En Passant

The Abbott government will not reject the attacks on penalty rates, the minimum wage slow down, relaxing the unfair dismissal laws or condemn individual contracts that will undermine pay rates for all workers. It will say it is just a draft; it is really just fine tuning what is already there; in the national interest we should all work together to address significant challenges to the economy and jobs, etc etc etc. What this all boils down to is making the working class pay for the crisis of profitability gathering pace in Australia. If the ruling class get these changes through that will open the floodgates for the next set of attacks from the insatiable bosses.

Why won’t one of the Labor Left or Greens politicians make the obvious call – the only way to defend our side’s gains from attack by Abbott and Bernardi is by striking and with massive demonstrations?

Given the overwhelming rejection of WorkChoices in 2007 and the fear it still engenders, Tony Abbott cannot come out publicly in support of a return to this industrial relations ‘Golden Age’. So he hides behind weasel words about limiting union control and militancy – militancy when strike days are at historic lows! – and restoring industrial relations ‘balance’.

This is code for giving even more power to the bosses.

This is not a reason for defending Labor’s WorkChoices Lite. The alternative is to take industrial action to defend and extend jobs, wages and conditions. No to a return to WorkChoices. No to Fair Work which is WorkChoices Lite. Yes to the right to strike. Victory to the building union in its fight against Grocon.

If Wayne Swan was really serious about sharing the wealth we workers create, he’d tax the rich. He’d support workers fighting to defend jobs and win pay increases. He’d legislate for a 30 hour week without any loss of pay or conditions.

He won’t do any of these things because Swan isn’t a working class hero; he’s a puppet of the rich.

If this is how Abbott treats a fellow parliamentarian, imagine how he’ll treat Dads across the country wanting to take leave to be with their partners for the birth of their child and eating into the profits of Tony’s mates?

Imagine this uncaring ruthless approach multiplied a million fold in the Liberals’ industrial relations policy.

This heartless cruel man will impose a regime of terror in the workplace to satisfy the great god profit.

It is workers who can stop the neoliberal Workchoices style attacks of Labor and the Liberals on the unemployed and the disabled and in doing that defend their own living standards.

Defy Labor and their pro-boss industrial laws. Spread the Visy dispute. Close them down. Victory to Visy workers.

Labor’s Fair Work Act is much like Howard’s hated WorkChoices. That’s why Tony Abbott says he can live with it.

A 30 hour week and retirement for all on the average wage at sixty is affordable. Make the bosses pay for their system, not us.

The union leadership’s own internal advice shows conclusively that Rudd’s industrial relations laws are WorkChoices lite and breach ILO standards.