It is the changes to awards and to bargaining practices that will occasion the really profound changes. To effectively comprehend just how far-reaching the new laws will be, it helps to look at a series of bullet points on the second page of the Government's outline of its new system. It reads:
"Our reforms will:
· Not cut minimum and award classifications.
· Not abolish awards.
· Not remove the right to join a union.
· Not take away the right to strike.
· Not outlaw union agreements.
· Not abolish the AIRC (Australian Industrial Relations Commission)."
Anyone familiar with pronouncements by any government will be able to decode this. It means awards, award rates, the right to strike, union agreements and the existing wage tribunal will all be seriously, if not fatally, diminished.
Of course, it could have been even more radical. The AIRC, rather than being allowed to wither on the vine, could have been wiped out.
What is left of the safety net could also have gone. But the effect will be sweeping, nonetheless. Weekend penalties, over-award payments, loadings for overtime - all these features of the Australian workplace are likely to disappear quite quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment