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Secretary's Soapbox September 2006

WORKCHOICES (sic) – NAVIGATING THE TRANSITION
OR BUILDING OPPOSITION?

19 SEPTEMBER 2006

THE SITUATION FACING UNIONS IS A MOVING FEAST.

Many unions in Victoria are taking at least a two pronged approach, at this point in time.  There is the legal question and then there is the political/industrial question.

Briefly on the legal front, unions individually are finding their respective points of ‘contact’ in relation to the updated federal IR laws.  Unions must carry out this exercise on behalf of their overall memberships.

They are duty bound to at least define a minimalist relationship.

But understandably most do so reluctantly, in many cases with a ‘sour, smouldering resentment’.

A range of various approaches were explored pre 27 March 2006, when WorkChoices became law.  Post 27 March all sorts of ‘models’ have been and are being looked at – e.g. Common Law contracts revised and devised C.A’s/EBA’s, MOU’s and Deeds.

Survival under WorkChoices is the name of the game.

Many of the approaches in the current period reflect the history of the relationships unions have had with the main employers that employ their members.

The level of cordiality or pragmatism in this history can be a measure of what can be packaged together as an agreed industrial instrument.  In many industries this is then tested by the Howard government’s IR machine: OWS, OEA, DEWR, Minister Andrews’ office and the conservative firms in the legal profession.

The AIRC isn’t getting much of a say nowadays.

Many sensitive negotiations are happening and don’t deserve interference or scrutiny from the Prime Minister or Kevin Andrews.  Their IR ‘taskforces’ are monitoring developments 24/7.

This of course leads me to the other union response to WorkChoices – growing and ongoing resistance at the political level.

With union encouragement the Victorian State ALP government has made some contribution to the campaign against Howard’s IR laws.  They have conducted submissions to the Senate; set up the Workplace Rights Advocate, brought in certain Public Sector protections, participated in the High Court challenge against the WorkChoices legislation. 

However, the main political game is the upcoming Federal Election due in 2007.

We have to see this involvement in the light of recent figures that reveal industrial action/withdrawal of labour is dropping off noticeably.

Unions are still finding their way, testing the water and often not taking risks.  This development partially relates to the earlier point– that unions are working through their relationships with the main employers in their traditional areas of coverage, to see what wages and conditions can be secured in the short term at least.

But a major effort is going into political campaigning.  Through the ACTU, States’ Labour Councils, like the VTHC, the ALP nationally, State by State and locally right down to the ALP branch level – strategies are being consolidated, re-worked, tested, for the 2007 Federal Election.

Unions, more than any other time over the last 10 years, are gearing up to try to get Howard out of office.  The Federal ALP’s recent promises to rip-up WorkChoices and, more recently, to re-instate the status of collective bargaining in new legislation, is all part of this effort.

Why is this a principal response to WorkChoices?

WorkChoices is a surgical piece of legislation that over time, if it’s allowed to remain on the statute books, will reduce trade unions from being an effective voice for organised workers for a long, long time.

Howard is the most toxic political leader the trade union movement has ever faced.  It is the clash of progressive versus conservative forces we have to have.

The Federal government is not having it all its own way.

Government Ministers have had to hit the hustings and ask employers to ‘ease up’ after stories like the Cowra Abattoirs.

Kevin Andrews has Joe Hockey imposed on him to ‘help’ sell the IR message because Andrews is floundering.

On the award rationalisation exercise (headed up by AIRC Senior Deputy President O’Callaghan) things have gone ‘pear shaped’. Kevin Andrews has had to step back and adopt a more cautious and incremental approach.

This is because in part they have worked out that hundreds of thousands of workers – award based only – and not covered by EBA’s, could become members of an instant class of working poor as in the U.S. – if the awards were gutted to a bare set of minima.

In 2005 Andrews said that the 4000 awards already in existence could be reduced to “some dozens”.  But the above mentioned political reality has kicked in.

Howard is a wily politician who will do anything to draw the public’s attention away from the IR laws, and other embarrassing issues like rising interest rates and petrol prices – all of which are hurting ordinary people on a daily basis.

Changing tack and diverting what is being talked about in the mainstream media, is an old but reliable trick.

Shifting to attacking a so-called minority in the Islamic community for not integrating quickly enough or learning to speak English, is a recent illustration.

How Australian history is taught in schools was another.

Eulogising Steve Irwin, commenting on the weather, anything to keep shaking off scandals like the AWB or what his IR laws are doing to people.

Let’s go back to WorkChoices.  The Howard Government claimed it was legislation to simplify the relationship between employer and employee.

Yet small to medium size businesses are attending seminars in record numbers to learn how the Act actually works, how to negotiate agreements and so on.  Confusion is the buzz word, many have not bought into the legislation because they fear they may hurt their businesses.

This is all because the bulk of the legislation was all about doing in workers acting collectively and specifically cutting unions out of the workplace equation.

Most elements of the legislation are in fact purely anti-union in nature. 

Making industrial action illegal in virtually all circumstances and curtailing right-of-entry provisions for union organisers are two key illustrations of this point.

The above scenario is unfolding everyday.  Turning up to the next big National Day of Protest on November 30 is very important.  Be there at the MCG and show John Howard the campaign against his draconian IR laws is alive and well.