Reinstate rights lost as a result of Howard’s Fair Work Act

 

Unfair dismissal laws

The current Federal Fair Work Act is riddled with unfair provisions that are a legacy of WorkChoices.  One obvious example is the strict 14 day limit in which employees have to bring an unfair dismissal case. Before WorkChoices and the Fair Work Act the time limit was 21 days.  This lengthier period gives workers who have been unfairly dismissed enough time to get over the immediate shock of their dismissal and seek out proper advice.

Right of entry provisions

Union officials need to be given the power to enter workplaces so that safety measures are enforced before accidents occur. The Greens believe in strengthening unions’ right of entry to recruit members, inspect for breaches of occupational health and safety provisions and breaches of the Fair Work Act, relevant awards or agreements.

The Greens are committed to reinstating:

  • proper right of entry provisions for unions in the Fair Work Act
  • a basic minimum standard of 21 days, rather than the current 14 day limit, to bring a claim of unfair dismissal.

Abolish the Australian Building & Construction Commission

The ABCC is a commonwealth funded secret police force aimed directly at unions and unionists in the building and construction industry. The fact that the ABCC can compel any person who was on a building site to attend an interrogation session without cause, to then interrogate them in the absence of their lawyer and strip away any right to silence before spitting them back on the street and directing them to be absolutely silent about the whole affair on threat of imprisonment is a blight on our society.

The Greens NSW are committed to immediate abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Protect NSW Occupational Health & Safety Laws from downgrading through national harmonization process

The Greens support the strongest possible OHS laws, whether Commonwealth or State.  The pursuit of national harmonization of OHS laws by the ALP is a real threat to the current level of protection NSW workers have under State laws, including the possible loss of an employer’s absolute duty to prevent risk to working people.

The Greens NSW will work to ensure that whatever the outcome of the process of harmonizing Occupational Health and Safety laws, no NSW workplace will be less safe.

Prevent Gillard’s award simplification stripping away rights 

The Award simplification agenda progressed by the Rudd/Gillard government has essentially delivered the stripped down award system first pictured under WorkChoices.  Low paid workers have been especially hit hard.  The most striking example is community sector workers, often women, who have recently seen their hourly rates frozen, if not cut, while conditions have been reduced under the simplified award.

While the Greens support simpler and fairer industrial laws, the award simplification process should not at the expense of the most
vulnerable, and often most valuable, members of the workforce.

Strengthen the capacity for collective action by unions

The Greens value unions as an important part of any modern pluralist society.  Collective agreements should remain the primary means of regulating employment. Unions give working people a voice in not only their day-to-day working lives but also in progressing important social and environmental initiatives.

The Greens believe employees must be allowed to collectively negotiate outcomes at their workplace that fall outside the narrow strictures of the employment relationship.  This includes allowing employees to bargain for important reforms such as a more sustainable workplace, greater gender equity and increased social responsibility from their employers.