BIG BUSINESS LEADS ATTACK ON WORKERS' SHIFT, WEEKEND AND PUBLIC HOLIDAY PAY

Ned K

The corporate media reporting of Bill Shorten's appearance at the Abbott Government's Royal Commission into trade unions portrays unions as third parties dudding workers of their entitlements in exchange for "conscripted" union membership.
While such behaviour of Shorten and many other labor lieutenants of capital should be exposed and condemned, it should not be forgotten that it is big corporations who continue to lead the way to try and reduce workers' pay to accumulate more surplus value and hence profits.

Naturally we stand for that exposure and condemnation to occur within the ranks of the working class and for the purpose of strengthening militancy and the fighting spirit.  That cannot be said to be the goal of the Royal Commissioner, the arch-reactionary Dyson Heydon, of Tony Abbott who appointed him, nor of the capitalist media which puts out for public consumption the version of the Commission’s proceedings that best serves the class interests of the rich.

The same corporate media are silent on the employer class submissions to the Fair Work Australia Review of Modern Awards. In their submissions, employer associations in almost every industry are submitting that the ordinary hours span of work should be extended and that shift, weekend and penalty rates should be either eliminated or reduced significantly.

These submissions are the formal, considered position of employer associations on behalf of the biggest employers across many industries. Next time you sip a nice drop of red or white wine or down a schooner of beer, be mindful that the workers who produced it are more than likely working for a large corporation that has supported their industry Award Review submission to reduce workers' wages.

In enterprise bargaining negotiations employers constantly demand one concession after another of workers in the name of "productivity" or "to remain competitive". In one extraordinary enterprise bargaining negotiation, a major disabilities sector employer employing hundreds of workers has proposed that workers sign up to a new enterprise agreement with a freeze on wages, cuts to afternoon and night shift rates of up to 15%, and expansion of ordinary hours to avoid afternoon shift rates.

Another increasing trend is employers' greater use of labor hire workers during the life of enterprise agreements, a back door way of casualising the workforce and putting downward pressure on wages to maximise profits. They do this knowing full well that workers risk heavy fines as individuals if they take collective action during the life of the enterprise agreements.

State and federal governments are also contributing to the attack on workers' incomes through outsourcing, contracting out and privatization. In some cases, government procurement policy requires tender specifications to exclude any labor costs that include shift rates for workers performing the work. This results in the successful contractors "employing" workers as individual contractors on ABNs to avoid payment of shift rates. Or these contractors employ vulnerable migrant workers to work at any time of the day without paying penalty rates.

Unions are communities of workers who join together to protect and advance their rights at work and economic interests in opposition to the relentless attack on those rights and interests by capital. The corporate media know this and they fear the collective power of organised workers. That is why they want to portray unions as a third party separate from the working class, which is the real intent of their attack on Shorten.


They hope to use the appalling activity of Shorten as a union secretary as a way of weakening workers' hope and belief that their own collective action as a movement is the way forward for a better life.