Vigil mourns death of democracy
By Sean Lennon
and Pip Hinman
MELBOURNE — A vigil began on the steps of Parliament House at 11 p.m. on November 12 to mark the passing into law of the Employee Relations Act. The ERA was passed by parliament at 4.30 a.m. the next day.
As night turned into morning, many people on their way to work expressed their support for the vigil by tooting their horns as they drove past. Many people stopped to sign a petition calling on the Kennett government to resign and allow fresh elections to be held.
The vigil was organised by the State Public Services Federation. SPSF vice president Bill Deller told Green Left that it is important that Victorians show their opposition to the Kennett government's attacks on wages and conditions. Community support is needed to sustain the vigil, he said.
About 500 state public servants rallied on the steps of parliament on November 13 to give support to the vigil and protest against the new legislation. Bernard Murphy described how the government planned to render the current Workcare provisions redundant. He said that the new Workcare provisions would abolish the county court system and replace that with a hand-picked "medical panel" from which there would be no appeal.
SPSF vice president Karen Bad commented that the Public Service Management Bill to abolish the Public Service Board would ensure that from March 1 all public servants would be obliged to sign individual contracts. This would put all but a few basic conditions up for negotiation. There would be no guarantee for paid maternity leave and flexi-leave, and no compensation for unfair dismissals or a reduction in salary.