BWI and its affiliates are writing to independent Senators in Australia, calling on them to vote against the proposed Ensuring Integrity Bill. Australian unions have characterised the bill as a brazen attack on unions intended to give the Minister, employers, or any party with a ‘sufficient interest’ the right to intervene in the democratic running of unions.
“This Ensuring Integrity Bill is an attempt to silence union leaders, lower safety standards, clamp rights at work and cut wages,” said CFMEU Construction Division National Secretary Dave Noonan. “It does nothing to fix the real crisis in the construction industry in Australia, but rather is intended to deliver fatter profits for property developers, lower wages and worse safety.”
The legislation has four main effects. First, it contains provisions that widen the circumstances in which a union official can be disqualified from running for or holding office. Second, other provisions expand the grounds for cancellation of an organisation’s registration. It also introduces a ‘public interest’ test for union mergers, and finally imposes a scheme to allow adminstrators to be appointed to ‘dysfunctional organisations’.
“These proposals constitute an unacceptable intrusion into the trade union movement,” said BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson. “Trade unions are democratic organisations, and this democracy is critical to ensuring workers’ interests are adequately represented within their movement. These intrusions are fundamentally undemocratic and we are proud to see our affiliates vigorously oppose them.”
The BWI is calling all its affiliates and partners to support the Australian unions by signing to the petition on the following link: https://standupforworkers.com/thanks