Unions and the Election

By Brian Boyd, Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary

The federal election is in full swing. 24 hour news services report everything, even the most banal of events and offer commentary.

One thing we can agree on, it is not the same as the lead up to 2007. 'Kevin 07' is already becoming a distant memory. Tony Abbott now leads the conservative forces and cannot hide his 'WorkChoices' DNA.

Both the ALP and Liberal/NP tried to insist IR law is not an issue, yet they have had to deal with it from the start of the official campaign. Why?

Simple. Because the union movement’s highly successful campaign to see off John Howard (2005-07) has left an indelible impact on the electorate’s psyche. The undermining of rights at work by Howard’s WorkChoices laws was over the top. His hatred of workers being able to get together at work and collectively bargain dripped from his 1000 plus pages of draconian regulations. It wasn’t a de-regulation of the labour market as claimed. It was over–regulation, aimed at stopping workers having the effective right to organise.

The Gillard Fair Work Act 2009 saw only the partial return of those lost rights.

Most unions have spent the last year or so adapting to the Fair Work Act, the so called Award Modernisation process and OHS 'harmonisation'. All very time consuming and often frustrating.

The ACTU leadership has made a few brief statements about the need for a second term IR agenda in the lead up to the federal election.

New ACTU President Ged Kearney said she wants 'a second round of workplace relations law changes that would give greater protection to union delegates, scrap the Australian Building and Construction Commission, allow industrial action in pursuit of pattern bargaining and expand wage deals to include clauses on non–workplace matters such as climate change and business practices' (The AFR 5/7/10).

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence recently said: "The fact is we still have a system that doesn’t provide for free bargaining. It still doesn’t provide for bargaining to take place in an appropriate way." (The Australian 13/7/10).

Also at the recent ACTU Executive a comprehensive pre–federal election resolution was passed. It included strengthening workers’ rights and extending collective bargaining:

"The Executive recognises there is more work to do to secure and improve the rights of working Australians."

The union movement is not asking the Gillard Government to legislate to do the unions work for them. They simply need a freer bargaining and organising regime, consistent with long standing ILO conventions so they can do what unions do – work for their members, free of draconian, pro-employer laws.

Minister Crean said "he supports the ILO conventions". It wouldn't be difficult to amend the Fair Work Act to comply.