IR initiative is the moment to ditch old shibboleths

I was pleased to hear Scott Morrison’s proposal for an overhaul of the workplace and our industrial relations future. But the old chestnut keeps coming up when the ABC asks a question — whether workers would be worse off.

Bob Hawke promised that by 1990, no child would live in poverty. Now attempted IR reforms must promise that no worker will be worse off. Under past agreements, some workers were probably worse off. But was the country worse off?

Now is the time to develop workplace reforms. We’ve learned so much since COVID-19 changed our lives. Let’s capitalise on that and don’t allow platitudes to hold up necessary reforms. If we’re not prepared to change our thinking, to stop seeking out gotcha moments, our workplaces will remain mired in the past. And it will show that we aren’t up for significant industrial relations reform.

Pam Cupper, Dimboola, Vic

If meetings between government, unions and employers are successful, Scott Morrison, Sally McManus and employer representatives may go down in history as the saviours of Australia. At last, there is a realisation that the interests of workers and employers are aligned. Neither can function without the other. We need people with vision, willing to take risks and create small or large enterprises offering jobs.

We need workers with skills and commitment to translate someone’s vision into economic gains, not just for the participants but for the whole country. It is the efforts of workers and employers that puts money into the government’s coffers, money that pays for health and education.

The government relies on businesses and workers to make it function, or borrow money as it has done during this pandemic. Facing this huge debt, it behoves us all to contribute the best way we can to ensure the prosperity of this nation.

B. Della-Putta, Thorngate, SA

After Scott Morrison approaches the unions and the opposition party with a view to revive an industrial relations accord similar to the Hawke-Kelty model with the sole purpose of creating jobs, one would expect unison. But then I heard two Labor spokesmen. One said “just booking the room isn’t enough, there’s more to industrial relations than that”. The other said “we haven’t seen the agenda yet; that’s job faker not job maker”.

Surely these people have an interest in job creation as Morrison is proposing. Bob Hawke brought us into the real world. Today’s Labor MPs should look at history and get out of the way.

Chris Hodge, Peppermint Grove, WA

The Prime Minister’s attempt to reprise the 1983 Prices and Incomes Accord is based on a series of mis-apprehensions. Union membership in the private sector is negligible. In small to medium businesses, including start-ups, where the bulk of private sector workers are employed, union membership is virtually non-existent.

On what basis can the ACTU claim to represent these people? Similarly, to what degree can the business groups understand small businesses and start-ups, let alone represent their interests?

The industrial relations system is a failure because of its complexity and because it makes employing people expensive and risky. Reform requires resolute and informed leadership. Rehashing the corporatism of the 1980s is not that.

Stephen Sasse, Glebe, NSW

The PM’s planned foray into industrial relations is not only desirable, it is necessary. IR is full of competing interests and governed by structures and procedures that are expensive and cumbersome. The underlying attitudes of unions, employers and employees are essentially adversarial rather than co-operative, which in some cases has led to unproductive industrial warfare.

To improve the situation, increase productivity, and engender greater co-operation, two efforts must be made. First, existing procedures and structures must be streamlined to provide much greater flexibility at the enterprise level. Second, employees need incentives and appropriate reward to always work with, rather than against, their employing businesses.

All of that is challenging but, if realised, would greatly benefit the economy, minimise industrial disputation, and improve our international competitiveness.

Michael Schilling, Millswood, SA