Wild cat strikes should not be unlawful
In today’s press are reports of a so-called ‘wild-cat strike’ at Australian airports after hundreds of baggage handlers and other staff walked off the job yesterday morning in response to concerns about outsourcing and security issues. The term ‘wildcat’ is used derogatively against the workforce. Yet from the workers view they are not ‘wild-cats’ . They “did not take the decision to stop work lightly” and such a response is proper and legitimate when threatened with being made unemployed by a powerful corporation Qantas. OK, there is disruption to passengers.
I have argued strongly on this blog (see right to strike) that the workers and their union, here the TWU should not be subject to penal powers and fined with Qantas lawyers going to Court…rather the issues in dispute have to be resolved around the negotiating table.
WorkChoices IS NOT REPEALED. The DPM’s FAIR WORK ACT KEEPS THE MOST REPRESSIVE REGIME TO CRUSH STRIKES!
AND IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU WALK OFF FOR ONE HOUR FOR A PROTEST MEETING YOU ARE DOCKED FOUR HOURS! AND THIS IS KEPT BY THE DPM.
The TWU members concerns are reasonable and cannot be solved by arbitration as the Industrial Commission (unlike earlier years) is compelled to order the stoppage to cease. Arbitration of the issues is severely restricted under the ALP!
The concers are about the outsourcing of Qantas and Jetstar jobs and about the airline’s security practices after the recent bikie brawl at Sydney airport.
TWU federal secretary Tony Sheldon said up to 25 per cent of private contract employees were not undergoing proper security checks, reported in the Age today.
“Quite clearly, if a plane is at 20,000 feet in the air and it blows up, it will be Qantas’ fault that that’s occurred,” Mr Sheldon said.
“If it is an explosion, or a device that explodes at one of our airports, it will be Qantas that the finger will be clearly pointed at — but unfortunately it will be the workforce and innocent bystanders that will be killed.”
Qantas spokesman David Epstein said: “The law is quite simple: if people walk off in unauthorised industrial action, they don’t get paid for four hours.”
The easy public game for corporations is to say the stoppage is un-lawful and to be penalised. Qantas has already enormous power…yet the ALP ensures that workers rights to protest are not protected!
right to strike
