WA Government commits to working with the HSU

The WA Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection John Kobelke outlined the government's record and pledged to continue to work with the HSU at the union's annual general meeting last night.

The full text of his speech is available here:

Good evening everyone. It is great to be with you this evening.

I would like especially to acknowledge:
§ Mr Graham Baker, President of the State Branch of the HSU;
§ Mr Dan Hill, Secretary of the State Branch of the HSU;
§ All HSU Members.

UNION MOVEMENT/PARTNERSHIP

The HSU and the wider WA Trade Union movement have a long and proud history of improving pay, conditions and workplace safety and health for its members.

In this way the Union movement and Labor Governments have shared common aims, and some common achievements. Today, we are both working for fairer and safer workplaces.

Like Government, the HSU represents a broad range of people and a broad range of interests and concerns.

I know that the membership of the HSU has been growing strongly in recent years with an average annual increase of 8.5% over the past 5 years and a very impressive increase of 11% over the last year.

This is a direct result of the hard work and achievements of union officials, delegates and members - and it is a credit to you.

Looking at the whole WA union movement last year for the first time in over 12 years the proportion of the workforce in unions increased from 18.7% to 20%.

I take this opportunity to congratulate the HSU and the wider union movement on these significant achievements and to assure you that the Gallop Government does not take your support for granted.

Over the years the union movement and Labor Governments have achieved much together.

And now, more than ever, we need to work together as we face a Federal Howard Government that is in control of both the House and the Senate.

FEDERAL ELECTION

This is a frightening reality that has major implications for our State.

Howard's agenda includes as a priority item changes to the federal Industrial Relations system. These changes are modelled on the disastrous Kierath years here in WA and are designed to reduce the ability of employees to organise and negotiate collectively.

We need to do all we can to keep Western Australian workplaces fair and safe. Labor is the only Party committed to these ideals, and we are the only Party committed to making sure this happens.

The Federal Election result means that the union movement faces a renewed attack from the Commonwealth Government on the ability to organise and represent workers collectively.

The Federal Government has already said it will make AWA's easier to register and will provide money to promote them, it will restrict further allowable matters in Federal Awards, restrict right of entry, implement the Cole Commission recommendations for the construction industry, remove unfair dismissal protection for employees of small businesses and (importantly for the HSU as a union operating largely in the State IR system) attempt to take over the States' IR jurisdiction.

The Commonwealth industrial relations framework that will be imposed on workers and their unions across the country by the Howard Government is built upon the model first engineered here by Court, Kierath and Barnett.

And we are all aware of the disaster that was the Third Wave.

The Gallop Government has not forgotten the battles the WA trade union movement fought against the brutal industrial relations agenda of the State Coalition of the 1990's.

We supported you during this time as the State Labor Opposition and earlier this year we listed Solidarity Park as an 'A' Class reserve to ensure that your Third Wave struggle is forever memorialised as a proud moment in Western Australian labour history.

The State Coalition's recently released IR policy shows that a Barnett Government will go "back to the future" with individual employment contracts and an attack on the collective approach to deciding pay and working conditions.

Coupled with this we would again expect to see delays in public sector EBA negotiations of up to 2 years as a means of enticing employees on to individual employment contracts.

A re-elected Gallop Government will do everything it can to provide a haven for workers disadvantaged by changes to the Federal IR system.

We are committed to collective bargaining, to adequate workers' compensation and to safe and healthy working conditions.

ACHIEVEMENTS - JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

My Government's aim has been to build a sound economy for the benefit of all our State's citizens.

We are achieving this - Western Australia is currently experiencing strong economic growth (over 7% over the last year) and this growth looks set to continue.

WA's unemployment rate of 4.3 per cent for November 2004 was the lowest rate since the 1970s and well below the current national average.

These economic and employment results refute the Liberals' ridiculous claims during the debate over the Labour Relations Reform Act 2002 such as:

• "I take this opportunity on this clause to reiterate that instead of being called the Labour Relations Reform Bill this legislation will become known as the "Loss of Jobs Act" because that is what it is about." [Hon Cheryl Edwards 13 March 2002 Legislative Assembly - Second Reading of Labour Relations Reform Bill 2002.]

• "I suggest that the Labour Relations Reform Bill should be retitled the 'No Jobs Bill'. The Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection ought to be renamed the 'Minister for Unemployment', because that will be the outcome of this legislation." [Hon Cheryl Edwards 12 March 2002 Legislative Assembly - Second Reading of Labour Relations Reform Bill 2002.]

WA now has 1 million jobs with over 80,000 jobs created since 2001.

WA has the highest productivity of any State.

These are achievements the Gallop Government believes all Western Australians should be very proud of. These new jobs mean a better quality of life for tens of thousands of Western Australians and their families.

And that is what economic growth is all about. It is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It is a means to job creation, to a thriving business sector, to a strong industry and resources sector, to improved health and education systems and to fairer and safer workplaces.

We have achieved record growth without privatising essential services, without going into deficit and with keeping our AAA credit rating.

I can say with confidence that WA is in a far better position now than it was four years ago.

Four years ago we inherited the Court-Barnett Government's abysmal financial record of five Budget deficits out of eight Budgets and widespread privatisation.

We spent our first years in Government forced to fund a $400 million black hole in unfunded commitments left by our predecessors - like laptops for our schools and teachers and a Police Communications Centre.

We have now reached the point when we can return more of the benefits that our strong financial management has created.

EDUCATION, HEALTH, COMMUNITY SAFETY

We are finding better solutions for Education and Training, Health and Community Safety.

We have made the biggest commitment to these key services by investing hundreds of millions more dollars than the Liberals. And it is making a difference.

We have increased public health expenditure. $808 million extra per year from recurrent funds and a total of $1.6 billion extra per year on Health, Education, Law and Order and Community Services which is more than the total cost of the Southern Rail.

We have reduced hospital waiting lists and crime.

We have recruited extra nurses, police and prison officers.

We have seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of apprentices and trainees in WA since Labor came into office.

This is compared to zero growth during the last three years of the previous Government. That's an additional 7,400 West Australians getting skills for real jobs right now.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS REFORM

Today I would like to reiterate to you that the Gallop Government is about making Western Australian workplaces fairer, safer and more productive.

In fact, establishing fairness in the labour market will always mark out a Labor Government from a Liberal one.

One of the greatest challenges faced by the Gallop Government on coming into office was to reform the unfair industrial relations system created by the Court-Kierath Government and under which many HSU members suffered.

In one term of government, we have repealed Kierath's anti-union laws and his divisive workplace agreements. We have restored and promoted the rights of employees to organise collectively and we have reinstated the powers of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission as an independent umpire.

In one term we have achieved significant reforms to Occupational Safety & Health, Workers' Compensation and delivered the 2002 Labour Relations Reform Act.

These were three of our main legislative commitments for our first term - and there is much more we want to achieve in a second.

I would like to thank the HSU and the wider union movement for your support in achieving this vital legislative reform.

I know that some of you will say we should have done more and sooner, and others will not agree with everything we have done but it is important to recognise that together we have made WA workplaces fairer and safer.

Through working together we have realised other achievements, including:
§ An increase to the adult minimum wage of almost $100 per week (a 33% increase on the hourly minimum rate);

§ We restored State right of entry provisions so that union officials can enter workplaces and speak to members and potential members;

§ We increased by 20% the number of WorkSafe inspectors and strengthened protections for OSH representatives in your workplaces; and

§ We have reversed the Coalition's privatisation and casualisation agenda, with over 4000 public sector workers converted from casual or fixed term contract to permanent, secure jobs.

SECOND TERM

Court, Barnett and Kierath had 2 terms and 8 years to build an ideological IR system that undermined fairness in WA workplaces. We have worked hard in a few short years to dismantle that mess.

Structural reform must be an ongoing process that takes an unswerving commitment. We have that commitment. But the ground we have gained will quickly disappear and far worse looms for the HSU and its members if Barnett and the Coalition regain government.

A re-elected Gallop Government will further improve the IR system by enhancing the operation of the WAIRC and promoting collective agreements.

We will take action to improve further workplace health and safety. This will include funding for the training of safety and health representatives and supervisors, an initiative to deal with bullying in the workplace, and the establishment a Code of Practice on Extended Working Hours.

The reformed Workers' Compensation system will be reviewed after a year to see what further improvements can be made while maintaining premiums at an affordable level.

We will initiate measures to assist a better Work/Life balance by supporting the outcomes of the Federal Work and Family Test Case and setting up a Work/Life Unit to examine ways of redressing the severe imbalance in wages between male and female workers.

In the public sector there will be new initiatives based on the People Making a Difference plan, improved paid parental leave, and amendments to the Public Sector Management Act regarding breaches of public sector standards.

STATE ELECTION

"Unity is Strength" is not just a motto on a union banner. Unity is essential if we're to combat the IR agenda of the Howard Government and avoid a return to the State Coalition's IR regime of the '90s.

The Gallop Government is committed to our relationship with the Union movement and this has not wavered. Nor has our commitment to pursuing IR reforms that make our workplaces fairer and safer.

But we can only move forward if we remain in Government. We want to continue the work that we have started and we want to continue to work with the HSU and other WA unions.

We need to focus our energies and work together to preserve our right to maintain an equitable Western Australian industrial relations system.

Be clear amongst yourselves that no matter how hard we work, we will be of little practical use to you as the Opposition to a Liberal Coalition State Government working in conjunction with Howard.

For Western Australians in particular, the stakes are high and they go beyond industrial relations to the very issue of the right of States to retain the ability to determine our own fate and future.

Within a few short weeks of re-election, the Federal Government has not only begun to force through its divisive IR agenda but it has also announced its desire to remove our control of our own universities.

They have announced their plan to impose Commonwealth training colleges across the country to compete with our TAFE sector. This not only jeopardises our ability to train the skilled workers we require in order to prosper, but represents an unnecessary duplication of resources.

Time is short, the threats are real and long term, and I implore you to not wait until the formal campaign begins to decide which side you are on.

You have the ability to play a positive role in determining our mutual fate. I would welcome any visible or vocal attention paid to the track record of our Opposition and their predecessors in a way that will remind all workers and their families of the recent past and the future that awaits them if we fail to win a second term of government.

CONCLUSION

For over 100 years Labor Governments have led the way in establishing the right for workers to bargain collectively, to receive a fair wage, to enjoy safe and healthy working conditions and to be entitled to appropriate workers' compensation for injury and disease and assistance to return to work. I very much hope to continue this tradition working with the HSU during a second term for the Gallop Labor Government.

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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU)
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Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 17:19:27 EST