HANSARD EXTRACT
|
Adjournment: Workplace Relations |
| 15 February 2007 |
Mr HAYES
(Werriwa) (12.50 p.m.)—The
central proposition of the Howard government’s extreme industrial
relations laws is that every worker has the capacity to negotiate
with their boss on the terms and conditions of their employment in a
free and fair manner. This relies on the false assumption that
employers and employees have equal bargaining power.
Last night on The7.30 Report the Minister for Employment and
Workplace Relations, Joe Hockey, indicated his unwavering belief
that employers and employees come to the bargaining table on equal
terms. He said:
So I
think if people have the capacity to negotiate to buy a house, to
buy a car, if people have the individual capacity to raise children,
why don’t they have the individual capacity to be able to negotiate
employment terms and conditions ...
To compare the purchase of a car or a house or the raising of
children to negotiating with your boss shows a level of ignorance
that quite frankly I was amazed this minister possesses. The
comments surprised me as I was confident that the minister knew
that, when you buy a house or a car or when you are raising your
child, you are generally not doing it by yourself. I would also have
thought that the minister would recognise the vastly different power
relationships that exist in such transactions.
That
is the basic assumption that underpins Work Choices. That is at the
very heart of Work Choices. For instance, does the minister really
believe that a teenager seeking their first job is equipped to
negotiate their own terms and conditions with their boss on a fair
basis? Does an unskilled worker who has been out of work for some
time have the capacity to negotiate on a fair and equal basis? What
about a mother returning to work after time spent raising a family?
Does she really have the capacity to negotiate on a fair and equal
basis? Does someone suffering financial stress who is facing the
loss of their house have the reality of being able to negotiate on a
fair and equal basis with their employer?
I
doubt whether a new university graduate would have the ability to be
able to sit down and negotiate on a fair and equal basis, let alone
someone from a regional or rural area who has access to a limited
number of employment opportunities. Do they really have the capacity
to negotiate, as the minister says, on a fair and equal basis? Does
someone with a disability, no matter how severe, really have the
capacity to negotiate on a fair and equal basis? We should also
spare a thought for the migrants that we are attracting to this
country. What is fair and equal in presenting them with addressing
their employer on a one-on-one basis? I suggest that is also not
fair and equal in that relationship.
The
answer to all of these questions, quite frankly, is that they do not
have a fair and equal opportunity. Not everyone has the level of
self-confidence, let alone economic confidence, needed to be able to
negotiate for themselves, and why should they have to? It is about
time that the minister took off his rose-coloured glasses and
realised that, in most circumstances, individual employees do not
want to negotiate one-on-one with their employer.
In
all cases, without doubt, the power in the employment relationship
is held by the employer. In the overwhelming number of cases, I have
to say that bosses do not abuse their power. In the vast majority of
cases they will work to actually ensure that employees are looked
after. However, it only takes one employer—one competitor—to decide
that they will use the full extent of the Work Choices legislation
to gain a competitive advantage, to force someone facing the loss of
their business unless they compete and go down the same path. It
only takes one employer to do that to change the situation. The
reality hits home, and this is the truth—employers hold all of the
cards. For employees there is no real opportunity to negotiate.
There is no real opportunity to say no. There is no real choice at
all.
It
might not be said out aloud, but everyone who is presented with a
Work Choices AWA knows that they only really have one choice and
that is to either take it or leave it. As I said, the vast majority
of employers that I have dealt with are good people and care for
their employees. Unfortunately, it only takes some unscrupulous
operators to come in and use the full extent of the law to cut costs
to change things markedly in the workforce. Work Choices condones
the actions of unscrupulous employers and encourages good employers
to act badly. (Time expired)
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