WA Unions: Antidote to WorkChoices poison

Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett has dumped his government's blueprint for a return to WorkChoices, the draconian anti-worker anti-union laws first introduced by WA Liberals and much admired and copied by John Howard. They are also from the same ideological stable as the NSW coalition proposals as shown by their attacks on Public Sector workers.

The plan proposed the same changes to the entire state IR system, including mandatory individual workplace contracts (aka AWAs), restrictions on union rights of entry, removing unfair dismissal protections for tens of thousands of workers.

The strong WA union campaign opened a can of worms for Tony Abbott after the spectre of WorkChoices was reignited in the west, despite his pledge last year that it was "dead, buried and cremated".

The success of the WA unions campaign has led Barnett to dump the plan. "He's been scared off and that's a testament to our campaign -- but it's also a testament to the fact that WorkChoices is electoral poison," said UnionsWA secretary Simone McGurk.

"It's particularly interesting considering the call to arms recently by Peter Reith, with his references to Barnett and Tony Abbott and the need to pursue change."