Tony's sensible centre is a chocolate-wrapped deceit
Paul Howes
The Sunday Telegraph
July 22, 2012 12:00AM
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THERE'S a new phrase entering the political lexicon: "sensible centre". It's Tony Abbott's new favourite saying.
Apparently, the "pendulum" has "swung too far" away from the "sensible centre".
What I'd like to ask Abbott is this: Who is being paid too much? What conditions of which workers do you think overly generous?
What would you like to cut first? Penalty rates? Overtime? Annual leave entitlements?
Of course, Abbott will never tell, at least not before the election. The Liberals learnt that the hard way.There's been a lot of talk this week about the union movement's plans for a fighting fund for the next election. Unions are preparing to fight hard because there is so much at stake.
As ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said this week: "We are talking about security of workers' entitlements. "We're talking about secure jobs. We're talking about proper industry policy, such as in the automotive industry. All these things are happening and we are supportive of all of that."
And when you have an opposition which has started to come out of the closet on its plans to rip away at workers' rights it is, of course, natural for unions - the guardians of such rights - to defend our members.
This week I was in the United States attending the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. I spoke with a number of labour market economists who talked in great detail about the stagnation of the working conditions of middle class Americans.
One of the big differences between Australian and American workplaces is the comparative weakness of the US union movement coupled with an extremely deregulated labour market.
Since 2003 it's estimated that the median hourly pay rate fell 2 per cent (after inflation).
The Australian perspective is quite the opposite. Over the past decade, real wages have grown in our country by almost 57 per cent, and our economy is still the envy of the world.
The challenges facing the US economy and the strength of ours comprehensibly demonstrates the hollowness of the argument run by many in the Liberal Party that a completely deregulated labour market is somehow better for the economy. The truth is that conservatives want a deregulated labour market because that's the best way to smash the power of workers.
Conservatives talk about the "sensible centre", as though it's something unions are against. It's not. The "sensible centre" is an artificial construct made up by people like Tony Abbott when they're trying to justify cutting wages and conditions. It's nothing more than a hollow attempt to justify cutting workers' rights.
Away from all the rhetoric and hyperbole about "union bosses" and "union power", the real issue at stake at the next federal election is the hip pockets of working Australians.
Unions want business to do well. Businesses employ workers, and it should be that the better a business does, the better its workers do. Unions, as a part of a civilised society, work best when they're working with this firmly in mind, seeking to better the lives of their members.
Because the truth is that unions aren't against the "sensible centre" any more than they're against the clear blue sky.
Paul Howes is the national secretary of the AWU
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