Industrial relations changes and you

by Khyiah Angel

It's Friday afternoon, you glance up from your desk and out the window at a clear blue sky. You think of heading to the beach or catching up with friends, maybe even taking the kids on a picnic, but the thought depresses you because there is no guarantee that the working week will end today or that you'll have the weekend off.

Many Australian workers could be facing this reality after July 1 when the Coalition takes control of the Senate. Proposed changes to the industrial relations legislation and the introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) may mean, among other things, employees will no longer have a say about the conditions under which they work.

The Howard Government wants to bypass the state system of workplace law and defer to a national system of industrial relations. In effect, this means significant and radical changes to the way we are employed and the rights we currently have in workplaces. Prime Minister John Howard has not revealed the finer details of his plans, but it is known that the Federal Government intends to:

• remove condition from awards
• keep minimum wages low
• use individual contracts to undercut existing rights
• keep unions out of workplaces and reduce workers collective bargaining rights
• reduce the powers of the Industrial Relations Commission to set fair minimum wages and conditions and settle disputes. These changes will mean the average employee may work longer hours, earn less and have less leave. It could be devastating for the many thousands of workers who currently struggle to 'stay afloat' financially.

Since its election in 1996, the Howard Government has worked to challenge the powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) to set fair award conditions and settle disputes. After taking control of the Senate in July, the Government plans to reduce the number of conditions attached to each award. Basic working rights that may disappear include overtime pay, standard hours of work, work related allowances, shiftwork rates of pay, long service leave, and possibly even superannuation. Skills based wages may also disappear and transfer or training rights could be lost.

Traditionally, an independent industrial relations commission has been responsible for setting minimum wages and providing a safety net for low paid workers. Since taking office, the Coalition has opposed every application to the AIRC for wage increases, setting the tone for the agenda it will take to the Senate in July. Federal Minister for Workplace Relations Kevin Andrews, commenting on the IRC said that it "had raised minimum wages by as much as $70 more than it should have over the Government's term".

To address this perceived anomaly the Government plans to appoint a panel (of industry "experts") with a view to deciding one minimum wage rate for all types of work. Under this arrangement, there would be no annual review or increase of these rates. When asked for a guarantee that minimum wages would not be lower under the new system, Minister Andrews said: "I'm not in the business of giving guarantees for or against anything."

The Government is keen to create direct employment relationships. An Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) -- an individual contact that will make it possible for employers to undercut award and collective agreement conditions -- will ensure there is no union involvement in an individual's agreement with their employer. The AWA can override any collective workplace agreement.

Those workers who choose to remain members of their union may have to contend with rigorous new guidelines to restrict union access to worksites by enforcing a 24 hour written notice rule and stop unions from visiting more than once every six months if recruitment discussions are held.

On May 5, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) President Sharan Burrow told a meeting of union representatives from around the country: "Unions are facing a great challenge. Undermining the right to collective bargaining is a big focus of the Howard Government's agenda. We need to let people know what these changes mean and how they're going to impact on them personally."

Industrial relations commissions in Australia have traditionally provided a forum for addressing and dealing with disputes between employees and their employers, but after July, the NSW IRC may become irrelevant. The federal IRC will also have reduced power. Any decisions that it might make in the future, the government will have the power to override.

Public school teachers are not exempt from the consequences of any of these changes. Already NSW has seen the Federal Government's push to undermine the state based education system with the advent of the Australian Technical Colleges.

Though the Commonwealth cannot legislate to cover state government employees, public school and TAFE teachers will feel the effects of the changes when the Federal Government sets conditions on its public education funding.

Earlier this year NSW Premier Bob Carr began to address the prospect of the Federal Government plans by saying he would have "more to say in the coming months about what our nurses will lose, what our teachers will lose, what our emergency services will lose, what our police will lose if the state systems were abolished".

So, what will teachers lose? Teachers may lose access to a statewide staffing system. They may lose the right to transfers and to pay equity as they are forced onto individual contracts (AWAs) with performance based pay. Teachers' working conditions will be affected.

Federation President Maree O'Halloran said: "If the Federal Government is successful, our awards would be stripped...[and]...we would no longer have provisions for preparation time or limitations on face to face teaching."

Under an AWA it is conceivable that an employer could have written into the contract that a teaching day could begin at 7.30am and extend to 10.30pm across six days a week. An AWA could also mean that conditions, hours and rates of pay could differ for two people with the same experience doing the same job.

If the Federal Government ties public education funding to AWAs, public school teachers' working lives will change dramatically.

Australian Education Union Federal Secretary Rob Durbridge believes these changes will "drive a wedge into union awards and agreements and into areas of high union density".

Teacher unions are among the strongest in the country. But the effects of AWAs are already being seen in higher education contexts.

National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Policy and Research Officer Andrew Nette said: "The Government expects that all university employees will be on AWAs by the end of next year."

Mr Nette also said that not only is the NTEU no longer allowed an office on campus, neither is there to be any reference the union on campus at all. Nette believes that the Government is attempting to deregulate the term 'university' by changing its accreditation standards.

"This would create a tiered system where there will be a couple of well funded elite universities at the top with low student/teacher ratios and ample research. Then a middle stream with a casual workforce, little or no research and a greater student/teacher ratio; and a bottom tier with no research, a much higher student/teacher ratio and a predominantly casual staff, located in the outer western suburbs," Mr Nette said.

If public schools are forced to follow this trend, the Howard Government may succeed in its attempt to force the public education system into a residual system.

Khyiah Angel is relief Administration Officer (Media and Communications).

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005