The Liberal Party wants to use its surprise election victory to look after its mates, and big business has wasted no time rehashing its usual requests. Two of its top lobbyists have published a six point wishlist [$] in their newsletter, The Australian. Translated, here is what they are calling for: 1. Allowing bosses to interfere in the registration and democratic leadership of unions; 2. Allowing bosses to declare permanent staff ‘casual’ regardless of their actual rosters; 3. Weakening the Better Off Overall Test to allow employers to undercut minimum wages and conditions; 4. Restricting how workers can control funds they have negotiated as part of an employment agreement; 5. Making it easier to unfairly sack people or discriminate against them for being union members or speaking up for workplace safety; and 6. Allowing construction bosses to impose working conditions for more than four years without ever negotiating with workers. A grab-bag of ‘fixes’ for the few aspects of the Fair Work Act that put a brake on militant employers stripping wages and conditions.
8 July 2019