National Union of Workers

By now, working people across Australia, whether union members or not, would be well aware that Industrial Relations “reform” is the main area in which the Howard Government plans to use its new-found power against workers and their families.

And while the industrial legislation isn’t likely to be introduced to Parliament until October, based on the Bills that have been defeated in recent years and the speech Howard made in Parliament when introducing the changes in May, we know the Federal Government will aim to do such things as:

· Damage our ability to collectively bargain by making it harder to take industrial action

· Promote the use of Individual contracts (AWA’s)

· Limit the right of union officials to visit worksites

· Reduce the scope of Federal Awards; abolish State Awards and state industrial relations systems

· Remove unfair dismissal rights for 75 per cent of workers 

· Limit the right of the Australia Industrial Relations Commission to set fair safety net wages for low-paid workers, as well as apply the ‘no disadvantage’ test to Enterprise Agreements.

With these ideologically-driven changes on the horizon, the job now for the union movement is to fight like never before to protect the wages and conditions of its members. In other words, it is up to us as unionists to run the campaign against the Howard Government’s plans.

However, we need to be smart in running this campaign. John Howard wants unions to lead with their chin. He would love nothing more than for unions to respond in a stupid, wildcat manner, so that he can fine individual workers and strip unions of their assets.

Well, John Howard underestimates unions, especially unions like the NUW.  Although we may not have faced a challenge as serious as this before, we have faced plenty of challenges prior to this. Each time, we’ve proven that not only do we know how to fight, we know how to fight smart!

Our Federal Secretary Charlie Donnelly, other union secretaries, as well as our good friends at the ACTU, Greg Combet and Sharan Burrow, have formed a campaign committee. They will coordinate the campaign against the changes – a campaign that has already been remarkably successful thanks to:

· High-quality TV, radio, and newspaper advertisements informing people of the proposed changes

· Unions like the NUW taking details of the changes to their members via mass meetings

· Literature (posters, stickers etc) that can be taken to worksites to spread the union message

· The NUW and other unions raising money for the ACTU “Fighting Fund” for things like the abovementioned advertising.

· Unions discussing with members the advantages of locking away their conditions by extending Enterprise Agreements for as long as possible.

· Ongoing efforts by unions to organise non-union sites

Neither the Senate, nor the Industrial Relations Commission can protect unorganised workers now – the only security left for working people is the support of a strong union like the NUW.

This is a message that union members understand and that the Howard Government just doesn’t get – no legislation can take away the commitment that union members have to each other.

It is a truth that will prove itself in the months to come – that a strongly organised union can withstand anything the Government throws at it.  It is a lesson that the rest of the workforce will, unfortunately, learn the hard way. 

Highlights of the South Australian campaign so far:

· Launch of the campaign at Adelaide Railway Station, June 26

· Protests outside Federal Liberal Party offices and Business SA by a busload of Delegates from NUW, ASU, MUA, and the AWU, June 30

· Delegate training and attendance at “low paid workers lunch”, July 1

· Leafleting the Crows versus Fremantle AFL game, July  3

For details on further campaign events, and how you can be involved, download the link that accompanies this article.