Government 'in WorkChoices panic'

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Government 'in WorkChoices panic'
12apr06

THE Federal Government is in a state of panic over its contentious Work Choices laws, says ACTU secretary Greg Combet.

Mr Combet said Government moves to stop a number of prosecutions of alleged workplace rule breaches was proof of the panic.
Federal Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews yesterday said he would drop prosecutions of unions for alleged illegal industrial action, dating from before the start of the Work Choices laws last week.

Mr Combet claimed the Government was concerned about negative publicity and was now in panic over the impact of the new laws.

"Kevin Andrews is really a dunce, isn't he? I don't know that he's got much clue about what he's legislated," Mr Combet told ABC radio.

"Overall, the Government is now in a state of panic about all of these things.

"We've even seen yesterday the termination of a number of prosecutions the Government was bringing against unions and employees that have arisen prior to the new laws coming in."

Mr Combet cited the example of one dropped case that involved 70 coal miners in Queensland.

"(They were) asked to live in accommodation that was infested with fleas, and feral cats had been in it, there was sewage floating around from an overflowing septic underneath it," he said.

"They refused to work and live in it, surprise surprise, and three days' work was lost until the sheds were fixed and cleaned up.

"The Government was suing these people - not the employer, by the way - for $20,000 each in fines for unlawful industrial action."

Mr Combet said that from the minute the ACTU brought the case to light yesterday, Mr Andrews panicked and terminated the prosecutions.

"(That's) a good thing from our point of view, but it does illustrate just how much pressure the Government's under over these laws," he said.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18792466%255E1702,00.html