Among the proposals included in the Australian Council of Trade Unions industrial relations legislation policy, adopted at its October conference, were provisions for unions to be able to hold elections to win recognition in workplaces where the boss refuses to bargain with them. These ballots are aimed at addressing the lack of a mechanism whereby unions can make an employer negotiate a collective agreement for workers. Such ballots have been a feature of the US industrial relations system for over 70 years.
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From November 21-22, Nelson Davila, Venezuelas chief diplomatic representative in Australia, visited Perth. He held meetings with the officials and organisers of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union; addressed the Unions WA council; and was the guest at receptions organised by the Australian Islamic College and the Curtin Centre for Human Rights Education. Davila concluded his visit by speaking to a public meeting of 70 people at the MUA hall in North Fremantle, where he explained the development of the peoples power movement in his country and welcomed the launch of a Perth group of the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. Pictured: Davila and MUA WA secretary Chris Cain.
The following are comments by Socialist Alliance trade union activists on some of the key questions facing the union movement.
Workplace Relations Act (1996)
This law stripped allowable matters in industrial awards back to 20, restricted the right of union officials to enter workplaces and introduced individual contracts (AWAs).
Trade Practices Act (1974)
Sections
Debate continues over how guest workers and those on 457 visas should be treated. The WA branch of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) passed a resolution at its July state conference that recommends avoiding falling into the federal government and bosses’ divide-and-rule trap.
A visit by US officials has raised fears on Christmas Island that an immigration detention centre could be turned into a Guantanamo-style prison, the November 17 Melbourne Age reported.
Australian unionists have a wealth of experiences to draw on in the fight against the Howard governments Work Choices legislation. Lessons can be drawn not just from the historic victories and defeats of the union movement in this country, but also from the experiences of working-class struggles in other countries.
Victoria’s Labor premier, Steve Bracks, claimed victory in the state election on the evening of polling day, November 25. Bracks said that the result was a message to the federal government “To stop dictating about nuclear reactors, and industrial relations, and start listening to families right around this country”. With 75% of the vote counted, the ALP had won almost 44% of the vote, a swing against it of around 4.3%.
More than three thousand people had a somewhat surreal experience on November 18. They attended a rally, called by the Melbourne Stop the War Coalition and Stop G20, to oppose the genocide by poverty being promoted by the finance ministers meeting, and the warfare that makes the corporate plunder of the Third World possible.
The Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office claims that nuclear safeguards “provide assurances that exported uranium and its derivatives cannot benefit the development of nuclear weapons”. In fact, the safeguards system is flawed in many respects, and it cannot provide such assurances.
Drasko Boljevic was abducted and assaulted in Melbourne on November 19. Chief commissioner Christine Nixon confirmed on November 20 that a man had been mistakenly arrested, saying that he was released because he wasnt the person we thought he was. Below, Eleonor Palacio, the partner of the man that was mistakenly arrested, describes what happened. It has been abridged from Melbourne Indymedia.
The role of mining companies overseas is often shrouded in secrecy. Residents of my country Malawi, in the warm heart of Africa, are learning first hand about Australian mining companies as four of them are currently exploring for uranium.
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