Solidarity

Alexander Downer has suggested Australian Labor should look to the Tony Blair’s industrial regime for inspiration. Downer says the British ex-PM

…saw the modernisation of his national economy as the key to job creation, fairness and equality for all workers… [and] set a strong example for future Labour leaders, both in Britain and around the world.

If that’s the case, the modernisation of the Australian economy should involve things like:

• Protection against unfair dismissal, with no exemptions based on the number of employees at the business.

• Support for union activity in the workplace, including rights of entry to the workplace, the provision of facilities and paid time off for union officials, leave for trade union training and trade union activities, and union involvement in dispute resolution procedures.

• The right for workers to arrange for “the check off”, or payroll deduction of union dues.

• The right to take industrial action during the life of an agreement, and the right to negotiate strike pay.

As Downer regards these things as modern and part of “the key to job creation, fairness and equality”, he will no doubt be angry that they are illegal under WorkChoices.

And then there’s the centrepiece of Labor’s Forward with Fairness policy — the right to union recognition and good-faith collective bargaining if that’s what a majority of employees wants. This is also the central feature of Tony Blair’s industrial relations system.

It’s about time the Coalition admitted that support for trade unions is entirely compatible with modernising the economy, creating employment, and ensuring fairness and equality in the workplace. Alexander Downer should be congratulated for breaking ranks and admitting that WorkChoices is based on nothing more than ideological union-bashing.