The South Australian Branch of the Australian Shipbuilding Federation of Unions (ASFU) have called on Senator Rex Patrick to abandon proposed amendments, and vote down the Government’s union-busting Bill.
“There is genuine concern that the union-busting Bill would prevent us from fighting to save South Australian shipbuilding jobs,” said Peter Bauer, ASFU SA Convener.
“We understand Senator Patrick’s desire to try to fix this shonky Bill. However, at the end of the day, the aim of this Bill is to hurt unions by making it shockingly easy to deregister them; no amendments can prevent that. That’s what the Government has engineered the Bill to do.”
“Unions that advocate for and represent their members’ best interests will operate in fear, and so will the ordinary working people they represent.”
“Campaigns that have had support from the Senator, like the ones to save South Australian submarine jobs, the building of future frigates and the OPV’s in Australia, could see unions on the chopping block – even with these proposed amendments.”
“South Australian ship and submarine builders are fighting for their livelihoods and the future of their industry, the last thing they need is for their unions to be tied up in litigation and worrying about ‘demerit’ points for late paperwork.”
“Senator Patrick has been a fantastic advocate for South Australian shipbuilders, we hope to continue to work closely with him to secure good outcomes for South Australian workers. However, should this union-busting Bill pass, we have real concerns about the ability to campaign for these jobs under these severe laws,” Mr Bauer said.
