New workplace legislation introduced into Federal Parliament today will strip away one hundred years of respect for workers’ rights, remove legal protection for many employment conditions and will set a new low for the future workplace conditions of Australian workers, the ACTU said today (November 2, 2005).

ACTU Secretary, Mr Greg Combet said that the legislation confirmed everything that unions had been warning the community about, and worse.

Mr Combet said: “Now that we know the detail, this legislation confirms all of our criticisms of the Government’s plans.

“Unfair dismissal rights are gone for nearly 4 million workers, individual contracts will be able to cut take home pay and basic conditions, the Award safety net is to be removed as the ‘no-disadvantage test’ which underpins workplace bargaining, the real value of minimum wages will be allowed to fall, and workers will have no enforceable legal right to collectively bargain.

“This legislation tears up 100 years of the social contract in Australia. Since Federation our Industrial Relations system has been built on the idea that ordinary hard-working Australians got to participate in the benefits of economic growth, and that there were protections there for people when times got tough. This is the system that the Federal Government’s laws will attack.

“Under these laws, unions and workers can be fined $66,000 for even asking for workers to be protected from unfair dismissal or individual contracts, or for clauses that protect job security.

“The Government is knowingly misleading the public.  Australian working families, who are only just keeping their heads above water, will be severely impacted by these changes. Penalty rates, public holidays, overtime pay, control over the roster, shift penalties – none of these conditions will be protected by law.

“Union members have been joined by the broader community, who care about decent rights and conditions in the workplace, in opposing these laws.

“These changes were not put before the Australian people at the last election. The first opportunity for the Australian public to demonstrate their opposition to these laws is the National Day of Community Protest on November 15.”

ACTU FACTSHEET

 November 2, 2005

WORKCHOICES: Five Key Facts

2 November 2005

“This legislation tears up 100 years of the social contract in Australia. Since Federation our industrial relations system has been built on the idea that ordinary hard-working Australians got to participate in the benefits of economic growth, and that there were protections there for people when times got tough. This is the system that the Federal Government’s laws will attack.” Greg Combet, Secretary, ACTU.

Key Facts about the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 introduced into Federal Parliament today:

1. Unfair dismissal - rights will be taken away from 3.7 million Australian workers who will be able to be sacked unfairly and with no reason given.
2. Individual contracts - the Government wants to see more and more people pushed on to individual contracts.  Under these laws there is no legal requirement for these contracts to protect people’s take-home pay or to include important Australian workplace conditions like overtime pay, penalty rates, public holiday pay, meal breaks, redundancy pay etc.
3. Awards – Award conditions will not be guaranteed or ‘protected by law’.  In fact, what these laws will mean is that the Award safety net is effectively gone. 
4. Minimum wages – Minimum wages will no longer be set by the Industrial Relations Commission - that role will be given to a board appointed by a Government that has consistently said that minimum wages in Australia are too high.
5. Unions – The right of unions to visit workplaces will be restricted and unions can be hit with fines of $66,000 if they even ask for workers to be protected from unfair dismissal or individual contracts.