Late last year, the Coalition refused to rule out bringing back WorkChoices. Since then, Tony Abbott has been making it clear that he doesn’t accept the message Australians sent about their rights at work at the 2007 election.
This week, a new poll released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions shows a majority of Australians believe a Liberal Government led by Tony Abbott will bring back WorkChoices.
More than half (53%) of those polled believe it is likely or very likely Tony Abbott’s Liberals would reintroduce WorkChoices if they were elected, even if it was under a different name.
The poll by the ACTU showed the top three concerns working Australians have about a reintroduction of WorkChoices are potential cuts to wages, less protection from unfair dismissal, and employers being given more power to dictate working hours.
AMWU National Secretary Dave Oliver said Australians were right to be suspicious of Tony Abbott’s hardline stance on industrial relations.
“Australian workers sent the Liberal party a message at the last election: that our fundamental rights at work weren’t up for negotiation, but now Tony Abbott wants to turn back the clock and dish up WorkChoices again under a new name,” he said “
“Mr Abbott has already said the Coalition will restore individual Australian Workplace Agreements and get rid of unfair dismissal laws. It’s obvious he wants to bring back WorkChoices and attack our rights at work.”
Mr Abbott, who was a Workplace Minister in the Howard Government, let the cat out of the bag about his plans to bring back Workchoices during a speech at a recent business lunch. He said that at four elections the Coalition had a ‘mandate’ to remove unfair-dismissal laws and at this election “we will once more seek that mandate.”
In the lead up to the last election Australian workers and the union movement backed each other in the fight to abolish Workchoices and maintain our rights at work.
It’s now time to defend the rights we have fought for.
“We can’t go back to the bad old days of individual contracts or AWAs. Australian workers remember how WorkChoices led to the sacking of thousands of vulnerable workers, and they remember how the Liberals tried to cut the pay and conditions of thousands of Australians,” Dave Oliver said.
“We’re only just coming out of the financial crisis so now is not the time to threaten Australian workers again with the risk of job losses and unfair conditions. Workers need the protection of strong laws and they want job security.”