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The West Australian Liberal leader Colin Barnett and his federal counterpart Tony Abbott are hiding a secret plan to bring back WorkChoices for West Australian workers say unions.

More than 300,000 West Australian workers are in danger of losing penalty rates, overtime pay, public holiday pay and their protection from unfair dismissal from the WA Government’s planned industrial relations changes.

The President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Ged Kearney joined WA workers in a protest outside Colin Barnett’s Perth office on Monday the 9^th of August calling for the release of the plan.

Soon after the Barnett Liberal Government was elected it commissioned a review of Western Australian workplace laws by former Howard Government lawyer, Steven Amendola.

The terms of reference for the review specifically include the reintroduction of the worst aspects of WorkChoices and its precursor, the former Court WA government’s IR laws, including:

• Individual contracts (AWAs) that cut workers’ take home pay and conditions
• Cuts to unfair dismissal protection
• Cuts to minimum wages and the award safety net of penalty rates, overtime, annual leave, sick leave, overtime pay, allowances and other basic job conditions.

Up to 300,000 Western Australian workers — about 30% of the WA workforce —- could face big cuts to their pay and conditions and rights from the ‘WA WorkChoices Review’.

The WA Liberal Government received the ‘WA WorkChoices Review’ report in December 2009, but despite repeated requests from Labor and unions has refused to release it to the public. 

The review was conducted by extreme anti-workplace rights lawyer Steven Amendola, formerly an advocate for Tony Abbott and Peter Reith when they were IR Ministers in the Howard Government. 

“There is less than two weeks to go before the federal election and it is clear that Colin Barnett is trying to help Tony Abbott con West Australians over WorkChoices,” said Ged Kearney.

“Tony Abbott is keeping the door open for bringing back WorkChoices under another name and Colin Barnett has a secret plan in his bottom drawer.

“The Liberals cannot be let off the hook from explaining what they really have in store for West Australian workers.

“In this election all we have so far are a series of glib slogans and contradictory statements from Tony Abbott and the WA Liberals that show they cannot be trusted on WorkChoices.

“It is an appalling abuse of the Australian public’s right to know who and what they are voting for that the Liberals haven’t released a detailed IR policy and that Colin Barnett is hiding the report from the WA WorkChoices Review.

“Working Australians will remember that WorkChoices was brought in without public scrutiny or approval by a Liberal Government of which Mr Abbott was a senior member. This election is shaping to be a re-run of the Liberal Party’s previous dishonesty on workplace relations,” Ms Kearney said.

Treasurer Troy Buswell’s budget-management credibility has been shattered again by revelations that he has allowed the cost of his review into the State’s industrial relations system to blow out by more than 60 per cent.

Documents obtained by UnionsWA under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws reveal that Mr Buswell failed to put a contract in place to manage the cost of the review, which was performed by Melbourne based lawyer Stephen Amendola. Without a contract in place, the cost of the review blew out from the $500,000 verbally quoted by Mr Amendola to more than $850,000.

UnionsWA Secretary Simone McGurk said that Mr Buswell’s scant regard for taxpayers’ money would be deeply offensive to workers providing health, education, child protection and other essential public services, who Mr Buswell has savaged through his arbitrary 3 per cent budget cuts.

Mr Buswell’s performance was also completely hypocritical when you consider the attacks he has made on the former government for its performance in controlling government expenditure and managing contracts for projects like the Perth Arena.

“Troy Buswell appears to have two sets of standards for budget and contract management,” Ms McGurk said.

“It appears that if you are a public service worker providing essential public services like health, education, policing and child protection, Mr Buswell is happy to publicly ridicule you for not being able to control costs and then take 3 per cent of your budget away.

“However, if you a wealthy Melbourne-based lawyer giving the Government recommendations on how it can cut minimum standards and change the award safety net for public sector workers, you get a blank cheque and don’t even have to sign a contract.

“Mr Buswell even appears oblivious to the funding shortfalls in his own Department of Commerce, with internal memoranda obtained under FOI revealing deep concern over the absence of a contract with Mr Amendola, the lack of funding and the likelihood of a cost blowout.

“This isn’t the first time Mr Buswell has slipped up on simple financial matters. How on earth can the Premier trust him to manage the State’s finances and manage contracts for the billions of dollars in capital works projects currently under his watch?

“And how long can the Premier continue to tolerate his hypocrisy in demanding workers providing essential public services cut their costs, while completely disregarding basic financial management standards himself?

“If the Premier continues to tolerate Mr Buswell’s performance, this government will quickly become known as a government that says one thing and then does completely the opposite.”

The cost of Treasurer Troy Buswell’s review of Western Australia’s industrial relations system blew out by more than $200,000 in just two days, according to information obtained under Freedom of Information laws.

The review will affect the working conditions of more than 300,000 workers and recommend changes in areas including individual versus collective agreements, the award safety net, minimum wages, statutory minimum conditions of employment and unfair dismissal.

In an answer given to the Parliament on 25 November last year, the Parliamentary Secretary representing Mr Buswell in the Legislative Council, Hon Helen Morton MLC, reported that the review had cost $600,346.  However, in documents obtained by UnionsWA under Freedom of Information laws, it has been revealed that, as at 27 November, invoices from Mr Amendola alone totalled $849,817.

UnionsWA Secretary Simone McGurk said the fact Mr Buswell had given the review a blank cheque was scandalous, especially when Mr Buswell was slashing the budgets of government agencies delivering vital services to the community.

“The Western Australian public should be outraged that Troy Buswell has almost spent $1million on a review designed to make it easier to sack people and cut their minimum standards and conditions at work,” Ms McGurk said.

“What makes this expenditure all the more outrageous is that Mr Buswell’s splurge has come at a time when he is slashing the budgets of health workers, school workers, police, child protection workers and other frontline State Government service providers.

“Mr Buswell has confirmed to the Parliament that the review has been completed and, despite costs continuing to escalate, refuses to release the recommendations and let WA workers know what he has planned for their workplaces.

“UnionsWA demands that Mr Buswell stop this ideologically driven waste of money and release the Amendola review to the public.”

The report of the Economic Audit Committee released by Premier Colin Barnett and Treasurer Troy Buswell today confirms that the State Government has declared war on its own employees and the vital services they provide to the community.

The radical report has recommended that the State Government cease to provide essential public services, such as health, education, community safety and child protection and instead be a facilitator of private sector service provision.

The report also recommends giving the State Government the power to involuntarily terminate the employment of public sector workers and recommends an overhaul of minimum standards and the award safety net.

UnionsWA Secretary Simone McGurk said the Barnett Government had finally shown its true colours.

“Colin Barnett has masqueraded as a benign, middle-of-the-road, non-threatening Premier, but his government has now shown its true colours, Ms McGurk said.

“Today, the Barnett Government has been revealed as a radical economic rationalist outfit, who are more concerned with providing their mates in business with opportunities than they are with the welfare of their own employees and the important services they provide the community.

“Make no mistake, the recommendations in today’s report signal that the Barnett Government wants to see our nurses, teachers, police officers, child protection workers and other service providers phased out of the public sector and replaced by business people.

“This will be a disaster for the standard of vital health, education, community safety, child protection and other services in Western Australia, as the primary responsibility of service providers employed by business will be to their shareholders, rather than the community.”

The report’s release coincided with a mass meeting of delegates from Western Australia’s public sector unions, who came together today for the first time in almost ten years to defend WA workers from a hostile State Government.

More than 250 delegates from unions representing health, education, community safety, child protection and other public sector workers met today to discuss the State Government’s ongoing assault on public sector workers and services.

In addition to the radical Economic Audit Committee report released today, the State Government plans to introduce WorkChoices-style changes to WA workplace laws, with this coming on top of Mr Buswell’s arbitrary 3 per cent budget cuts.

Also occurring today was UnionsWA’s launching of an online game that challenges competitors to prevent Troy Buswell from introducing WorkChoices-style changes into Western Australian work places.

UnionsWA today demanded that Treasurer Troy Buswell release the recommendations of his $635,000 review into Western Australia’s industrial relations laws, so that 300,000 workers could have certainty before Christmas.

The State Government has been conducting a review of Western Australia’s workplace laws this year, with Mr Buswell appointing a former Howard Government industrial relations advocate to recommend areas for legislative reform in areas including individual versus collective agreements, the award safety net, minimum wages, statutory minimum conditions of employment and unfair dismissal.

It was revealed in State Parliament that Mr Buswell was in receipt of Mr Amendola’s report and recommendations.
UnionsWA Secretary Simone McGurk said WA workers had a right to know the plans Mr Buswell had for their workplaces and work conditions and demanded the Treasurer release the report and recommendations immediately.

“While demanding State Government agencies cut their operating budgets, Mr Buswell has splurged $635,000 of taxpayers’ money on a review to justify introducing WorkChoices style changes to WA workplaces,” Ms McGurk said.

“We now know the Treasurer has the report and recommendations on his desk and is keeping WA workers in the dark about the changes he plans to the award safety net, minimum standards, unfair dismissal protection and other important provisions.

“There is absolutely no excuse for Mr Buswell to be sitting on a report that could negatively impact upon the wages and conditions of 300,000 WA workers, many of whom provide essential services, such as health, education, community safety and child protection.

“On behalf of Western Australian workers, we demand that Mr Buswell release the report and recommendations now and not wait until just before Christmas, when governments often release bad news they don’t want the media to report on.”

UnionsWA launched its No WorkChoices in WA campaign in September to build public awareness of the State Government’s planned changes.  The campaign includes a series of television commercials, to highlight the threat the review poses to more than 300,000 workers remaining in the State industrial relations system.

Ms McGurk said the No WorkChoices in WA campaign would be run until the State Government guaranteed that it would:

• Not introduce WorkChoices style individual contracts in Western Australia;
• Not erode minimum standards or the award safety net system in Western Australian workplaces;
• Maintain the role of the WA Industrial Relations Commission as the independent umpire;
• Maintain protections against unfair dismissal; and
• Maintain and improve public services in WA.

More than 200 public sector union delegates will meet on 15 December to discuss the Barnett Government’s assault on public sector workers and how best to respond.

Agenda items will include the State Government’s planned changes to the State’s industrial relations laws, the effects of Troy Buswell’s 3 per cent cuts on services, the State Government’s wages policy, its economic audit review, its review of the Public Sector Management Act, its policy on industrial action and its planned privatisation of State Government services.

Over the last two weeks, we have seen how the Barnett Government treats its lowest paid workers.

With Troy Buswell about to announce changes to the way awards and minimum standards are set for up to 300,000 Western Australian workers, we need to send a clear message to Colin Barnett that we don’t want WorkChoices style laws in WA.

Please download our draft letter and post it to the Premier.  Feel free to personalise it by telling the Premier why it is important to you to be treated fairly at work.

You can download the letter here.

The State Government has shown its true colours by docking the pay of some its lowest paid workers who are currently campaigning for a fair wage increase.

School support workers, who include education assistants, school cleaners and gardeners, currently earn about $35,000 a year and are seeking a fair wage increase to help them deal with rising cost of living pressures, including more than $1,000 in increased electricity, water and gas bills from the State Government alone.

The State Government has refused to negotiate and school support workers have commenced limited industrial action.  In an unprecedented move, the State Government has responded by docking their pay – a measure they did not take during negotiations with politicvally sensitive groups like teachers and the police.

Unions WA Secretary Simone McGurk said the State Government’s measures were extreme and very Howard Government like.

“The Howard Government picked on young, low paid and vulnerable workers with its WorkChoices laws and it appears Troy Buswell and the Barnett Government are doing the same,” she said.

Ms MsGurk called on the Barnett Government to treat all of its employees fairly during negotiations.

Read the full story at The West Online.

Treasurer Troy Buswell last week failed to rule out cuts to minimum employment standards and the award safety net for more than 300,000 Western Australian workers, including 120,000 public sector workers.

On two occasions, Mr Buswell was specifically asked to rule out cuts to minimum employment standards and the award safety net for public sector workers during question time in State Parliament last Thursday and refused to answer the question on both occasions.

UnionsWA Secretary Simone McGurk said Mr Buswell’s refusal to guarantee the wages and condition of public sector workers was bad news for all Western Australians.

“Western Australia’s public sector includes health workers, school workers, police officers and child protection workers, who are all suffering under increased workloads resulting from the State Government’s arbitrary three per cent budget cuts,” Ms McGurk said.

“Through his silence yesterday, Mr Buswell has made it clear that the State Government is planning to bring in WorkChoices-style changes that will weaken the award safety net system and cut minimum conditions in Western Australia.

“This will make it harder to attract and retain public sector workers, particularly in the new Gorgon-led boom, where the private sector will be seeking to attract workers with better pay and conditions.

“This will not only impact on the quality of health, education, policing and child protection services, but also on public services that will come under pressure during the new boom, such as environmental protection and mine safety.”

UnionsWA has called on National Party leader Brendon Grylls to stand up for regional workers and block any moves by Troy Buswell and the Liberals to introduce WorkChoices-style changes to Western Australia’s workplace laws.

UnionsWA Secretary Simone McGurk made the demand as UnionsWA launched a new 30 second commercial on regional television that calls on Mr Grylls to focus on improving health, education, policing and other public sector services, rather than supporting Liberal Party moves that damage the working conditions of public sector workers in regional WA.

Read the media release here.  Download the ad here.