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category indonesia / philippines / australia | workplace struggles | other libertarian press author Saturday July 09, 2005 15:13author by Anarchist Age Weekly Review Report this post to the editors

The proposed Industrial Relations changes

From “Anarchist Age Weekly Review” No 650 - 4th July - 10th July 2005

About the proposed Indutrial Relations changes by the Howard government in Australia Co-operatives Howard΄s new Industrial Relations laws are a disaster for most wage earners. What little security they enjoyed in the workplace in the past, will quickly be eroded by individual contracts that give employers powers that reduce the employer worker relationship to a master servant one. Faced with the prospect of being at the beck and call of employers 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, wage earners need to examine ways they can protect their lifestyles, maximise their wages, protect their dignity and maximise their ability to collectively bargain. Hamstrung by laws that make strikes virtually illegal and which give employers the ability to bankrupt employees for taking legitimate workplace action to protect and extend their rights and conditions, wage earners need to explore new ways or organising.

Irrespective of how powerful the corporate sector has become, they still need intellectual and physical labour to create profits for their shareholders. Instead of wage earners selling their labour as individuals, they should seriously consider exploring the option of forming co-operatives. Co-operatives formed an important component of the workplace in Australia in the late 19th century.

Co-operatives are businesses that are owned and run by their members, with members sharing the profits. They can consist of a half dozen, hundreds or even thousands of workers. Co-operatives protect workers from Howard΄s Industrial Relations laws, give members the power to circumvent laws that prevent workplace action and most importantly of all, give members the opportunity to collectively bargain for better conditions and wages.

Co-operatives are the very antithesis of the corporate model. Profits are shared by members not by investors and shareholders. A strong co-operative movement can successfully challenge the economic domination of the corporate sector and provide real and viable alternatives for people who are sick and tired of being treated as disposable commodities by government, the State and the corporate sector.

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! The Treasurer΄s assertion that its Industrial Relations blueprint will increase both jobs and wages can΄t go unchallenged - ΄Industrial Reforms take toll on Coalition΄ (The Age 5/7). It΄s possible the number of poorly paid, part time, boring, monotonous, dead end jobs will increase as a result of the Howard government΄s Industrial Relations agenda but wages will not increase for the majority of workers. The only workers whose wages could increase are a small number of highly skilled workers whose skills may be in temporary demand. As the number of workers in that category increase, their bargaining capacity will be eroded and wages will fall.

Howard΄s Industrial Relations blueprint for Australia will increase the number of working poor in the country. It΄s no accident the government has targeted social security beneficiaries in their lead up to its attempts to create more jobs by removing rights and conditions workers have enjoyed for decades. It knows that wages in many instances will be so low there will be no financial incentives for people to enter the workforce. Many people faced with the insecurity of the new job market will find the relative security of the social security system a more attractive option than Howard΄s brave new world.

Howard΄s proposed Industrial Relations policies will not reform workplace relations. It will make things worse, not better, for the great majority of workers, especially those in ΄non-unionised΄ workplaces who have signed individual contracts. The Howard government΄s push to alter current Industrial Relations arrangements cannot be viewed in isolation. They are part of a package that΄s designed to force people from the social security system into poorly paid part time jobs that no one wants to do.

The solution to the current problem doesn΄t lie in stripping away workers rights and conditions; solutions to current woes lies in the passage of Federal legislation that improves workers wages, rights and conditions, so more people are encouraged to join the workforce.

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