ETU FACTS: Working conditions and the federal election

How will the outcome of the 2022 Federal Election affect your working conditions?

Abolish the undemocratic ABCC and its unfair Building Code

Labor
Liberal

Stop protecting corrupt employers from being held to account by workers.

(The ABCC relentlessly pursues union officials over minor infractions while doing little to stamp out wage theft or sham contracting in the construction industry or to address worksite safety and deaths.)


Restore basic rights to construction workers

Labor
Liberal

Ensure that building and construction workers have the same rights as other workers and can access advice, service and support from their union when they need it.


Secure employment for Aussie workers on government contracts

Labor
Liberal

Introduce a Secure Australian Jobs Code to ensure that taxpayers’ money being spent through government contracts is being used to support secure employment for Australian workers.


Promote secure work through the Fair Work Act

Labor
Liberal

Enshrine secure work as an objective of the Fair Work Act. This means the Fair Work Commission will have to put job security at the heart of its decision-making.


Improve access to mental health support for rural and remote workers like FIFO workers

Labor
Liberal

Reinstate a 50 per cent regional loading for telehealth psychiatry through Medicare, providing access to bulk billed telehealth psychiatry consultations across regional and rural Australia.


Protect workers from sexual harassment in the workplace

Labor
Liberal

Fully implement all 55 Respect@Work recommendations, including legislating a positive duty on employers to stamp out sexual harassment. 


Introduce 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave

Labor
Liberal

Legislate 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave as part of the National Employment Standards. 


Make it easier for workers to advocate for safer working conditions

Labor
Liberal

Ensure that workers can access advice, service and support from their union when they need it.

Get more workers into secure work, creating a situation where they are more empowered to speak up about unsafe working conditions without fear of repercussions from their employer.


Comment

Labor’s policies aim to increase secure work and remove the incentive for sham contracting, labour hire and 2nd and 3rd tier subcontracting models. They want to protect workers from unsafe working conditions.

The Morrison Government’s policies aim to increase casual work, maintain the gig economy and allow labour hire to expand even further. Workplaces have been more unsafe since since Morrison became Prime Minister, with an 8% increase in workplace serious injuries and a 32% increase in workplace deaths

Authorised by M. Wright, Electrical Trades Union Division, Sydney

This article was publised on 17 May 2022.