Thanks for a great article. You did a great job of making sense out of the limited and misleading data available in the public arena.

AWA's are a simple device really. They give the employer the chance to buy conditions at a discount rate, so official firures show that employees have had a rise in pay, but mention nothing of lost conditions. Employee's are at the employers mercy they do not in any real sense have the right to disagree. If an employee does disagree they get unfairly sacked. Of course unless you happen to be in a union that is strong enough to take action C.F.M.E.U or M.U.A. for example, you find yourself up that proverbial creek, without a paddle.

The weak unions are not worth belong to Australia's Weakest Union, The National Union of Workers etc. Workchoices have put employees into a state of fear and of course the two biggest sticks are AWA's and unfair dismissal.

A damning report on the results of the Workchoices (not) legislation. Bring on the election so we can throw out this worthless piece of crap!

Alzo
We still have about 4 months until the 10th of Novermer, but throw them out on their collective ears we will

It is useful to have research like this to under pin what people instinctively knew would happen and have personal an anec dotal experiences to further re inforce it.

At the time Workchoices was being pressed upon us there was also a plethora of very sond sound academic work - which has since proven to be prescient in the extreme - pointing to the very problems the authors here demonstrate. But these were dismissed - they always would be - by a government hell bent on getting its own way.

With the exception of miners who were alwaya going to be on a good wicket I dont know a soul who has fared better under AWAs -

Where the links between unions and the ALP are pretty obvious and not always for the good - the links between business and this government are just as real but nebulous enough for the government to practice its fine art of plausible deniabiltiy - this legislation had the finger prints of peak businesses groups all over it - as has a great deal of what this government gets up to - we are best rid of them

Most of the academics in this field are former union officials and advisers to ALP ministers. So you know the line about statistics.

They fail to point out that thousands of public sector AWAs provide a legal instrument to pay higher packages to attract, reward and retain managers, professionals and other highly valued employees. Also many employees in the private sector on over awards or who are award free have more protection with an AWA which is more easily enforced than a common law contract.

Those opposed to AWAs and Workchoices often fail to acknowledge that most employers and workers invariable do the right thing by each other. This is what we need to remember. The small number of Employers and employees who don't do the right thing deserve the appropriate treatment.