ID :
37730
Sun, 12/28/2008 - 16:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/37730
The shortlink copeid
Unions can lodge ILO complaint: Gillard
Unions have every right to raise matters with the International Labour Organisation, but the government believes its industrial relations policy is fair, acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
A group of powerful Victorian left-wing unions has obtained legal advice to lodge a
complaint about the bill with the International Labour Organisation, The Weekend
Australian newspaper reported.
The unions allege Labor's Fair Work Bill falls short in terms of freedom of
association and collective bargaining rights and does not go far enough in
demolishing former prime minister John Howard's pro-employer Work Choices laws.
The proposed complaint has won support from Victoria's Trades Hall and left-wing
unions in manufacturing, construction and education.
Ms Gillard says the issue is a matter for the unions involved, but the government
believes it has got the balance right.
"When I introduced the Fair Work Bill into the Australian Parliament, I fully
expected that there would be some employers who said we had gone too far, some
unions who said that we hadn't gone far enough," Ms Gillard said in Adelaide on
Sunday.
"We (the government) believe we have got the balance right and importantly, we have
delivered on our promises to the Australian people, to sweep Work Choices away and
to replace it with a fair and balanced industrial relations system."
She said the government had always made clear pattern bargaining would not be allowed.
"We have been very clear since we first launched our workplace relations policy in
2007 that pattern bargaining would not be legal under Labor's laws.
"Pattern bargaining is not legal under our Fair Work Bill. That is a situation we
have made absolutely clear month after month, day after day.
"Our bill is about having a safety net for all Australians that they can rely on,
standards at work that can't be stripped away from them. It is about bargaining at
an enterprise level and it is also about being protected from unfair dismissal.
"Work Choices stripped away the safety net and people could be dismissed on a whim
and have no remedy. Our bill fixes that."
A group of powerful Victorian left-wing unions has obtained legal advice to lodge a
complaint about the bill with the International Labour Organisation, The Weekend
Australian newspaper reported.
The unions allege Labor's Fair Work Bill falls short in terms of freedom of
association and collective bargaining rights and does not go far enough in
demolishing former prime minister John Howard's pro-employer Work Choices laws.
The proposed complaint has won support from Victoria's Trades Hall and left-wing
unions in manufacturing, construction and education.
Ms Gillard says the issue is a matter for the unions involved, but the government
believes it has got the balance right.
"When I introduced the Fair Work Bill into the Australian Parliament, I fully
expected that there would be some employers who said we had gone too far, some
unions who said that we hadn't gone far enough," Ms Gillard said in Adelaide on
Sunday.
"We (the government) believe we have got the balance right and importantly, we have
delivered on our promises to the Australian people, to sweep Work Choices away and
to replace it with a fair and balanced industrial relations system."
She said the government had always made clear pattern bargaining would not be allowed.
"We have been very clear since we first launched our workplace relations policy in
2007 that pattern bargaining would not be legal under Labor's laws.
"Pattern bargaining is not legal under our Fair Work Bill. That is a situation we
have made absolutely clear month after month, day after day.
"Our bill is about having a safety net for all Australians that they can rely on,
standards at work that can't be stripped away from them. It is about bargaining at
an enterprise level and it is also about being protected from unfair dismissal.
"Work Choices stripped away the safety net and people could be dismissed on a whim
and have no remedy. Our bill fixes that."
