Your Voice

I have posted quite a number of entries here about the mess John Howard has made of Australia and here is another one. Perhaps I will get hot-under-the-collar and do a few more before Saturday 24th November 2007 (the Australian Federal Election) but for now I will just give a brief summary of what John Howard has given us during his 11 years in office.

1. Work Choices

• Unfair Dismissal - GONE. Employees can be sacked for no reason (company of less than 100 employees) of for 'operational' reasons (company of over 100 employees) with NO right to take an unfair dismissal case.
• Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Award UNDERCUT by AWAs. Your Union can negotiate an EA, you can vote to accept it, the next day the company can offer you an AWA slashing your wages and conditions.
• Enterprise Agreement Entitlements Lost with 90 Days Notice. You thought you were protected by your EA didn't you? WRONG! If you do not sign an AWA and the company wants to play it tough, it can give you 90 days notice at the end of the EA and it terminates AUTOMATICALLY, slashing your wages and conditions.
• AWA - Take or Leave It. If you start a new job or get a promotion you may be forced to sign an AWA as a condition of employment. If you don't sign you don't get the job.
• AWAs Only Need a Minimum of 5 Conditions. This, simply put, means the award safty net has effectively been abolished. Employers can abolish penalty rates, public holidays, 17½% annual leave loading, tea breaks, meal breaks, 5 day working week, rostering protection and redundancy pay, to name a few of these conditions.

2. Nuclear NOT Solar for the Howard Government, with Russia getting Australian Uranium as early as 2008 and India to follow. And, AND of course Nuclear for our fair and beautiful land!

3. Silencing those who decide not to fall in the Howard Political Line. Go read Not Happy, John! and Silencing Dissent.

Food for thought before you vote.

Oh and don't forget that Peter Costello is far more HARD LINE than John Howard on Industrial relations. When Peter Costello takes over from John Howard he WILL want to make his mark with more harsh Industrial Relations Legislation.

Sleep on that too before the Federal Election.