Labor IR agenda ‘most radical’

Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says Labor is pushing the most “radical” workplace relations agenda in decades.

Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer: “I suspect the declining level of union membership has led unions to think of creative ways to exert more power and influence at workplaces.’’ Picture: AAP

Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has declared Labor is pushing the most “radical” workplace relations agenda in decades, and Bill Shorten is the union movement’s “handmaiden” wanting to break the nexus between wages and the ability of business to pay.

Ms O’Dwyer said voters at the approaching federal election would look past deceptive slogans and the politics of envy and ask themselves which party would keep their job secure, reduce the cost of living, keep more of their earnings in their pockets and keep the economy growing.

In a speech to employers in Melbourne today, extracts of which were released last night, Ms O’Dwyer said workplace policy proposals by Labor and the ACTU shared much “in common with the failed Whitlam experiment” when inflation hit 17.6 per cent and wage rises hit 32.9 per cent.

“Superficially it was a huge real wage hike, but Australians paid a high price — a recession occurred and hundreds of thousands of Australians lost their jobs,’’ she said.

She said the Labor party of the 1980s and the 1990s learnt the lessons from those mistakes, and the current workplace laws were the result of more than 25 years of positive change.

Ms O’Dwyer said the great irony of today’s workplace policy debate was that the system the ACTU and Labor say should be torn apart was the system they created through the Fair Work Act.

“I suspect the declining level of union membership, now barely nudging 9 per cent in the private sector, has led unions to think of creative ways to exert more power and influence at workplaces when fewer and fewer employees want to join a union,’’ she said.

“Not content with controlling the wealth of millions of Australians through mandated superannuation fund arrangements and the influence they have through that to pressure major companies to their worldview through this back door, the leaders of the union movement want to deal themselves into a greater role in every workplace through the front door, and is using its handmaiden Bill Shorten to do it.

“Under Bill Shorten and Sally McManus’ leadership, Labor is pushing the most radical IR agenda in decades.”

The government and employers yesterday claimed vindication after an International Labour Organisation report into an ACTU complaint about the Australian Building and Construction Commission did not make strong criticism of the building watchdog.

But opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor said the report “effectively means that Australia is on a watch list for the next three years and will be required to report to the ILO on the harsh actions it takes against workers and worker representatives on commonwealth building sites”. Labor has promised to scrap the ABCC.

Ms O’Dwyer said: “Labor wants politicians to set your pay and conditions rather than the independent umpire. Labor wants workers to be able to unilaterally change their employment arrangements after 12 months regardless of business conditions. Labor wants more industrial chaos with industry-wide bargaining at will.”