Unions slam workplace Law details

This article appeared in the West Australian Tuesday 21 March 2006
Submitted by Paul Hitt, Perth, Western Australia

Kim MacDonald
Unions WA has slammed new laws under which workers will be fined up to $6000 simply for asking the boss to ensure they have protections against unfair dismissals written into their contracts.Secretary Dave Robinson said it was indicative of the tough new industrial regime which undermined the' rights of both workers and unions.
From Monday, workers in companies of fewer than 100 employees will lose unfair dismissal protection as part of the new WorkChoices industrial package, meaning that there will be no legal recourse if they are unfairly sacked.Details of the regulations released at the weekend revealed that the protection would also be taken away from workers earning more than $95,000 annually, regardless of the size of their employer.

Federal Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews defended the tough new laws claiming they were designed to ensure that employees were not able to pressure employers to include prohibited matters in agreements. He said the situation in which the fines would most likely occur would be if a worker tried to submit the request as part of a log of claims used in pattern bargaining. He said there would also have to be evidence that the, employee knew this to be an illegal request.

He said the Office of Employment Advocate probably would not bother pursuing the fines against workers who made the request but were unaware it was illegal to do so. "The Office of Employment Advocate is not going to run around every workplace looking at this. It's, got more important things to do" he said."There is a vice it's directed at, and this is where you've got it included in a log of claims ... in pattern bargaining agreement and the employee says: sign this agreement. "

Mr Andrews denied that WorkChoices package increased government meddling in workplace issues, claiming the new system would ensure less institutional involvement by reducing the role of the industrial relations commission.

Mr Andrews rejected threats from the Australian Council of Trade Unions that workers across the country would oppose the legislation with a program of civil disobedience. "We are sure that the sky is not going to fall in on Monday. Life will go on," Mr Andrews said.