AWAy Forward?

Greetings Rambling Masses,

I won't rabbit on too long about AWA (workplace agreements between employers and their employees which are replacing collective bargaining as the new standard for the establishment of employment conditions), but I feel that there is one very important thing that is NOT being said in the debate about them as we move towards a federal election.

Australia, along with many other parts of the world, is enjoying a time of almost unprecedented economic boom. Unemployment is very low, due in only a very small part to Beige Howard and his band of smarmy men. How can this government take the credit for something that is happening on a global scale, something that they have no control whatsoever over? Without the demand for resources from China, India and other developing super-powers, Australia would not be enjoying the current walk in the park.

When people debate the introduction of the AWAs, which gives a huge amount of power back to the employer, there are a few things that need to be considered. At the moment, economic times are great! The world is our oyster. The cases of mistreatment and exploitation of workers are not that great in number. There are a few cases where greed and the unhealthy capitalist urge to chase ever-greater profit margins have resulted in workers' rights being unacceptably trampled on, but on the whole, there has not been too much to report negatively about. Low skilled and low paid workers will continue to bear the brunt of the AWAs, since their bargaining power is next to nix.

Now, let's change the parameters slightly and see what is going to happen. It doesn't take a world-class fortune teller to look into the depths of the crystal ball to realise that when times start to get tough again (and this is indeed a certainty) then the pendulum will swing, and everyone will start to get raped and pillaged by the AWAs. The government's pretend safety net (the so-called "fair go" ombudsman) will be swamped with millions of cases of unfair dismissal, sub-standard conditions, stripping of holiday pay and penalty rates, unacceptable work hours, and pay rates that will dive like the stockmarket worms on a bad day.

Now, I agree that during the 70's and 80's, the unions had way too much power. We had a strike every second day, and there were rolling blackouts and lack of services aplenty when this happened. I personally don't ever want to go back to those days. However, I also don't want to go back to the days of legalised sweatshop conditions, child labour, unsafe work practices, and ridiculously long working hours. It was these things that led to the formation of unions in the first place, and it was these things that the unions battled against, fighting for worker rights. Okay, they then went on to become fat cats and part of the problem, but we must guard against swinging the pendulum too far the other way. Beige Howard has done just that.

When did a company in a competitive capitalist environment ever introduce policies that safeguarded workers' rights without having pressure brought to bear on them? Very rarely. If we disempower the unions too much, we lose the balance that is crucial in all facets of society.

For it is all about balance. Don't give the unions too much power. Don't give the owners of capital too much power. Try to tread the middle path. This is why I think that AWAs are one of the most backward steps since feudal lords crunched their fine boots down on their vassals' necks.