WorkChoices – Never Again?
SP Newsletter No.319
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has revived their anti-WorkChoices campaign in the lead up to the next federal election. The ACTU is asserting Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has “shamelessly vowed to resurrect the core elements of WorkChoices, the policy that was so resoundingly rejected by Australian voters less than three years ago”.
The Howard Government’s WorkChoices industrial relations legislation has gone down in Australian history as one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation ever introduced. It brought hundreds of thousands of angry workers out onto the streets and ultimately led to the federal Coalition’s 2007 electoral defeat.
At the time, those workers who took to the streets to defend their industrial rights were told that a Labor Government would ‘rip up’ the viciously anti-worker legislation, and reinstate our hard won workplace rights. The solution to WorkChoices, said the ACTU, was to vote Labor.
Almost three years on, it’s clear to all that the Rudd-Gillard Government had no such intentions. Clear to all, that is, except the ACTU.
Recognising the electoral influence of the initial ‘Your Rights at Work’ campaign, the ACTU has dusted off the old commercials and worn rhetoric for another round. The message “WorkChoices: whatever the name, never again” insinuates that an Abbott Coalition Government would reintroduce WorkChoices under a new name.
While it is true that Abbott has made implications along these lines, the ACTU continues to ignore one key factor. WorkChoices has already been given a new name: “Fair Work”.
To the horror of many, when Labor came to power it took the WorkChoices legislation, tweaked it a little, and repackaged it as their own Fair Work Act.
Far from reinstating workers’ rights, the Fair Work Act retains many of the worst aspects of WorkChoices; harsh restrictions on the right to strike, restrictions on union right of entry to workplaces, no unfair dismissal protection for many workers, and a form of individual contract that overrides a collective agreement.
Australia is the most difficult country to take strike action among the Advanced Capitalist Countries. Every time a union attempts to strike or support another union the bosses get support from the courts to stop it.
But rather than exposing Labor as a party eager to carry out the interests of bosses, the ACTU remains intent on building up a straw man in Abbott. Again, they tell us the solution is to vote Labor, even while we have a Labor Government continuing attacks on workers’ rights and introducing further anti-worker laws.
The Labor Party has proven it is a party that represents the needs bosses before those of working people. No long-term gains can be made by rallying behind Labor in the upcoming election. Industrial rights are best won on the industrial front, where the collective power of workers is strongest. We require a political alternative to Labor and a serious industrial campaign that is directed against the government of the day if we are to defend and extend workers’ rights.
Upcoming SP meetings
The Melbourne Branch of the Socialist Party meets every Wednesday 7pm at Trades Hall on the corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets Carlton South.
* This week SP member Stephen Jolly will be speaking at a special public meeting at the New International Book Shop (NIBS) at Trades Hall. Stephen will report on his recent visit to South Africa. He will discuss the politics of South Africa and the World Cup. Entry is $2 and everyone is welcome. Please note this meeting starts at 6.30pm sharp!
Other upcoming meetings include:
* 21/7 – South Africa: Stephen Jolly reports on his recent visit (6.30pm @ NIBS)
28/7 – The politics of the Black Panthers
4/8 – The NT Intervention 3 years on
11/8 – Report from CWI world school
For more information or for details of meetings in other parts of Australia contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111.
News links:
Nigeria: Stop the attack on the DSM – Release socialist students
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4410
CWI World School: Class struggles on the rise
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4409
EU: Is it doomed?
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4399
Join the Socialist Party
If you agree with what you have read in our newsletter or on our website you should consider joining SP. The Socialist Party has branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Perth as well as members and supporters in all other states.
We are involved in trade union work and student work. We also run community, anti-war and environmental campaigns. But most of all we want to build a party that will fight to get rid of the capitalist system, the system that is at the root of all of these problems. We fight for socialism - a system that will bring an end to wars, poverty and environmental destruction. To join SP contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a membership application form.
Subscribe to ‘The Socialist’ newspaper!
Support the Socialist Party by subscribing to our monthly newspaper ‘The Socialist’. Subscription rates are only $10 per year or $20 solidarity price. You will receive 11 copies per year delivered to your door every month. You will also receive our email newsletter every week and you will know that you are supporting an organisation that is at the fore of fighting against the capitalist system. To subscribe to ‘The Socialist’ contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a subscription form.
Socialist Party contact details
Melbourne: Phone Anthony on 0396399111.
Sydney: Phone Gary on 0297287727.
Newcastle: Phone Samantha on 0249681545.
Adelaide: Phone David on 0883441474.
Perth: Phone John on 0894020728.
Rest of Australia: Phone our National Office on 0396399111.
Rest of the world: Phone our International Office on ++ 44 20 8988 8760.
The Socialist Party is the Australian section of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI). The CWI is organised in over 40 countries across the world.
