Vic:Bracks challenges Canberra's IR reforms

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2005
Vic:Bracks challenges Canberra's IR reforms

MELBOURNE, Aug 2 AAP - The Victorian government has moved to protect the awards and
conditions of the 250,000 workers on the state payroll from the federal governments's
proposed workplace reforms.

But Premier Steve Bracks admitted the state government was powerless to protect the
90 per cent of Victorian workforce who are in the private sector.

In a sweeping attack on the proposed industrial relations shake-up, Mr Bracks said
the federal government did not have a mandate to change the unfair dismissal laws, nor
to strip away entitlements and conditions including meal breaks, penalty rates, standard
hours of work and long-service leave.

"Those rights, those minimum conditions under award will be stripped away under the
industrial relations system which is being proposed by the federal government," Mr Bracks
told reporters.

Mr Bracks vowed to do "everything we can, by whatever means we can" to protect existing
award entitlements of state sector employees.

"We'll do that through the normal arrangements we have as an employer.

"We'll also seek and examine what legislative recourse we've got to examine whether
that can be further reinforced through legislative means."

However, Mr Bracks warned the federal government would use its control of both houses
of parliament "to thwart the states and their attempts to protect and support workers
including public sector workers".

Victoria is unique among the states because it has already ceded its IR system to the
federal government under the previous Kennett government.

Nevertheless, Mr Bracks said the Victorian government had no plans to recover a state-based
IR system that could protect private sector employees from the reforms.

"We are not going to give false hope. This has to be won in the court of public opinion,"

he said.

The Victorian premier said the issue of a High Court challenge to the proposed changes,
which are being enforced through corporations law, would be on the agenda when state and
territory industrial relations ministers meet in Melbourne this Friday.

Mr Bracks said there was a "very strong chance" a High Court challenge by the Labor
leaders would go ahead.

"Other states have a similar resolve to the resolve here in Victoria.

"That is, we want to protect working families. We want the economy working for working families.

"We don't believe this protects working families and clearly that's one of the options
open to our state and other state and territory governments."

The federal government plans sweeping changes, including scrapping state systems in
favour of a single national IR regime, and moving more workers onto individual agreements.

Matters like long service leave, superannuation, jury service and notice of termination
will be removed from awards.

Under the planned reforms, employment contracts and agreements will have to meet only
five basic minimum standards - annual leave, personal leave, parental leave, sick leave
and working hours.

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KEYWORD: WORKPLACE VIC

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