Viewpoint: Coalition declares war on unions

Sue Bull

Coalition declares war on unions

John Howard focused his January 8 launch of the Coalition parties' federal industrial relations policy around two promises:

• to reduce the role of unions in the enterprise bargaining process;

• to guarantee workers will not be paid any less than award rates under enterprise or individual employment contracts.

Most of what Howard has promised is possible under Labor's enterprise bargaining rules. Labor has already legislated to allow "enterprise flexibility agreements", which include non-union enterprise deals and individual contracts. And while Labor says that awards guarantee minimum pay, the ongoing Weipa dispute reveals that this "safety net" does not cover over-award payments (which make a difference of up to $15,000 a year in the case of Weipa). The main difference between what a Coalition government says it will do and Labor's industrial relations regime is that the Industrial Relations Commission would lose its right to vet and modify enterprise bargains. While the Coalition may make it formally unlawful for bosses to pay workers less than award rates, it will be a lot harder for workers to have this enforced. Workers would have to be able to afford to take the matter to the federal court and join the three-year waiting list. So Howard's "guarantee" of no cut in wages could be worth little. Anyway, as unions are forced out of relations between workers and their bosses (gradually under Labor's enterprise bargaining or faster under the Coalition's system), wages will eventually be forced down. The working class learned more than 150 years ago that without the collective strength of a union, the boss has the upper hand. Howard also announced that a Coalition government would reintroduce sections 45D and E of the Trade Practices Act which ban solidarity actions (a restriction on worker unity that the Labor government retains under the IRC's powers). But Howard's declared policy really only begins the Coalition's attack on unions. A series of undeclared measures will probably surface only after an election. Based on the actions of Coalition governments in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, these may include:

• limiting the right to strike (subjecting such decisions to secret ballot and notice to bosses);

• limiting the transfer of workers from state to federal awards;

• ending payroll deductions of union dues for federal public servants;

• restricting union officials' rights to enter workplaces and carry out "political acts".

When a future federal Coalition government brings in its secret "second wave" of industrial relations measures will depend on the extent that the unions have been weakened by the ALP-ACTU Accord. The Coalition parties know that unionisation rates have dropped from about 50% in 1982 to 35% in 1994. And they know that unions have become unpopular with many workers because they've helped the ALP shift $400 billion from wages to profits over the last decade. But the Coalition is still wary of scaring off working-class voters, and even if Howard wins the elections, he will have to test out union strength on the ground. A poll by AGB McNair on January 12-14 found that 63% of voters surveyed opposed the Coalition's plan to reduce the role of the IRC in negotiations between workers and bosses. But it also found that 51% supported the reducing the role of trade unions in negotiations. The union movement has come to this sorry state because of the ACTU's collaboration with the ALP to boost corporate profits. If the working class is going to be able to stand up for its rights under either a Coalition or a Labor federal government, it must force the unions to break this rotten deal. Ultimately, the working class must build a party that really acts in its interest.
[Sue Bull is the Democratic Socialist candidate for Canberra and its industrial relations spokesperson.]