Since the passage of WorkChoices Act in November 2005, there have been on-going struggle of workers to repeal the regulations which are partial to employers. With public insistence, the development eventually turned positive.

There was concern that WorkChoices Act permitted employers to opt out of the outworker award provisions because they are not the direct employers. In 2006, certain amendments to the WorkChoices legislation were made, such as maintaining the state laws regarding outworkers' status as employees, and maintaining unions' right to inspect workplaces. However, the WorkChoices Act still adversely affected the workers.

Under the new government of Labor Party, the Fair Work Bill 2008 was introduced into the House of Representatives on 25 November 2008 and passed on 7 April 2009. Improvements brought by the bill include flexible working arrangement for workers who have children with disabilities; the Australia Labor Party (ALP)’s agreement to a review of pay equity; and the right for all the entitled employees to request flexible working arrangement. (Entitled employees refer to pregnant women and and workers with disabilities.)

Under the FairWork Act 2009, the right of workers' to membership to and representation by unions will be strengthened, and employers will no longer be able to refuse to negotiate with unions if employees choose to be represented by them. The enactment of FairWork Act brings further protection to the workers in clothing industry, as well as other grassroots workers.

ACPP has been supporting the local efforts to redress the conditions of workers. For details of the Acts related to the workplace relations in Australia, please refer to SUA051124(2) and the subsequent updates.

Source:
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (http://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/),
Australian Council of Trade Union (http://www.actu.asn.au/),
FairWear,
Greenleft Times

According to a new report released by International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in March, the "WorkChoices" Act makes Australia the only developed country where employers can refuse to negotiate with a union even when employees are union members and want their union to represent them. The severe limits on the rights to organize in trade union and on the items included in collective bargaining imposed by the laws violated the International Labour Organization standards which Australia has ratified.

There are cases of workers losing out under the laws through being pushed onto individual employment contracts. The report also cites recent evidence in Australia of women's incomes falling behind the cost of living since the introduction of the new laws and an increasing gap between the wages of male and female workers in the country due to higher concentration of women in lower-paid service and clerical jobs.

To read the full report, please click here.

In November 2005, Hotline Asia issued SUA051124(2) to support the passage of outworker amendment to Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Bill 2005 in the Senate to ensure adequate protection for outworkers.

Source:
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

The attempt on challenging the Federal Government’s workplace relations laws by states and unions failed, after being rejected by the High Court on 14 November 2006.

The High Court defeated calls to overturn the legislation and amend specific parts of the Workplace Relations Act, by upholding the laws as constitutionally valid, including the use of a special “corporations power” clause allowing the federal government to override states’ workplace regulation systems.

Prime Minister John Howard said he was pleased with the historical declaration, “Australia at long last in 2006 has a national system of industrial relations law for a national economy.”

The challenge was funded or backed by all six states and the two territories, along with labour unions, which argued that the laws gave bosses much greater powers to fire workers unfairly and reduce benefits.

In November 2005, Hotline Asia issued SUA051124(2) to support the passage of outworker amendment to Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 in the Senate to ensure adequate protection for outworkers.

Source:
South China Morning Post
The Australian

The Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 was passed by the Senate on 2 December 2005. And the amendments made by the Senate were agreed by the House of Representatives on 7 December 2005. The Bill is now become the Act of Australia.

Under the first version of the Bill, the Federal Government's new industrial relations system, outworkers were set to lose all the protections that had been fought for over more than 10 years. Outworkers would have become independent contractors, making low rates of pay legal instead of illegal. The union would have lost their right to investigate the activities of retailers, fashion houses and sub contractors to find where the work was going and fix up the wages for outworkers.

Through the amendments made to the WorkChoices legislation, State laws regarding outworkers, including the laws that ensure they are employees not contractors and the vital rights of entry of unions to inspect workplaces, have largely maintained.

The Government's stated intention of "retention of all existing outworker protections" was recorded in Hansard of 2 December through a statement by Liberal Senator Abetz. This has given the local group a good basis for campaigning for further amendments in the future where gaps still remain.

In November 2005, Hotline issued SUA051124(2), urging the authorities to assure adequate protection for outworkers by maintaining current levels of protection and to support the passage of outworker amendments to the WorkChoices Bill in the Senate.

Source:
Fairwear