Industrial relations campaign update
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Yesterday I linked to David Peetz’s column on the evidence about economic reform. I’m linking to it again today because it’s a must-read — especially when compared with the fact that “in response to Herald questions, government spokesmen said they did not know of any government economic studies supporting Mr Howard’s claim[s]” about his IR package.
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The Australian reports that a security guard received 12.5 weeks’ wages in compensation for her unfair dismissal. She was hired to keep children away from a duck pond, and was sacked for… keeping a child away from the duck pond. That’s right, she was sacked for doing her job — and under Howard’s proposed system, she would have no recourse.
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The Government has decided to bring forward its $20 000 000 propaganda campaign, which will begin in newspapers this Saturday and will be followed by television and radio advertisements. Greg Combet says the ACTU has access to a “substantial war chest to fund its advertising campaign against the changes and was prepared for a long fight.”
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The Coalition is so confused about its industrial relations plans that its deputy leader, Mark Vaile, thinks the “Fair” Pay Commission will oversee minimum standards relating to minimum annual leave, sick leave, and overtime rates. It won’t — they’ll be set by the Howard Government and frozen by legislation, with no independent oversight.
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The suggestion that workers should be encouraged to “cash out” their annual leave has been criticised because “Australians are already the hardest-worked citizens in the Western world. We bear an average workload of 1855 hours a year — more than workers in the United States, Japan or anywhere in Europe.” The Women’s Electoral Lobby and various academics are also concerned about the proposal’s impact on work-family balance: “A holiday is a basic piece of family glue.”
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Kevin Andrews pointed to WA’s cashing-out scheme as evidence that such things work — but the WA experience shows that it doesn’t. WA’s employment protection minister, John Kobelke, said, “Independent research found that, under the Court government, nearly half of all full-time, part-time and fixed-term workplace agreements in WA had all of their annual leave entitlement absorbed into the hourly rate of pay.” (My emphasis.) The idea that half of all workers would volunteer to give up all of their holidays is ridiculous, and demonstrates that coercion was involved.
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Greg Combet followed up his Press Club speech with an interview on the 7.30 Report. He said Labor can differentiate itself on “fundamental issues” such as “working people’s rights, their capacity to have a decent standard of living, to have the proper protection that they need in the workplace and to be able to balance their work and family commitments.” If it stands up for those values, Labor will win popular support — of course, that assumes the internal bickering ceases.
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The Government has already broken an election commitment on industrial relations — it said that every cabinet submission would include a “family impact statement,” but “Mr Costello said there was none with the IR changes and he seemed supremely unconcerned about this breach of faith.” Come on now, Pete — we’re not talking about buying an air warfare destroyer…
I notice 6PR are running another online poll re cashing in Holiday Pay to 2 weeks - the results would not make Howard happy :-)
Under the Federal Government’s proposed Industrial Relations changes workers will be able to cash in up to two weeks of their four-week annual entitlement. Is this a good idea?
Yes: 29%
No : 59%
Don’t care: 11%
Total number of votes: 44
I think this issue has galvinised public opinion and the so -called “Howard Battlers”, have finally woken up to the fact that he is NOT “a friend of the worker”.
Frank, it has galvinised the grand total of 26 people who bothered to vote. A larger sample group would be idea next time. Howard couldn’t give a toss about 44 people… now if those 44 people inlcuded Bush and his staff, then Howard might take notice.
I don’t like the reforms at all, but please don’t use such small samples to make a claim about the whole population.
Howard comes out swinging here
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15850314-29277,00.html
Anyone remember Rollback?
Craig,
I’m not saying the 6PR poll is perfect, but it does say that the mood is AGAINST Howard’s unjust attacks on workers rights, and is no more accurate than newspoll etc.
I would like to see any figures on Rehame about the amount of talkback calls on the topic and how many are for or against.
A non-political friend and I worse maroon “For A Balanced IR System For All” Misso’s shirts to the local pub last night. People asked “what is IR?”, were dismissive and even a little hostile. This, in a ‘working class’ suburb on the outskirts of Brisbane, where most people in the pub are going to be worse off. Saddened, I have been reminded never to underestimate the great number of people who genuinely do not give a stuff. When it affects them they will sit around and complain to each other, but few believe the other side of politics would do any better, and go about their lives.
Re. the duckpond story: Assholes… Assholes… Of course, that grandma would have sued the pants off that security guard if the idiot child had fallen in…
Today’s RN Media Report was an interesting one. Spoke in detail about the Coalition’s use of tax payers money for propaganda purposes. Also mentioned the fact that there is no internal or external accountability process for how this money is spent on advertising.
Don’t expect the media to make a big deal out of this though. They are the financial beneficiaries. The opposition wont kick up a stink either, as they will abuse the system in the same way.
The TAPS union of NSW got the jump on JH’s IR policies. They have already imposed a 5 year wage freeze on us, workloads have nearly doubled, lost the right to approach the IR Comission on most disputes & then upped their fees to boot,
Alex-
That sounds terrible, Alex. I’m sure you’ll agree that it would be awful if everyone else had to suffer the same fate. How well unionised is your workplace? Have you considered approaching another union for help?
and is no more accurate than newspoll etc
I daresay it’s far less accurate than Newspoll, Frank.
true :-) cos you have to vote to get the latest result when you log onto the net each day, but you know what I mean :-)
I see KIm Beazley has written to all ALP members to “Rally The Troops”, I wonder if Howeard will do the same for members of the Libs ?? :-)
Robert, as I said - I contacted the parent union & the ACTU as well as just about every Labour politician- not one of them could give a stuff. I had always been a very staunch unionist & as such I find it hard to believe that this could actually happen. This is so un-Australian.
Alex
Alex - curious - did the unions and the ALP genuinely not give a stuff, or are they powerless?
Stuart, anyway you look at it-nothing was done. It’s almost akin to an Irish joke- Did you hear about the Irish union? ———-Got their members a wage freeze.
Trouble is - it did happen & the wage freeze continues, ie, started in 2000.
Even Howard could’nt be as bad- but then maybe he could.
Alex
Ch 7 News had a story about The West’s Printing Staff being cut by 150 odd due to automation.
I wonder if that’s why they’ve been so supportive of Howard’s IR Reforms?
I wonder how their staff will be paid out ?
can I just praise the Herald temporarily by pointing out that they did run an ad for the Government, but also an article critical of it?
That’s it, praise over. Oh, one more thing - the Herald is doing a nice stern line against this stuff.