Young workers fight back

You can’t heal the economy by hurting workers

The Morrison Government is trying to pass new laws that will reduce job security and cut wages for you and millions of workers.

UPDATE: 23 Feb 2021 – Urgent action needed!

On Tuesday 23 February, the Morrison Government used its majority in the House of Representatives to pass their anti-worker IR Omnibus Bill. Labor, the Greens, Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines and Rebekah Sharkie all voted against the bill.

It is more important now than ever to send a message to the cross-bench senators, who can prevent these damaging attack on workers’ rights from becoming law.

Working people have been the heroes of the pandemic. Millions of workers paid a high price to get us through and don’t deserve to be punished by this dangerous and extreme legislation.

We need Scott Morrison, the Liberal-National Government and the Senate to realise that hurting workers won’t heal the economy.

How will the new laws worsen casual worker rights?

Employers will have power to define any job as casual through individual employment contracts
Proposals for casuals to convert to permanent work are very easy for employers to avoid

How will part-time workers be impacted?

Part-time workers will lose certainty over their hours and overtime payments. This gives them the uncertainty of casual workers without the casual loading.

Part time workers will have their pay cut, losing their right to overtime pay
Part time workers will be treated like casuals but without the usual casual loading.
Part time workers will lose certainty and predictability of rosters and pay

This will first apply in 12 awards including retail, hospitality, and fast food but can be extended everywhere.

How will retail, hospitality and fast-food workers be impacted?

Employers will be able to direct workers to perform duties that are not part of their usual work.
Employers will be able to direct workers to work at different locations
The independent umpire (Fair Work Commission) will no longer be able to stop employers making unreasonable demands

This will first apply in 12 awards including retail, hospitality, and fast food but can be extended everywhere.

How will construction workers and workers on big construction projects be impacted?

Workers on big building projects can be denied any say over their wages or rights
Multinationals will be able to dictate pay and workplace rights to Australian workers, this is exactly what the big mining companies and developers have demanded
If workers on these projects have a problem and a multinational refuses to fix it, the workers can’t ask the independent umpire to fix it and they face huge fines if they stop work

Won’t these changes create more jobs?

No. Not one single change is related to increasing job creation, productivity or wages.

All of the changes shift more power to employers when bargaining. It is already extremely hard to win pay increases in line with productivity increases, as evidenced by wage increases seriously lagging productivity increases.

In Australia, jobs are created through consumer spending. Workers with less job security and uncertainty about their income will spend less, and that will reduce job creation.

Over the years, workers’ rights have been removed and income (like penalty rates) have been cut — but not a extra single job has been proven to have been created by wage-cuts or fewer rights.

The proposed law changes will make this worse.

Where can I found out more?

You can read our explainer about the proposed law changes here.

We also have more information about our campaign to stand For the workers here.

Send a message to the key cross-bench senators and the Workplace Relations Minister right now to tell them to support working people and reject the proposed law changes.

Step 1 of 2

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Dear [Politician Name],

COVID-19 has been an incredibly stressful time for working Australians like me.

We have been on the front line of the pandemic. We have made so many sacrifices to help keep the country going.

We have faced cuts to our hours and pay. Many of us have used all our leave and have been forced to withdraw our super and sacrifice our retirements, just to get by.

We have put our livelihoods on the line and watched our plans for the future shatter.

And now, what do we get in return? The Government is trying to attack our rights at work by attempting to pass the dangerous and extreme Industrial Relations Omnibus Bill.

I am writing to let you know that I oppose this bill and I expect you to support working people like me. I expect you to protect us from attacks on our wages and our rights at work.

I’m not fooled by the Government’s spin around their announcement that they are discarding one part of the proposed changes to the Better Off Overall Test. I know that this Bill still contains permanent, extreme and dangerous proposals that will hurt workers. And I expect you to reject the rest of the bill in its entirety.

I want you to know that hurting workers like me won’t heal the economy. Ensuring that I and workers just like me have a secure job and more money in my pocket means I’m spending more in local businesses and supporting the economy.

Workers like me have given so much. Now is your chance to give us the respect we have earned.

I am asking for you to reject the IR Omnibus Bill.

I would be grateful for your reply.

Sincerely,

Step 2 of 2

Thank you for standing up for working people against the Government's dangerous and extreme industrial relations Bill.

We're fighting this campaign against corporate lobbyists and big business. They have deep pockets and they're not afraid to spend big to take rights off working people.

But we have something they don't: hundreds of thousands of committed activists like you who will stand together in defence of workers.

Can you chip in to help us fight against this bill?

Any amount, large or small, will make a massive difference in this fight.

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