Employees more isolated and jobs less secure

The Federal Government's industrial relations plan conjure the memory of men in balaclavas with guard dogs patrolling the waterfront. Public support for the wharfies during the 1998 Patrick Stevedores dispute was consolidated by a maritime union court victory preventing the employer from effectively shedding its entire unionised workforce. This victory was made possible, in part, because Patrick was required to prove that it did not threaten to dismiss its employees on the basis that they were union members. It failed to do so.

The Government now proposes to abolish this onus of proof in applications to prevent breaches of freedom of association principles, making it difficult to obtain interim court orders to stop another Patrick-style corporate restructure.

Compromising job security and isolating employees are threads running through the reform proposals. We now learn that all workers, even those employed by employers with more than 100 employees, will be unable to get relief from unfair dismissal when they are dismissed on grounds that include "the operational requirements" of the employer's business.

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