This is in the interests of at least some semblance of balance in the national debate. All we're hearing from the Murdoch main stream bullshit is the gov line that unions are evil. The other day I was aghast at the decree from the gov that the unions were "at war" with Toyota. I know from my own experience in Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBA) and in general when dealing with management, the unions have no choice but to play by the rules. Otherwise the management could legally clobber us, even after the Labor gov's scrapping of WorkChoices.
For example, not long before my last work canned my dept, we were in a battle with on-sight management over the latest EBA negotiations, going badly. In the end we voted for a one day strike. It took three weeks to get all the paperwork done and OK to the gov, before we finally voted to yes the strike action. We only had a month to take any action like that legally, and three weeks had been used up getting permission to do so.
There are always two sides to a story. This is the other side not being screamed at you through the telly and the press. This isn't an ideological rant from a last century gov on it's last gasp. It is a factual view from where workers stand under the Abbott gov.
The AMWU will not tolerate the Abbott Government’s attempts to shift the blame for the problems besetting the Australian automotive industry on to workers.
National Secretary Paul Bastian said the decision by the Coalition Government to strip $500 million from the Automotive Transformation Scheme and abandon the industry was responsible for the loss of Holden and threatens both the future of Toyota and the entire automotive sector.
He said there was no “war” between the AMWU and Toyota as claimed by Joe Hockey, with the only war being the one that Treasurer Hockey has waged on the industry by cutting assistance and goading Holden to leave.
Mr Bastian said given attempts by Mr Hockey and Industry Minister Macfarlane to lay the fate of the entire industry on workers, it was no surprise that Employment Minister Eric Abetz has decided to join Toyota in a Federal Court appeal to force cutbacks to conditions in the firm’s union agreement.
Toyota lost a Federal Court case in December when they sought to force workers to vote on changes to terms of employment contrary to the provision of the their registered enterprise agreement.
Mr Bastian said the solution to Toyota’s productivity concerns would not be decided in court but when the company decided to sit down with the AMWU and be transparent about its plans and all the cost factors of its Australian operations.
In contrast to Holden, Toyota have refused to allow for an independent review of its business plan and are insisting on a revision of the EBA regardless of whether new investment can be secured.
That means that workers are being asked to make sacrifices without anything in return, including job security.
“This is symptomatic of a wider Coalition view that the only way to improve productivity is through cutting wages and conditions and driving down the living standards of working people,” Mr Bastian said.
During the election, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he supported manufacturing in Australia and pledged to create 1 million jobs in five years. Shutting down the automotive industry with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and blaming workers shows the shallowness of those commitments.
“What Australian manufacturing needs is a Government with a vision for its future and which is prepared to support the investment and innovation that's needed,” Mr Bastian said.
“The Government needs to support a broad-based economy through initiatives to support diversification, development and deployment of new technologies and access to new markets. We need a Government that supports training and skills, especially the skilling of workers already in the workforce.
“Instead, we have a Government that uses its blind faith in the free markets as an excuse for inaction which will cost thousands of jobs and leave Australia with a diminished manufacturing sector.” link
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment