that ALP members also continue to feel pressure about the performance pay issue. Opposition Leader Kim Beazley's solid rejection of Australian Workplace Agreements did seem to point to a strong distinction between Federal Labor and the Coalition. Unfortunately the front page of The Australian on August 21, reported that Craig Emerson, a senior member of the ALP Federal caucus, has called for "performance pay" in all "state" schools. That pay, in Emerson's view, would be at the discretion of the school principal. Leaving aside arguments about the political gimmickry known as "performance pay", the only way to introduce it is through individual contracts. Kim Beazley's promise to rip up Australian Workplace Agreements but retain common law contracts will greatly undermine collective bargaining for teacher unions if Emerson's view prevails.

The ALP has much more work to do on industrial relations and public education. In NSW the State Labor Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, is embracing standardised "one size fits all", A to E student reports which allow school staff no professional discretion at all. By contrast the State Coalition has a far superior position, removing the requirements for kindergarten to year 3 and giving schools discretion from years 4-6. Even the Federal Minister, Julie Bishop, allows equivalent terminology in substitution for A to E grades.

Finally, has there ever been anything more gobsmackingly arrogant than the Federal Government conducting a private review for the private school beneficiaries of public funding? As the private schools carve up their obscene amounts of public funding, the views of public school supporters are not sought. Obviously our call for public funds in public schools is causing dismay and angst amongst the private school lobby group.

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