In the Financial Review yesterday, DPM Gillard remains tough in Labor’s crack-down on pattern bargaining. Pattern bargaining – industry-wide industrial action in pursuit of an industry agreement or identical enterprise agreements – is like workChoices specifically prohibited by her Bill (sections 412 and 422).
Her “Fair” Work Bill retains all of the WorkChoices repressive regime against this legitimate form of collective bargaining.
The right to withdraw your is labour for industry or pattern bargaining is still in breach of ILO obligations.
Yet the DPM and all MPs throughout Australia set their own wages by thier own exclusive way of pattern bargaining.
The political elites running the state, Ministers and MPs and senior public servants and the judiciary make common pattern claims. They have their own arbitration system, their own remuneration tribunal. Increases not based on productivity but on the fair principle of comparative wage justice are granted and then automatically passed on to MHRs and Senators and then the increase further ‘flows-on’ to all other State’s MPs, CEOs and judges etc.
Corporate CEOs patten bargain with comparisons in the international market.
Such a fair system is denied to wage earners.
The DPM’s election promise for working families to be free to choose how to collectively bargain is ‘loose with the truth’.
Pattern or industry or national bargaining has been ACTU policy for years. The ACTU rightly attacked
it being made unlawful under WorkChoices.
Yet ACTU Jeff Lawrence now attacks the Liberals for being ‘loose with the truth’ when they say that pattern bargaining remains under Labor (press release 4th december and ‘fact’ sheet http:www.actu.asn.au). No it is not says Jeff.
The ACTU now supports the outlawing of WorkChoices’ pattern bargaining. Corporate lawyers are still able to legally stop industry strikes is a powerful weapon against unions. (See my articles in this post under ‘right to strike’).
The ACTU also points out that bargaining fees from non-unionists will continue to be banned. As well, the right of entry provisions largely remain.
The “Fair” Work Bill cements the serious fragmentation of workers organising in their unions across industries.
So much for WorkChoices being abolished; another case of being loose with the truth!
As well, flowing on modest wage increases on an industry basis with comparative wage justice would stimulate the economy in these recessionary times.
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