Opposition To The Changes
In response to the Howard Government's Work Choices package, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the peak association for Australian trade unions, launched its "Your Rights at Work" campaign opposing the changes. The campaign has involved mass rallies and marches, television and radio advertisements, judicial action, and e-activism.
The week of action culminated on Friday 1 July 2005 with a "SkyChannel" meeting of union delegates and members organised by Unions NSW. The meeting was followed by a large rally in Sydney and events in regional areas.
Individual State Governments have also opposed the changes. For example, The Victorian Government has introduced the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate as a form of political resistance to the changes.
In December 2005, the federal caucus of the Australian Labor Party initiated an Industrial Relations Taskforce in order to investigate the adverse effects of the legislation, chaired by Brendan O'Connor, with special emphasis on the impact on regional and rural communities, women and young people. During 2006, the Taskforce travelled to every state and territory in Australia, convening meetings with individuals, employers, church and community groups and trade unions, collecting testimony in order to inform federal Labor's policy response and to publicise instances of actual exploitation. An interim report, 'Work Choices: A Race to the Bottom' was launched by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley at Parliament House, Canberra on 20 June 2006, and widely distributed.
Read more about this topic: WorkChoices
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