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Hockey confirms Work Choices will stay but refuses to release research on future plans
At the National Press Club today Mr Hockey again refused to release potentially embarrassing research that was commissioned by the Howard Government earlier this year.
The reason why Mr Hockey refuses to release the research is because it contains a Government plan to extend Work Choices to 100% of the workforce, slash coverage of the award safety net and push a further 1.5 million workers onto lower paid AWAs. Appendix 1
Mr Hockey also confirmed today that the Howard Govt would continue to rationalise the award system after the election.
His assurance that workers would not be worse off cannot be trusted considering almost all major business groups close to the Government are lobbying for workers’ conditions to be lowered and stripped away through the award rationalisation process. Appendix 2
The changes to family leave announced by the Minister today are a case of too little too late from a Government that has spent the last eleven years stripping away rights from workers and introducing unfair IR laws that hurt working families.
However one of the key measures announced by the Minister, the ability to take double the amount of annual leave at half pay, is not new. This flexibility is already contained in the Work Choices regulations. Appendix 3
In relation to another measure announced today, the ACTU also observes that as recently as late 2005 the Howard Government strenuously opposed the ability of both parents to take leave at the same time after the birth of a child. Appendix 4
The ACTU also strongly rejects Mr Hockey’s allegation that a new union advertisement that features meatworkers from the Lobethal abattoir in South Australia is incorrect.
The advertisement contains the following personal testimonies by the affected meatworkers:
The boss wanted us on a new agreement … Took away our penalty rates, overtime, public holidays and our 38 hour week… The agreement meant that we were going to be pad $88 a week less than the award… The Federal Government said it was fine. It would pass their fairness test… This is what’s happening to ordinary Australians under the IR laws…Made us fell like second class citizens... It did. Yeah. It did.
Attached is the letter from the head of the Federal Government’s own Workplace Authority and the abattoir manager stating that the agreement would pass the fairness test. Appendix 5
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
“The Howard Government did not tell the Australian public about Work Choices before the last election and it is not being upfront about Liberals’ plans to go further on IR after this one,” said Ms Burrow.
ACTU Media Release Wednesday 7 November 2007
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