AWAs: new form of wage slavery?

The Howard government is well known for deceit and trickery even by it's own members, but the gang of lawyers who make up Howard's cabinet appear to have reached a new low when it comes to the hidden nature of their AWAs. No wonder the big corporations want to keep them!

See Sydney Morning Herald revelation below:

The Government believes Labor's plan to allow workers to opt out of a contract if they are unhappy with its conditions would be unconstitutional.

The Herald understands the Government has legal advice that allowing a worker to withdraw from a legally binding workplace contract would breach constitutional protections on the acquisition of property rights.

If Labor was elected and changed the law to allow workers to opt out of existing AWAs, the law would be open to a High Court challenge. "If there's a contract in place, the Government can't make a law that unpicks a contract without it being challenged," a source said.

The Government believes the legal dilemma is holding up Labor's policy of abolishing AWAs and implementing transitional arrangements for workers already on the individual agreements.