Bosses on the offensive against awards

Bosses on the offensive against awards

By James Vassilopoulos

On July 23, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission will begin arbitration in a case that may result in the removal of dozens of conditions from awards.

The case is being bought by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). It is being opposed by the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union and the shop assistants' and nurses' unions. Six awards are in the firing line.

Under the Workplace Relations Act (WRA) all awards are to be reduced to 20 allowable matters by July next year. Current awards can have more, but it is also possible to have fewer. The 20 allowable matters include hours of work, rates of pay, long service leave, superannuation and overtime pay.

The ACCI seeks to:

l<~>make it easier for employers to sack workers by removing rights to redundancy processes;

l<~>remove union officials' right to enter a workplace;

l<~>end restrictions on the number of junior, casual and part-time employees and remove minimum hours for part-time workers;

l<~>remove many training clauses;

l<~>end rostered days off;

l<~>eliminate some occupational health and safety conditions like lighting, drinking water, protective clothing, first aid kits and ventilation;

l<~>eliminate provisions for employers to provide amenities for workers; and

l<~>delete the requirement of employers to keep employee time and wages books, necessary to check if workers have been underpaid.

The ACCI wants to allow bosses to change award conditions by individual agreement with workers. This would undermine any new award negotiated between employers and unions, as bosses could break the award if individual workers "agree". If this is granted, the "safety net" provided by an award would be destroyed.

Dave Oliver, assistant national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, described the case as a "Trojan horse for the introduction of individual contracts ... the employers' proposals mean fundamental award provisions would no longer be guaranteed for individual workers".

The only coordinated union action against these attacks so far has been a rally outside the IRC in Sydney on June 26, attended by 3000 construction and manufacturing workers.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Bank has offered individual contracts to 3000 employees, under the provisions of the WRA. The bank aims to reduce allowances, remove restrictions on the employment of casual and part-time workers, reduce paid maternity leave, halve the number of rostered days off and replace sick leave entitlements with "discretionary leave".