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 Home Campaigns Your Rights At Work News
Scrap changes to right of entry laws15 March 2005The HSU is calling for the scrapping of proposed new laws which would seek to limit union right of entry into workplaces after a Senate inquiry found they were flawed. Even Federal Government Senators who took part in the inquiry were not happy with the proposed laws and said they needed to be changed. Labor argued that the legislation should be thrown out - a position taken by the HSU and all other unions. HSU national secretary Craig Thomson said the proposed restrictions on right of entry were unnecessary, unjust and would only make it harder to make sure employers are doing the right thing. "The HSU makes thousands of visits to workplaces every year with the approval of management and it is only employers with something to hide who would not want a union visiting members," Mr Thomson said. "It is non-members who would be the worst off under these changes because unions are restricted to responding to requests from members. "Changing the law is also more likely to harm productivity, increase disputes and safety problems especially in the critical health sector." Even before the inquiry into the legislation finished the government had conceded it needed to soften its position with the proposal to limit visits by union officials to workplaces for recruitment to one every six months scrapped. Plans to require notice of entry during working hours will also go. Government Senators said parts of the legislation were poorly drafted and needed to be changed. The Democrats said the legislation went too far and there was little evidence of any problem with the current system. "A few court cases identifying particular problems are not evidence that the system is broken, and the whole union movement should face drastic change," Democrats IR spokesman Andrew Murray said. Labor Senators drew heavily from the submissions of unions' citing the lack of necessity for these measures, and the fact that a very small number of union officials have ever had application lodged against them to have their right of entry permits revoked. Contact Details Health Services Union of Australia hsu@hsu.net.au |
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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU) |
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