Australian government launches assault on workers’ rights.

[acmejack]

A 68-page booklet, entitled “Workchoices: A new workplace relations system,” released on the weekend of October 8-9 confirms the sweeping attacks on working conditions and workers’ rights at the core of the Howard government’s draconian industrial relations (IR) “reforms”, due to go before parliament later this month.

On the eve of the booklet’s release, Prime Minister John Howard and Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews met with leading employer bodies in a one-hour locked-down session to ensure that details of the final draft legislation met with their approval.
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Reports of compromises and concessions were nothing more than a repackaging job by government spin doctors to create the illusion that a range of existing conditions—public holidays, annual leave loading, meal breaks, shift penalties, overtime rates and redundancy payments—would be “protected” under the legislation.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/work-o19.shtml