Fed: Govt moves closer to unfair dismissals law change

AAP General News (Australia)
12-02-2001
Fed: Govt moves closer to unfair dismissals law change

By Denis Peters, Industrial Correspondent

CANBERRA, Dec 2 AAP - The federal government's hopes of loosening up unfair dismissal
laws for small business moved closer to reality today after Labor signalled it would negotiate
on some issues.

Opposition workplace relations spokesman Robert McClelland said Labor would consider
government changes as long as employees were given a fair hearing before any moves to
sack an employee were made.

"The employee is entitled to say `why haven't you heard my side of the story?'" he said.

The comments follow several years of frustrated efforts by the coalition to have small
business exempted from unfair dismissal laws in the Senate, where Labor and the minor
parties have combined to deny them.

There are signs the government intends pushing hard for continued industrial relations
reform early in its third term, beginning with unfair dismissal laws.

Labor fears the law changes would leave employees of small business open to being summarily
dismissed whenever an employer felt like doing so.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott said the coalition's re-election gave it the
right to expect its unfair dismissal legislation would be passed.

Mr Abbott said he remained hopeful Labor and smaller parties in the Senate would pass
the laws which he believed would unshackle small business and allow it to create tens
of thousands more jobs.

"We certainly should have hope of getting it through because the government has been
returned with a larger majority and a new mandate," he said.

"If people respect the popular will in these matters, surely now the government has
even more reason to push on."

Mr McClelland warned, however, that Labor would tolerate no grandstanding by Mr Abbott
on industrial issues.

"We're not going to be a party to that for Tony Abbott's political purposes, or anyone
else's political purposes."

The two sides remained polarised on the issue of secret ballots for trade unions.

Mr McClelland said the government's plans would mean a six-week wait for industrial
action and an end to the right to strike but Mr Abbott said similar laws had been introduced
in Britain by a Labour government.

Mr Abbott said secret ballots could be organised quickly.

"I think Robert's taking refuge in procedural things to try to obfuscate the main issue
which is democracy in the workplace, a fair go for everyone, a fair go for workers as
well as for unionists and their officials."

Mr Abbott was also forced to defend the government from accusations that, while it
criticised Labor for being too close to unions, it was itself cosy with business.

He confirmed his senior adviser, Peter Anderson, was about to take up a senior position
with the main employer lobby group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"I don't deny for a second that the coalition has traditionally been fairly responsive
to business concerns," Mr Abbott said.

"The big difference between the coalition parties and the Labor Party is that business
has no institutional hold over us, the way that unions have an institutional hold over
the Labor Party."

AAP dep/ph/br

KEYWORD: UNFAIR NIGHTLEAD

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