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Cooperation Not Militancy The Way Forward On Industrial Relations
18 Jul 2018 | Media Release
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Congress missed an important opportunity this week to show that unions understand what Australians want from their work and to deliver positive ideas for the future of work in Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said today.
Australian Chamber CEO, James Pearson said:
“Australians need to work together to tackle the key challenges we face:
- Creating more jobs for our young people.
- Offering more hours of work for the underemployed.
- Making it easier for businesses to hire and manage in an increasingly competitive world.
“Cooperation, not militancy, will drive productivity, competitiveness, jobs and higher wages.
“The ideas coming out of the ACTU Congress are not going to deliver jobs, economic sustainability, or wages growth, or help tackle the real issues facing working Australians and their families:
- We won’t get there through unions flipping the switch to militancy and a return to whole industries going on strike.
- We won’t get there by imposing union-dictated terms and conditions on employees that choose not to join a union.
- We won’t get there by abusing anyone as a “scab” – an extraordinary proposition at a time when our community is working to stamp out bullying and harassment as never before.
- We won’t get there by asserting a right to break the law.
“If the ACTU’s agenda to rewrite our workplace laws succeeds, Australia’s key export in a few years’ time will be our jobs.”