• Under the federal Coalition government’s proposed new industrial relations laws, businesses employing up to 100 workers will be exempt from unfair dismissal laws.

• Almost 3.7 million people — or 99% of the Australian work force — work in companies employing up to 100 staff.

• More than half-a-million private sector firms employ fewer than 100 people. Just 6200 firms employ more than 100.

• Workers in small- and medium-sized businesses earn $267 or 25% less per week, on average, than those in large businesses.

• In 2001, the Federal Court ruled that there is no link between unfair dismissal laws and employment, rejecting the claim that exempting small businesses from the laws would lead to job creation.

[Source: <http://www.actu.asn.au/work_rights>.]

From Green Left Weekly, July 13, 2005.
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