Lefties shit themselves as Barbara Bennett stays on
Little Johnny Howard
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22974795-601,00.html?from=mostpop
THE Rudd Government faces a battle with unions over its plan to keep
the Coalition's much-maligned Workplace Authority in charge of a
revised industrial relations system until 2010.
Senior unions officials are incensed that the authority's chief,
Barbara Bennett, is set to run Labor's interim regime on workplace
agreements after she was used to spearhead a Coalition campaign before
the election.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged to establish a new
industrial umpire, Fair Work Australia, as a central part of Labor's
promise to abolish Work Choices and have an alternative system fully
operating by January 2010. But The Australian has learned Ms Gillard
intends the Workplace Authority, headed by Ms Bennett, to continue
with the job of approving all agreements under Labor's transitional
arrangements to be introduced next year.
The plan, not contained in Labor's election policy, raises the
prospect of Ms Bennett's authority amassing another enormous backlog
of agreements awaiting approval, after it struggled to cope with
180,000 lodged before the election.
Many unions and legal experts object to the Workplace Authority
continuing, saying Labor should hand its powers back to the Australian
Industrial Relations Commission, as the agency with the best expertise
to check agreements.
They criticised Ms Bennett's allegedly partisan role before the
election when she personally promoted the Howard government's
"fairness test" in multi-million-dollar advertisements.
Before the election, Ms Gillard branded the ads an "arrogant abuse" of
the public service for political campaigning.
The news of Ms Bennett's continuing role comes a week after The
Australian reported that unions were threatening to campaign against
the Government unless Work Choices was dismantled in 12 months.
Ms Bennett, who was appointed by the Coalition in July and defended
her role in the ads, confirmed to The Australian she intended
remaining in her position under Labor, and looked forward to "working
under any new legislative requirements".
Ms Bennett's spokeswoman added that until Labor's legislation to
replace Work Choices was enacted, Ms Bennett's authority would
continue to process agreements under the former government's fairness
test.
The Rudd Government has remained silent until now on who should run
its transitional arrangements.
The Australian Workers Union yesterday supported the establishment of
Fair Work Australia as a new "one-stop shop", and accepted Ms Gillard
needed time to introduce a new system.
But AWU national secretary Paul Howes said "agreement-making" should
be put in the hands of the AIRC until the new umpire took over. "They
have the expertise and it would be recognising that for the vast bulk
of John Howard's tenure the AIRC had the responsibility for agreement-
making," Mr Howes said. "It was only when Work Choices was introduced
in 2006 that the power was removed."
Mr Howes said he had "serious misgivings" about the Workplace
Authority continuing until 2010 because of a partisan role played by
Ms Bennett in the election lead-up.
Instead of remaining neutral as a public servant, Ms Bennett had
become too closely associated with Work Choices after appearing in the
taxpayer-funded ads, he said.
"She was a significant part of the Howard government's campaign
against the union movement," Mr Howes said.
Victorian Trades Hall Council Brian Boyd criticised the Rudd
Government over Ms Bennett's role, warning it was typical of Labor's
"softly, softly" approach to scrapping Work Choices.
"I have nothing personal against Barbara Bennett but giving her this
role sends the message that it's all the way with the employers," he
said.
"Having someone like her who was very enthusiastic about promoting
(Australian Workplace Agreements) signals to employers to keep
exploiting Work Choices while it's on the slow burn to being
dismantled."
Mr Boyd said appointing Ms Bennett to oversee Labor's bargaining
regime between 2008 and 2010 was "not really a good stepping stone" to
opening Labor's alternative collective bargaining model.
"It's all part of (the Government) sending the wrong signals to all
those people who definitely voted Work Choices out, and I don't think
it's a good start to thedismantling process," Mr Boyd said.
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson, a past critic of Labor's policy,
said yesterday he could live with the Workplace Authority because it
would operate under different guidelines.
Mr Robertson said Ms Bennett had exercised "bad judgment" in agreeing
to appear in the former government's ads, but he accepted "bureaucrats
work with what they've got".
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Looks like the unions want to run the country again.
Green Lantern
"Little Johnny Howard" <pmjwh...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9ce04344-3417-4f96...@l6g2000prm.googlegroups.com...
If the Unions campaign against the Govt who will they campaign for - the
Greens with noone in the House of Reps or the Coalition ? This shows what a
joke the Unions are.
goodguy
"Green Lantern" <gr...@peril.com> wrote in message
news:JEEcj.28104$CN4....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
on the condition that they are apolitocal, something you and fellow liberals
never understood or honored along with not using public funds as your
personal advertising bank account.
And as she has clearly shown political bias should not be left in any
government job except under very special circumstances which probably exist.
Oh the unions are back, not running everything, but certainly stopping the
excesses that the howard liberals liked to install.
>
ralph
>Come on, another break with tradition, government employees enjoy their jobs
>on the condition that they are apolitocal, something you and fellow liberals
>never understood or honored along with not using public funds as your
>personal advertising bank account.
>
LOL ... the state ALP governments gave public funds to public sector
unions (in the form of inflationary wage rises) who then used some of
that to bankroll pro-ALP political advertising. Same fucking thing.
Even today, in NSW, the ALP government is running a campaign promoting
the benefits of electricity privitisation.
Are you getting a clue yet?
goodguy
"ralph" <rste...@geocities.com> wrote in message
news:c2r6n31pgdi7moede...@4ax.com...
So whats your problem? Just wnt corruption with your favorite party?
And can you work it out? Funds to glorify and support the liberal party for
election. And funds towards selling privatisation .
Cant see the difference? no wonder howard and his liberals were dumped so
fully.
>
Little Johnny Howard
No wonder their membership just keeps falling.