Collective bargaining – it’s good for all of us. Better wages and conditions for workers, more cooperative workplaces and improved productivity ? this is why the right of workers to collective bargaining must be at the centre of new IR laws.
As of 2008, our aims are to achieve a decent legal framework restoring our rights, making sure Labor delivers on its promise to scrap WorkChoices and holding to account companies who attack workers’ rights.
The campaign began in earnest in 2005 when the former Howard-Costello Government revealed, for the first time, the full extent of its proposed workplace changes.
The decent system of workplace laws fought for by unions for over a hundred years – fair take home pay, job security, and conditions like leave and penalty rates – were all under unprecedented attack.
On Saturday November 24 2007, Australians rejected the Liberal and National Party Coalition that had viciously attacked our rights at work – and we elected a party that promised to protect them.
The union and community campaign against WorkChoices made all the difference with a range of opinion polls showing industrial relations to be the key issue that turned voters against the Howard-Costello Government.
There were thousands of supporters handing out Rights at Work How to Votes in marginal seats around the country.
Email campaigns, petitions, fundraising to get our message out there and keep the pressure up on all politicians. Forwarding Rights at Work emails to friends and family to give people the facts about the IR laws, and supporting people affected by them.
JULIA GILLARD SPEECH:
The business community is out of step with public opinion. A recent Galaxy poll found strong opposition to any further delays in laws to improve unfair dismissal protection and restore collective bargaining rights.
