By Dave Wright and Peter Anderson
HOBART — An arrogant Tasmanian premier, Ray Groom, made a surprise appearance at the November 11 demonstration protesting against the government's Industrial Relations Bill, to be presented next day. Guarded by 10 beefy cops, Groom spoke for two minutes, gesticulating wildly until he was jeered off stage by the angry crowd.
Opposition leader Michael Field faced shouts of "You started the rot!" when he appeared at the protest, which attracted about 5000 people and followed a march from the Domain, via Royal Hobart Hospital, to the Parliament House demonstration.
Trades and Labour Council secretary Jim Bacon told the rally, "Ray Groom, in Victoria last week, agreed with everything Jeff Kennett is doing and wants to go down the same path". Bacon announced the TLC would push for a 24-hour strike and rally on November 30, the ACTU National Day of Action.
The Tasmanian Industrial Relations Bill includes provisions for:
- Voluntary unionism with penalties of up to $25,000 for a union and $3000 for individuals who encourage union membership as a condition of employment.
- Docking pay for not working as directed. Strikes are not banned, but work bans are severely restricted.
- A new adult minimum wage as low as $257 per week.
- A new youth minimum wage, approximately 50% of the adult rate, for 16-18 year olds.
- Seven days' notice will be required for union officials needing to enter a workplace.
- Introduction of enterprise contracts, which may last for five years.
- An enterprise commissioner will monitor agreements, but will obviously favour employers.
Unlike in Victoria, in cases where 60% of workers at a company opt for the new contract system, the remaining 40% will be forced to enter the contract system as well. Jim Bacon says that voting on enterprise agreements could be taken in individual sections of a workplace, meaning workers within a single workplace could be played off against one another.
Permanency will be curtailed in public service appointments and casual work introduced. Temporary public servants would have no right to take complaints to the commissioner. And employment contracts would have to be renewed annually.
"Freedom of choice" is one of the cynical themes used in an $80,000 media campaign to sell the draconian industrial package. In one TV advertisement, a hand with a cloth wipes the mud and grease from the word "freedom". Meanwhile, many Tasmanians are feeling the full impact of the national recession, with the highest unemployment in Australia at 12.1%.
Jim Bacon told Green Left Weekly, "Groom's industrial legislation is of the same philosophy as that of Kennett and Hewson. In effect the employer now has the whip hand, and the law will legalise breaches of awards that are now illegal.
"The fundamental reason for this legislation is to lower wages and conditions. The next logical step is to scrap awards. There is a great groundswell of support among ordinary people who are sick and tired of being told that they're the ones who have to suffer for problems they did not create. I think November 30 could be quite big; we might get 10,000 people out for it."