BMUC Media release – Wednesday 5 August 2015
New details emerging today of the Abbott Government’s agenda to strip workers’ rights means Macquarie MP Louise Markus needs to take a firm stand in either supporting weekend workers in her electorate, or declaring her position in support of cutting their pay, says local union representatives.
New details emerging today of the Abbott Government’s agenda to strip workers’ rights means Macquarie MP Louise Markus needs to take a firm stand in either supporting weekend workers in her electorate, or declaring her position in support of cutting their pay, says local union representatives.
“Louise Markus should rule out supporting cuts to weekend rates, new contracts that strip conditions, and other measures to wind back workers’ rights proposed by the Government’s Productivity Commission Inquiry”, said Blue Mountains Unions Council spokesperson, Kerry Cooke.
“Does Louise Markus support the Productivity Commission’s suggestion that her constituents who work in hospitality and retail should accept a pay cut?” he said.
The Productivity Commission also raised the prospect of a new type of agreement – an “enterprise contract”. These are agreements that don’t meet award minimums, do not get voted on by employees, and are only submitted to—but not reviewed or registered by—the Fair Work Commission.
These new types of agreements are akin to “bulk Australian Workplace Agreements”, similar to the AWAs from the WorkChoices era which were shown to undermine conditions, except in this case they apply to whole groups of employees.
“The Abbott Government’s Productivity Commission has proposed a new style AWA that employers can place their workers under en masse. Does our local MP support these new “enterprise contracts”?” asked Mr Cooke.
“We know the voting record of Louise Markus when it has come to deregulation of higher education, undermining Medicare, and her support of Abbott’s cuts to pensions, health, education, the ABC, , and the CSIRO. When it comes to Sunday penalty rates – where does she stand?”
“We’ve long suspected that the Liberals have learnt from their mistakes around the introduction of the rejected WorkChoices laws and have now set up elaborate inquiries to lay the groundwork for its pernicious industrial relations agenda. The draft report released yesterday has shown this to be exactly the case,” said Mr Cooke.
For comment contact: Kerry Cooke is President of the Blue Mountains Unions Council, and a Blue Mountains resident. Mobile: 0481 341 950.
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