Building unions stand up to Reith The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, May 26th, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** Building unions are standing up to Reith's plan to launch an MUA- style attack in the industry. Last week, the Federal Government intervened to stop an agreement between construction employers and workers on Melbourne's Federation Square project because, in the eyes of the Government, the agreement gives workers too much and breaches its tough new Code of Practice -- a claim unions reject. The Federal Government's interference (the Victorian Government had already approved the agreement) runs contrary to its emphasis on employers and workers negotiating their own agreements without the involvement of "third parties" (this was meant to exclude unions and the Industrial Relations Commission). The unions said they will not be provoked by Reith, who they said "is determined to disrupt constructive employer and union relationships in the building industry". In March it was revealed that the Government had made a pact with employers: if employers implemented an anti-union Code of Practice then the Government would, in the event of construction work being delayed due to an industrial dispute, release employers from their contractual obligations. This, combined with the Government's stripping of the building industry award, sets the stage for a major confrontation with the aim of breaking the union's strength and bolstering the position for labour hire companies and non-union agreements. Workplace Relations Minister Reith was again seeking employer support last Thursday at a Sydney forum organised by the Master Builders' Association (the employer body). But, according to the union, employers aren't interested in going to war for Reith. During this boom period of construction, the just want to get on with their projects. Reith is still looking for a Chris Corrigan of the construction industry to come forward and carry the banner of anti-union "reform". John Sutton, the National Secretary of the Construction Division of the CFMEU told "The Guardian" that building employers want the type of certainty that industry-wide union-negotiated agreements can provide. On a typical site with a multitude of different subcontractors, the notion of each having a different arrangement terrifies most builders because of real potential for leap-frogging, lack of tight control and continual stoppages (legal bargaining) as workers take action to secure agreements, said Mr Sutton. Most efficient builders want settled arrangements before a site commences and then want to get on and build. About 90 per cent of the industry's 3,000 enterprise agreements across Australia expire between September and December. The union is seeking to replace the usual two-year agreement with a three-year agreement. It would involve three wage increases of five per cent each and allow for compensation for a dramatic CPI jump if the GST impacts beyond a certain level. The agreement would restrict the use of labour hire companies and casual labour and seek to maintain important conditions that the Government is seeking to strip from the award. The Guardian 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. 2010 Australia. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Website: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
