With a tough election looming, the Howard Government is trying to neutralise community concerns about its WorkChoices laws by introducing a new so-called 'fairness' test.The changes have been rightly dismissed as cynical pre-election window-dressing.
We reckon if the Government is really serious about fairness in the workplace, there are plenty of issues to tackle... and we've put together a short list.
Compensation: Recent Government changes mean over 100,000 staff have lost workers compensation coverage for journeys to and from the office. The change does nothing to make workplaces safer and simply shifts the costs and risks from employer to employee.
Unfair dismissals: The Howard Government’s laws exclude over four million Australians from unfair dismissal protection, simply because their employer has fewer than 100 employees. Under WorkChoices employers with more than 100 staff can use the 'operational grounds' loophole to sack workers and avoid an unfair dismissal claim.
Working Hours: According to ABS figures, almost a third of Australian employees work unsocial hours - between 7pm and 7am - and most have no say about when they start or finish. About half of the 37 per cent of employees who work overtime do so for no extra pay. None of which will be a surprise to the tens of thousand of CPSU members already struggling to balance their work and home lives.
Collective bargaining: Under WorkChoices, employers hold all the cards. Even where a majority of employees vote in favour of making a collective agreement, employers can ignore your wishes and offer individual contracts, or simply refuse to negotiate. Ironically the Government are now spending big money promoting collective bargaining to small businesses as way to ensure they are not disadvantaged by larger and more powerful businesses. So collective bargaining - sticking together to get a fair deal - is a good idea for small business, but somehow not for employees.
AWAs: In a growing number of public service agencies, new employees are denied the opportunity to choose between collective agreements or AWA individual agreements. And in some workplaces AWAs continue to be used to undermine collective agreements, not to improve pay and conditions.
Have your say:Is the Government doing enough to address the issues that matter to you? Are there other issues they need to address? Post a comment
5 comments:
The Government's "fairness" test is a complete joke. I pity the fools who fall for it.
If "the economy" is going so well why do I work harder and have less spender power?
Business might be doing already but real wages going down.
Work Choices are no choice. To use the word unfair does not capture the hypocrisy of the system and its blatent dishonesty
The article on the "fairness" test and its fuzziness is excellent. Anybody thought of sending it to the media-papers etc? Might clear up a bit of misunderstanding on the part of the herd.
Yeah, I saw the Collective Bargaining AD for small Business in the local West Australian Newspaper on the weekend and I thought WHAT!
Here is the Government clearing stating that collective bargaining provides a stronger and more cohesive bargaining method whilst at the same time are telling the Australian public how great WorkChoices is for its individual "bargaining, sorry I mean pleading for better conditions" against Business, big or small.
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