This (Thursday, Aug. 16) morning, hundreds of construction workers gathered at ACT legislation to wave flags in front of (ACT Legislative Assembly).
Hundreds of workers gathered in front of the ACT legislation meeting, not necessarily for protest demonstration. Today, (Transport Workers Union), the transport union, hopes to support the draft Local work Act (Local Jobs Code) announced last month by Rachel Stephen-Smith, minister of workplace relations.
Before that, the office of Andrew Barr (Andrew Barr), chief executive of the Australian Capital region, and (Unions ACT), the capital region trade union, began a protracted tug-of-war. In the end, government agreed to reject non-compliance with workplace safety rules, withhold workers` wages, and employers and workers with poor relationships to accept government project tenders.
Stephen Smith says unions still need to fight for their rights before the bill is formally implemented. "the Local work Act and other related bills are among the values we want to share with the working people," she said. Workers deserve fairer pay, safer security, and the right to form unions and to be represented on behalf of the group. We are discussing with ACT government the standards of the contractor and we hope to maintain this standard of safety all the time. "
Companies that want to bid for the ACT government project will need to be audited to prove that they did not fire workers at will, according to the draft. Companies that have passed the audit must comply with the new law, or they may ban bidding for the next year. But the union pointed out that the bill also needs to improve the government contractor`s wage protection system.
The bill came a week after the CFMEU Union printed a leaflet saying Stephen Smith had given up fighting for workers` interests in an attempt to put pressure on them.
In July, the federal court tried the Canberra light rail project to deduct workers` wages for an amount of A $ seven hundred thousand. The then secretary-general of the CFMEU union, the prosecutor, Jason O x {e16c} Mara, said the workers were very angry. They have transferred the tax to their employers, depriving them of their legitimate rights and interests.
However, industry insiders believe that if the bill is passed, public project costs will be raised, and this could force companies to choose between ACT government and the federal government. In addition, many people believe that the bill may be in conflict with the Australian Federal Construction Act (Federal Buiding Code). But ACT government responded that they would not violate any of the federal workplace-related laws.
Referring to concerns about the complexity and cost of administrative procedures, Stephen Smith said: "if a company can treat its workers fairly and defend its rights, They will not, in fact, be weakened in any way by their cunning employers. This is the whole content of the bill we have enacted. "
