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Winter 2002

Could he actually be worse than Reith?

Tony Abbott, a warrior for big business and conservative governments, hates union's and has been doing everything he can to undermine them. His opinion certainly doesn't represent the opinion of working people, who are trying on modest wages to make a go of things.

The Federal Minister for Workplace Relations, Tony Abbott has been in the news a lot lately, with a string of public comments indicating he may well take an even more extreme anti-workers position than his predecessor, Peter Reith.
Tony Abbott is spoiling for a fight with union members, and has railed in particular against what he calls "ultra militant" unions.

At present these so-called "ultra militant" unions are the Construction, Forestry Mining and Engineering Union (CFMEU), the Electrical Trades Union (ETU/CEPU) and the Australian Manufacturing Union (AMWU). Members will recall it was the Maritime Union of Australia that was the target by the Conservative Government a few years ago.

It begs the question - which union will be the next to be targeted?

The Federal Government's role in industrial relations should be as the honest broker, the party that plays a bipartisan role to minimise disputation, bring the parties together and resolve disputes.

It is clear from the Minister's comments he sees the Federal Government having a different role, one of policeman or prosecutor.

The Minister has stated he believes the Federal Government may have a role in intervening in disputes on the side of the employer to balance the bargaining power between big unions and small employers.

The Minister, apparently, doesn't see any role for Government speaking out on behalf of powerless workers against multi-national organisations.

The cause of the Minister's recent comments are the recent cases involving the AMWU and their negotiations over enterprise bargaining agreements with car component manufacturers.

In each case the employer threatened legal action against the AMWU for loss of income, profits etc. On each occasion the union was able to negotiate an outcome and, as part of the settlement, the legal action was dropped by the employer.

The Minister is encouraging these employers to pursue legal action against their own employees, and gets hot under the collar when they don't. He now believes that if the employer won't sue their employees the Government should.

Tony Abbott clearly has an unbalanced view of his portfolio.