Greens MPs

There are increasing concerns that the Government's Forward with Fairness legislation will not be delivering sustainable fair workplace laws but rather will be serving up Work Choices-lite.

The Greens have already argued the award modernisation process will result in a deterioration of minimum conditions of work, particularly affecting workers who are not able to access genuine collective bargaining.

On 12 November 2008 I read out in the Senate the stories of women workers finding life difficult under the current laws and wondering what life will be like under Forward with Fairness. The Greens strongly believe the voices of disadvantaged workers must be heard in the upcoming debate.

One of the many travesties of the Howard Government was the establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and the enacting of the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII).

Together these represent John Howard's industrial relations agenda at its most extreme - explicitly anti-worker and using the power of the State against individuals in an ideological pursuit.

One of the many travesties of the Howard Government was the establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and its supporting legislation, the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act (BCII Act).

During Senate Estimates last night, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission confirmed $1.8 million of funding to support workplace related complaints has been cut by the Rudd Government, placing more stress on the Commission.

The Rudd-Gillard Labor Government has just passed its first piece of IR reform legislation through the Senate. For many who engaged with the Your Rights at Work campaign and voted to see the end of Howard's Work Choices, the result may seem a little disappointing as this legislation doesn't go as far as it could or should.

Or ‘Will Labor's IR laws be the biggest ever fraud on the Australian public?'

Today we have the pleasure of featuring a guest post from Adam Bandt, who stood for the Seat of Melbourne in the 2007 Federal election.

I am constantly amazed at the Howard Government's lack of interest in the real care and education of our children. Cutting corners on the health and well-being of today's generation of children is a false economy, as the consequence costs to society of poorer lifetime health and lower educational achievements and social engagement are massive. There is a need to focus on areas such as paid parental leave, childcare and early childhood education, and work/life balance provisions within our workplace relations system as ways in which these outcomes can be achieved.

We have seen changes to workplace relations ('Work Choices') that make it harder for working parents to balance their working commitments with their family life; we have seen changes to our welfare system ('Welfare to Work') that takes money and entitlements away from parents on income support and introduces harsh compliance conditions; and we have seen changes to the funding of our schools which creates a two-tiered system that takes money away from public education.

The Australia @ Work report is a reputable academic report outlining the issues that affect Australian workers under Work Choices. Surprise, surprise, since the results are less than favourable towards the Government, they are attempting to discredited the whole report due to the association with Unions NSW.

It is irresponsible to write-off any research in this manner, and frankly, it doesn't do them any good. By resorting to a simple smear campaign, the Government is merely reducing their own credibility and losing face in an ever increasing battle to keep Work Choices afloat. We have seen a range of responses from Liberal politicians, all focussed around the credibility and impartiality of those researchers involved.

It is clear that the Government is not interested in providing assistance to people to help them understand the new Workplace laws and wants to cut access to independent advice.

When I cross-examined the Office of the Employment Advocate (now operating under the Workplace Ombudsman and the Workplace Authority) in May 2007 they were unable to justify the funding cuts to CLCs.

The Government claimed that they could provide the advice for better value for money, yet they have done no assessment of what value for money they provide and they continue to refer people to CLCs.