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Federal Election information
Government Rejects Umpire’s Decision
By Sue Hammond
Federal Industrial Officer
In another attack on the rights of working people, the Prime Minister John Howard has announced that his Government would introduce legislation that would overturn the Australian Industrial Relations Commission's Decision to grant redundancy payments to workers in small businesses.
This, like the Government's attempts to remove small business from Unfair Dismissal Laws, again reaffirms the Government's view that workers in small business should not have the same rights as workers in other workplaces.
The AIRC Decision was the first major change in the redundancy safety net for 20 years. The inclusion of workers in small business highlights the fact workers in small businesses face the same financial and social problems when losing their jobs as workers in any other companies. Something that the Government seems to ignore. The Decision also increased severance pay entitlements to workers with over four years service.
The Federal Government's industrial policies have consistently been aimed at reducing the rights and entitlements of workers. The stripping back of awards to twenty allowable matters and, just last week to reduce them further, attempts to restrict unfair dismissal laws and attacks on the rights of workers to collectively bargain and to take industrial action have all been at the forefront of the current Federal Government's industrial agenda.
While the Government proposes to override the umpire's decision on redundancy pay it is unlikely that the legislation will pass through Parliament without the support of Labor and the Democrats. The Government's position on rejecting the umpire's decision is a reminder to all workers in all sectors that we must remain aware, alert and organised in the face of a Government that seems intent on removing worker entitlements.
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