This is the sort of strong-languaged scare-mongering that I would expect from a liberal candidate on the campaign trail. What a load!

- awards if reintroduced act as a MINIMUM. Employers have always been able to give exceptional employees extra monetary reward and extra flexibility reward. After all, if one employee is 25% more efficient than the rest, the employer would be happy to give them flexible conditions to make sure that their services were retained. Doesnt matter what regime it is under.

- This article ignores the fact that we have a 2-tier system now (everywhere but Victoria). Sole traders and partnerships which make up a large proportion of small business owners, are still governed by State Awards. Workchoices biggest impact has been on large employers, not small.

- the mining companies are whinging about collective bargaining, but there has been evidence presented about the same companies employing pattern-bargaining with their AWA's (supposed to be illegal). What's the difference, if most people end up on the same agreement anyway?

- the study results about profits being higher in non-union workplaces is questionable too. Again, it comes back to what point you are trying to prove. Most high-profit businesses operate in industries where there are no unions, because there has never been any need for them. The workers are highly skilled and sufficiently equipped to negotiate their own conditions (which is the world in which many uni graduates enter). On the other hand unionised workplaces often operate in lower-profit industries (manufacturing for example), where lower wages prevail, because of the dymanics of that industry and the fact that many workers are poorly educated and lack the ability to negotiate well for themselves

Unlike our authoress I did no go to uni, in fact nor to high school.
I passed in burning the rubbish from every classroom and little else.
However the uni of life continues to educate and entertain me.
This thread is baseless, it comes from a lack of understanding of the workplace and the intent of workchoices.
It is standard Liberal dribble and quite wrong.
It is not shared by most Australians, workers, or voters, all of who hold a different view.
On election night, after a hard and bitter campaign a out going Howard government will Begin a debate that may last for years, I think people such as our authoress will drive that debate.
Its subject? why workchoices? why allow it to so very badly turn a majority unheard of into such a defeat?

4,000 Telstra employees on an identical AWA? Looks like a collective agreement to me, except it is an individual agreement - take it or leave us Mr/Mrs individual.

John "man of steel" Howard's political antennae did not work on this one.

"man of steel" translated into Russian = Stalin. :)

Oh dear, oh dear - Labor can do no wrong, the unions can do no wrong. The Coalition are mean, tricky, nasty, underhand bastards who can do no right.
Could we have a bit of reasoned debate here? Are ALL AWA's really a bad thing? Are ALL people really worse off? Are ALL employers out to do the wrong thing by their employees?
The posts here sound as if AWAs are the worst possible thing out and that the world will be a rosy and cosy place again under Labor and the unions.
I really am curious now. Is there anyone out there who supports AWAs? Is there anyone out there on an AWA and happy about it? Has the union movement and the ALP always done the right thing? (Gee why haven't they always been in power?)
Come on - the article might be a bit over the top but so are the responses.

No communicat not all AWA's are bad -

however they are part of very bad law - poorly drafted - subject to little internal debate or analysis in the party room - excellent vehicles for exploitation - they were designed thus and now cop all the bad press under sun -

Some employers may well have used them as they were touted in the propaganda surrounding workchoices Mk 1 and 2 - as instruments of fairness and opportunity - particularly in the tiresome case of the miners we keep on hearing about - but it seems very few did -

and most people knew that AWA's would provide a perfect ride to the bottom when it comes to wages and conditions.

Apartheid is already here, thy name is Workchoices.