Industrial relations an election liability for all concerned

Welcome to The Age. Skip directly to: Search Box, Section Navigation, Content. Text Version.

Fairfax Digital

NEWS | MYCAREER | DOMAIN | DRIVE | FINANCE | MOBILE | RSVP | STAYZ

member centre | login | register

www.theage.com.au

The Age Business

* MARKET DATA

* MONEY

* PORTFOLIOS & WATCHLISTS

* QUOTES

* BUSINESS NETWORK

Industrial relations an election liability for all concerned

*

* Email

* Print

* Normal font

* Large font

Paul Gollan

May 5, 2007

AdvertisementAdvertisement

AS GREG Combet announces one of the worst-kept secrets in politics in running for the safe Labor seat of Charlton, Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey has bowed to public criticism over WorkChoices, that the industrial relations pendulum has gone too far in serving business interests at the expense of "fairness".

No matter what the spin, basically it's a recognition by the Howard Government that WorkChoices was on the nose for many voters and could prove a liability at the federal election at the end of the year. It may also be recognition that these changes could be an election winner for the Government after the fallout and mismanagement of Labor IR policy announced at the weekend.

In essence, from midnight next Monday workers earning under $75,000 on Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) will not be allowed to trade penalty rates and overtime allowances without being adequately compensated. The renamed Workplace Authority (formerly Office of the Employment Advocate) will use a "fairness test" to ensure no one is disadvantage. The Office of Workplace Services will also be renamed to Workplace Ombudsman to refocus its attention to enforcement.

Compensation may be made in a variety of ways, including higher basic pay, more flexible hours, and even car parking.

The Prime Minister's announcement is in response to Labor's free fall over its IR policy. Labor has not been helped by Julia Gillard suggesting to the business community that it back off or it would suffer if it started a media campaign against ALP IR policy. Gillard gave the impression that Labor attitudes towards IR and in particular business have not changed since the 1960s. Little doubt special ALP business adviser Rod Eddington would not have been too impressed by the policy.

A potential compromise between Gillard and the Australian Mines and Metals Association might emerge over AWAs, if statutory individual contracts are maintained under a pre-WorkChoices disadvantage test. This would ensure that workers on AWAs would not be worse off than under the equivalent award.

Gillard has indicated she is willing to discuss the idea. While this presents a little movement from the ALP, we will have to see if the "us" and "them" mentality is alive and well, or a real balance between fairness and flexibility will be achieved.

For the Howard Government, yesterday's announcement might be considered a smart political strategy to regain the IR initiative, but it will take more than a cosmetic job to convince the electorate.

The ALP and the Coalition have seen IR reform as an election winner, but for both it has become an election liability.

The ALP and the Howard Government do not need to finetune their policies, they just need to make sure they are in tune with Australian voters.

Paul Gollan is an associate professor, department of business, Macquarie University, and an associate fellow in the employment relations and organisational behaviour group at the London School of Economics.

*

* Email

* Print

* Normal font

* Large font

When you see news happening: SMS/MMS: 0406 THE AGE (0406 843 243), or email us. More

Subscribe to The Age for your chance to win 12 years of Penfolds Grange!

SPONSORED LINKS

1177788401914-theage.com.auhttp://www.theage.com.au/....htmltheage.com.auThe Age2007-05-05Industrial relations an election liability for all concernedPaul GollanBusinessBusinessNews

National | World | Opinion | Business | Technology | Sport | Entertainment

CLASSIFIEDS Jobs | Real Estate | Cars | Dating | Place a classified ad

Sitemap | Subscribe | Privacy | Contact Us | Conditions | Member Agreement |

Copyright © 2007. The Age Company Ltd.

* News

o Breaking News

o National

o World

o Opinion

o Your say

o Blog Central

o Letters

o In Depth

o Investigations

o Weather

o Oddspot

o Archives

o Home

* Entertainment

o Film

o TV & Radio

o Music

o Arts

o Books

o Epicure

o Whats On

o Entertainment »

* Life & Style

o People

o Fashion

o Parenting

o Health

o Diet

o Relationships

o Beauty

o House & Home

o Bridal

o Pets

o Life & Style »

* Business

o Market Data

o Money

o Portfolio

o Quotes

o Biz Network

o Executive Style

o Business »

* Sport

o AFL Realfooty

o Cricket

o Swimming

o Tennis

o Motorsport

o Golf

o Soccer

o Basketball

o Horseracing

o League HQ

o Rugby Heaven

o Sport »

* Travel

o Australia

o World

o Activities & Interests

o Short Breaks

o Deals & Bookings

o Travel »

* Tech

o Gadgets

o Games

o @Home

o BizTech

o Security

o Connectivity

o TechTips

o Tech »

* Other Sections

o Education

o Creative & Media

o Employment

o Property

o Motoring

o Video

o Photo Galleries

o Crosswords

o The Age Shop

o About The Age

o Contact Us

o Site Map

* Classifieds

o Place an Ad

o Adonline

o Announcements

o Notices

o Other Classifieds

o Advertise with Us

o Classifieds »

* Jobs

o Find a Job

o Place an Ad

o mycareer.com.au

* Cars

o Cars For Sale

o Sell Your Car

o News and Reviews

o drive.com.au

* Real Estate

o Buy Property

o Sell Property

o Rent Property

o Share Property

o New Developments

o Commercial Property

o Holiday Rentals

o Business for Sale

o Place an Ad

o domain.com.au

* RSVP

o Find a Date

o Browse for a Date

o Top 100

o Introductions

o RSVP.com.au

Search age:

Today's Business Coverage

* Stocks end week in fresh record territory

* It's now or never for privateers trying to grab Qantas

* Ice and diabetes battles to be waged

* Telstra unlikely to get broadband help

* Stocks hit new intraday highs

* RBA lowers inflation forecast for rest of 2007

* AGL confirms interest in AlintaAGL retail

* Hutchison Telecom on track to generate cash

* Resource stocks surge

* Babcock Infrastructure upgrades distribution guidance

* S&P 500 tops 1500 points

* Business Index

Strike a pose

MULTIMEDIA Behind the scenes at Fashion Week.

Actress Angelina Jolie, left, and actor Brad Pitt arrive at the premiere of "God Grew Tired of Us" in West Hollywood, Calif., Monday, Jan. 8, 2007.

Czech out Brangelina

TRASH TALK Star couple put to rest rumours of a separation with steamy snapshots.

Playboy's new playmate

GALLERY Hugh Hefner names the 2007 playmate of the year at the Playboy mansion.

IMG4675.jpg base64 image jpeg xmactype=4A504547; xunixmode=0644; xmaccreator=0; name= SUNDAY EXPOSE. From left; Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart at the Firewall premiere at Rivoli Cinemas in Camberwell. February 23, 2006. EXPOSE 4 of 10IMG4479.JPG

The age thing

ASK SAM Mature men or simply too old?

An American Cocker Spaniel wears a pair of sunglasses at Pet Expo 2007 in Makuhari, east of Tokyo April 28, 2007. The exposition for pets takes place until May 6. (JAPAN)

Pets on show

GALLERY Pets are parading their stuff at the Pet Expo in Japan.

WHIP IT UPStrawberries. Note deep etchIn to_imaging/Enterprises_BOOKS/Whip it upPeter x2149

Rocking strawberries

THE TONIC Rock concerts rocking your ears the morning after? Here's how to stop it.

PLAY

Goot's roman collection

Two years ago nobody had heard of Josh Goot. Now, he's one of our top fashion designers.

Time's most influential

Borat and Aussie Cate Blanchett among those named in Time magazine's most influential.

Will Paris be jailed?

Paris Hilton will have a very unglamorous new address if prosecutors get their way.

Previous | Next

Working it

Choosing the appropriate clobber for the workforce. Where do you start?

* Management What makes men happy?

* Culture Let me count the ways

* Full Executive Style coverage

Featured advertisers

Business blogs

Management Line

Life in the slow lane...

Management Line Sick of the 18 hour days and no time to chill out with family and friends? In Britain... more

Business

* Stephen Bartholomeusz

* Alan Kohler

* Malcolm Maiden

* Christopher Webb

* Max Newnham

* Barry FitzGerald

* Full Disclosure

Economics

* Tim Colebatch

* Kenneth Davidson

* Ross Gittins

* Leon Gettler

Interested in the topic?

News Store Alert will keep you informed. Find out more

News by email?

Get free news emails from theage.com.au. Sign-up now

SPONSORED LINKS