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Unions warn that Costello will go even further on industrial relations
John Howard’s announcement that he will stand down in favour of Peter Costello is a clear signal that the Liberal Party plans to take a hardline approach to industrial relations and will go even further on its unfair WorkChoices IR laws if it wins the next election says the ACTU.
“When it comes to industrial relations and the rights of Australian workers, Peter Costello is not just the same as John Howard. He is worse,” ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said today.
Unions today warned Peter Costello as Liberal leader would see even more Australians pushed onto AWA individual contracts and a further erosion of unfair dismissal protections for workers.
On AWA individual contracts, Peter Costello has said:
‘We should be trying to move to an industrial relations system where the predominant instrument is the individual contract’… (The Age, 19/2/05)
On unfair dismissals, Peter Costello has said:
‘You could have an exemption [from unfair dismissal protections] for everyone… I can’t tell you there is any magic in the number 100. If this were to work well people were to say well in the years to come it should be extended to all companies I would be very open to the idea.’ (ABL Insight Magazine, 26/7/05)
“Working Australians should be left in no doubt that Peter Costello will go further on WorkChoices and take away more of their rights at work if the Liberals win the next election,” said Mr Lawrence.
Mr Costello is a lifelong industrial relations extremist who is a founding member of the secretive pro-deregulation and pro-big business HR Nicholls Society.
Peter Costello began his career in the 1980s as a barrister in high-profile anti-worker legal fights such as the Dollar Sweets case in which low paid factory workers who had already been sacked were sued by the company and stood to lose their family homes.
ACTU Media Release
13 September 2007
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