We will not be conned!

By Frank Vari
Assistant Branch Secretary

'Howard's WorkChoice laws are just a WorkCon. Howard is out to crush penalty rates, wage levels, protection from unfair dismissal and your right to union representation.
But FFTS members won't be conned. We will stand firm against Howard and defend all of our hard-won wages and conditions.'

Union-negotiated EBAs
Agreements negotiated by the FFTS have delivered the wages and hours and conditions that you enjoy today. By standing together, we have fought and won our fair share in a booming industry. Howard?s new laws are designed to hinder union collective bargaining. The new laws aim to push AWAs down workers? throats and destroy your hard-won wages and conditions.

Your right to say no to individual contracts
These laws will make it easier for employers to put workers onto individual contracts that cut take-home pay and reduce employment conditions to only five minimum standards - workers who refuse to sign risk being sacked.

Protection from unfair dismissal
Howard?s WorkCon laws will wipe out protection from unfair dismissal if your boss has less than 100 staff. This will abolish protection from unfair dismissal for four million workers employed in companies with less than 100 staff.

Health and Safety on the job
Howard?s WorkCon laws are a threat to safety on the job, by restricting Union access and reducing the rights of workers to take action on health and safety issues. These new laws will undermine the currently high safety standard by making it easier for dodgy bosses to cut corners with your safety.

Penalty rates and public holidays
Penalty rates are one thing that Howard?s big business mates want to see scrapped. Even public holidays like Christmas and Anzac Day are under threat from these laws. Even your meal breaks are threatened.

Your hard-won RDOs
Howard?s new IR laws will threaten your RDOs. Howard?s aim is to make you work longer for less.

Award wages
Under these new laws, award wages will be set by an unaccountable tribunal. The so-called ?Fair Pay Commission? will take away the powers of the independent Industrial Relations Commission. Award wages may not be cut in the first year, but over time they may be overtaken by inflation, undermining their real value.
These laws effectively abolish the award safety net and replace it with just five conditions:

• a minimum hourly rate of pay (currently $12.75)
• sick leave
• four weeks annual leave
• (two weeks of which could be ?cashed out?)
• unpaid parental leave
• 38-hour week, but with no extra pay for overtime, long shifts or weekend work.

Many workers could lose conditions like weekend, shift and public holiday rates; overtime; redundancy pay; allowances and loadings.

Access to your Union
The new laws will try to stop you from getting access to your Union for protection. Howard wants to use these laws to keep unions out of workplaces and reduce your capacity to bargain collectively with your boss.

Your right to speak up
Your right to speak up on issues on the job will be curtailed by these new laws and by Howard?s anti-union taskforce. With the changes to unfair dismissal laws, many workers will be afraid of speaking up on safety and other issues, for fear of being sacked.

Your right to stand up for your mates
One of the great traditions in Australia is that we stick up for our mates on the job...whether it?s a safety issues or a case of unfair dismissal. The aim of these new laws is to stop you from standing up for your workmates.

Redundancy rights removed
Workers in firms with less than 15 employees will have no rights to redundancy pay unless they have an EBA.

Howard betrays working families
These new laws are unfair and will eventually hurt every person you know. How we work and live will change dramatically - for the worse. It is certain that these unfair laws will hurt working families.

Is this the Australia we want?
Don?t be conned by these new anti-worker laws. Howard?s only agenda is to put profits before people and destroy workers? wages.
Talk to your family and friends about how these laws will affect them. To remain strong, we must stay as one. Support your Union taking up the fight.

www.ffts.com.au