Etu Still Fighting For Our Rights At Work And Better Laws For Workers

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10th March 2009, 06:03pm - Views: 867
Press Release: 10 March 2009

ETU 'Fair Work' still fighting for our rights at work and better laws for
workers

The national Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) has made an urgent application to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to scrutinise the Labor Government's proposed Fair Work Bill.

ETU Victorian State Secretary Dean Mighell, who is leading the campaign, said
that it was disappointing and unacceptable the Fair Work Bill does not meet the
Labor Party's consistent commitment to abolish WorkChoices as many sections
of the WorkChoices legislation are retained in the Fair Work Bill.

'It is also disappointing that a Federal Labor government is proposing industrial legislation which does not meet Australia's international obligations and which does not comply with ALP policies, which are voted upon by a democratic process' Mr Mighell said.

Mr Mighell said "When Australians voted for their rights at work in 2007, they
voted for better laws for workers and better rights for workers."

"The Fair Work Bill doesn't deliver basic rights at work which workers in other
comparable countries enjoy."

"We will continue the fight for better laws for workers. The Fair Work Bill clearly shows that the Labor government has listened too much to business and that is why the Howard government was thrown out", Mr Mighell said.

Mr Mighell said "The Federal Labor Government has not submitted the Fair Work Bill to the ILO for consideration of its compliance with ILO conventions, despite Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying that 'As a member of the ILO, Australia voluntarily agreed to and is bound to implement international labour standards in Australian labour law ... (and) that being elected to the ILO governing body brings with it additional responsibilities'. (Hansard, 9/11/2005)

Mr Mighell noted that at the Senate Inquiry, DEEWR's Deputy Secretary John
Kovacic testified at that the draft Fair Work Bill had not been submitted to the
ILO.

"Neither has the ACTU submitted the Bill for scrutiny, despite the fact that ACTU President Sharan Burrow is the 'Workers Representative' on the ILO Governing Body and that it is ACTU policy to uphold ILO conventions" Mr Mighell said.

Mr Mighell said "Ms Burrow testified at the Senate Inquiry that 'we need to wait till the bill is actually law' before submitting the Bill. We respectfully disagree, which is why we have taken up the matter with the ILO in the absence of the Labor government and the ACTU.'

Mr Mighell said "The Labor Government promised to 'rip up WorkChoices' and
this is the mandate given by Australian voters in 2007. However, the Fair Work
Bill:

*Doesn't reinstate the rights Australian workers lost as a result of Work Choices.
*Retains restrictions that were introduced by Work Choices that undermines the
ability of unions to represent members.
*Continues the technical, costly and time consuming secret ballots introduced by
Work Choices.
*Retains the prohibitions introduced by Work Choices that prevents workers, in
similar workplaces doing similar jobs, from joining together to collectively bargain and take protected industrial action in support of similar pay and conditions.
*Retains the underlying concept of AWA's and individual agreements which
undermine the collective of workers, by allowing employers to offer individual flexibility agreements (IFA) that 'trade off' established basic entitlements, such as overtime penalties.
*Won't allow workers to bring an unfair dismissal claim if they are made
redundant, which is a restriction that Work Choices first introduced.
*Like Work Choices, provides workers with far fewer rights to make an unfair
dismissal claim if they work for a small employer - and a claim cannot be made
until workers have been employed for more than 12 months.
*Makes workers lose 4 hours pay for taking unprotected industrial action (even if they attend a 10 minute meeting), which is a penalty that was introduced by Work Choices.

The ILO has acknowledged receipt of the CEPU's complaint, which will be immediately transmitted to the Government of Australia. The CEPU's request that this case be treated urgently will be drawn to the attention of the Committee on Freedom of Association at its March meeting. The ILO has further advised that the Committee will proceed to examine the substance of the case even if the Government's observations have not been received.

Mr Mighell has written to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Julia Gillard to seek her commitment that the Fair Work Bill will be submitted to the ILO for assessment of its compliance with ILO conventions, that the Fair Work legislation will be amended to comply with ALP policies and that all sections of the WorkChoices legislation will be removed from the Fair Work Bill to keep the Labor Government's commitment to abolish WorkChoices.

For enquiries please call
Dean Mighell
0418 354 362.


SOURCE: Electrical Trades Union Victorian Branch

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