work choices

Work Choices - the end 'is near' | Business | News.com.au

THE Federal Opposition will not stand in the way of the Federal Government's new workplace laws that spell the end of Work Choices, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has said.

"The coalition accepts Work Choices is dead. The Australian people have spoken,'' Mr Turnbull said.

Today Acting Prime Minister and Industrial Relations Minister Julia Gillard introduced the Fair Work Bill, which will strengthen unfair dismissal protection and give more power to unions.

The government is "tantalisingly" close to consigning the Howard government's divisive Work Choices laws to history, she said.

Speaking to Parliament, Ms Gillard said Work Choices, which changed unfair dismissal laws and pushed individual Australian Workplace Agreements or AWAs, had torn apart the core Australian value of mateship and 'a fair go.'

"The philosophy that underpinned Work Choices said, essentially: make your own way in the world; without the comfort of mateship; without the protections afforded by a compassionate society; against the odds deliberately stacked against you," said Ms Gillard.
"No safety net. No rights at work. No co-operation in the workplace to take the nation forward.''

The new laws fulfil Labor's election promise to scrap WorkChoices, and by voting Labour in the last election Australians had stayed true to the idea of a fair go, Ms Gillard said.

Business has criticised the laws as giving too much power to unions, who will are guaranteed a seat at the bargaining table, and call it a 'throwback' to union power under Labor's Keating Government.

However, unions say the Fair Work Bill restores the balance of power, which had shifted too far in favour of employers.

Ms Gillard said the legislation balanced the interests of employers and employees.

The Fair Work Bill 2008 includes:

•a 'safety net' of ten minimum conditions that can't be stripped away, including the right for both parents to take up to a year of unpaid leave each.

•bargaining in good faith between workers and employers

•small business employees again protected from unfair dismissal, but 'one strike' rule for sackings.

• award wages will not apply to workers earning more than $100,000 year

The ten 'safety net' conditions include rules around leave, hours of weekly work, public holidays, notice and redundancy pay.

It will overturn existing laws, introduced by the Howard Government, which forbid employees working for a company with fewer than 100 employees from claiming unfair dismissal.

A 'wage umpire', Fair Work Australia, will oversee the new worker's rights and review minimum pay each year.

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the Workplace Authority, the Workplace Ombudsman and the Fair Pay Commission will be scrapped.

Fair Work Australia can also order employers to comply with wage awards for low-income sectors like child care, and force employers to comply with good faith bargaining requirements.

The Bill includes a right to enterprise bargaining, but doesn't specify union or non-union agreements. Instead, an agreement is approved when a majority of employees give the OK.

"This new framework is premised on good faith bargaining and recognises that most workplaces already bargain in good faith without any intervention,'' Ms Gillard said.

"However, where this does not happen, the Bill empowers Fair Work Australia to make an order to ensure compliance with good faith bargaining requirements.''

Comments on this story
anti union of brisbane Posted at 9:09pm today

Bad day for australian workers & more to the point, Bad day for self employed & contractors. this is just compulsory unionism & anyone say this is not the case is living in dysney land. All unionism should be banned.

Barry Redman of Nambucca Heads Posted at 9:06pm today

Where do some of these readers come from. Most of the rights they claim they negotiated for themselves were won by the union movement earlier in the 20th Century. There are both good and bad unions and employers. The union movement is no longer as powerful as it used to be but it is still important in providing a safety net of pay and conditions which we still call an award. Comparing Australia with the USA in terms of the impact of unions in the present financial meltdown is farcical. The greed of some CEO's in bleeding their corporations dry by lining their own pockets while their corporate empires were collapsing around them is a sad reflection on the ability of these highly paid CEO's. Sadly shareholders were being fed the standard language of the need to take risks to make greater wealth for the stakeholders. The demise of work choices ( which was no choice ) is a good reflection on our society and the fact we live in a community not in some corporate head office does hold out hope for a fairer and more just Australia. Barry of Nambucca Heads

Warren of Sydney Posted at 9:04pm today

hahaha you have to love the screaming and ranting of the howard huggers... GET OVER IT. It's all over! YAY!

sally of North Sydney Posted at 9:00pm today

Keep up the good work Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard. You help the average person in Australia. We are far better off now then everbefore. Mr Howards was a liar. We love you Mr Rudd