Time to celebrate new IR laws - stronger rights and protections for Australian workers

01 July 2009

A message to all AWU members from National Secretary Paul Howes.

Dear fellow AWU members,

Today is a big day for us, new industrial relations laws, which begin today, represent an historic step forward for the rights of working Australians and their families.

The new laws mark a turning point and will provide workers with a raft of stronger rights and protections in the current economic downturn, and in better times ahead.

Detailed plan allows us to ramp up our union campaigning from today

Today is also an important day because today we launch our most ambitious campaign ever to build the strength of our union.

We plan to use the Fair Work laws to:

• increase our membership, 

• protect jobs,

• advance the interests of working families, but

• the core of our plan is to enforce the laws to get the best possible rights for all AWU members.

Starting today I have triggered a ramped up campaign, involving more than 150 AWU officials, based on the conditions provided in the new Fair Work laws .

The first stages under the new Fair Work laws already mapped out

The July Intensive" campaign will inform members of their Fair Work rights and how they can use these new rights to improve their workplace conditions.

We as Australia's oldest union and the nation's biggest blue-collar union, will act to involve more than 100 workplaces in this campaign at sites across across every state and territory.

We now have the chance to improve the working lives of more than 20,000 workers who potentially will be affected by this July Intensive campaign.

Celebrate the end of WorkChoices by ensuring the positives of new laws improve our workplaces

I believe that the best way to celebrate the end of WorkChoices is to get out there from today, and make sure that working people understand their new workplace rights under the Fair Work laws.

The July Intensive is just a start. This is the first step in an on-going strategy, endorsed by our National Executive, to ensure that the positives of the new Fair Work laws help us to improve our workplaces for our union members.

The July Intensive is the result of what we in the union movement all worked for during the years of the Your Rights at Work campaign.

The Federal election win over WorkChoices was only the start of better times

Under WorkChoices, there were countless cases of workers losing pay and conditions, being sacked unfairly and having their basic rights denied.

At the last federal election, the Australian community said enough was enough.

It's up to trade unions to ensure we turn the result of that extraordinary election campaign into reality for the working people we represent.

We can now have a greater sense of security and respect at work

From today, all Australian workers can have a greater sense of security and more respect for their rights at work because of these landmark changes to industrial relations laws.

These new laws have the potential to deliver better protection and rights for workers - but it will only happen if unions go out and organise workers.

Stronger Together the message of our union to all workers

All our research showed that people wanted unions, and wanted the opportunity to join unions. WorkChoices denied Australians that opportunity because of the huge unfair barriers that were created.

Now the AWU will stretch out their hands to the thousands of workers who we can organise and say join us so together we will stronger.

Stronger Together has always been our motto. Today we have a new opportunity to put that motto into practice.

Key things that the new laws can deliver

These new laws will ensure that our members and all workers across the country will have the following rights restored to them:

• Genuine rights for workers to collectively bargain and be represented by their union.

• Unfair dismissal rights for all workers, including about 4 million workers who had no protection under WorkChoices.

• A robust new safety net of awards and national standards, along with a fair and transparent process for setting minimum wages

• An industrial umpire with teeth to safeguard workers' rights.

Hit the ground running

The AWU has hit the ground running. We want to ensure the new laws take effect in our industries quickly and effectively.

We will use the Fair Work Act to continue the work we have done for 123 years, that is to ensure that working people in this country get a fair go and that justice and equality prevails in our workplaces.

Yours in unity,

Paul Howes
NATIONAL SECRETARY