E7MB. GO0 : 0 p. m.
FOR PRESS 6 NOVEMBER 1977
ELECTORATE TALK
The figures just released by the Commonwealth Employment Service
show that tens of thousands of Australipans were put out of
work by the-Victorian power strike. Jobs were lost because
strikes and other dis ' ruptive action sent companies bankrupt,
and unable to keep producing.
A handful of union leaders created conditions that led to
social and economic dislocation throughout Australia.
The most. damaging strikes in recent months have been designed
to break wage indexation guidelines, flout the authority of
the Arbitration Commission, and boost the inflationary wage spiral.
The power strike in Victoria was a classic example of this tactic.
More than 450,000 people were laid of f in Victoria and other
States, and as the latest unemployment figures show, 37,000
are still registered as unemployed as a direct result of that strike.
Strikes in other areas the Builders Labourers Federation in
Victoria, Norwich Park, and the Queensland Meat Workers strike
also caused dislocation and unemployment.
This attempt by some extremist union officials, in a few key unions,
to attack our system of arbitration will be resisted by your
government. We will not wash our hands of this kind of behaviour,
as the Leader of the opposition does. It is Mr Whitlam who
refuses point blank to condemn these extremists in their attempts
to deny thousands of Australians the right to work.
The reason is clear. Those extremists all run unions that are
af filiated with t-he Labor Party u" LOP.-delegates vote on
Labor Party policy which is bindig on all Labor parliamentarians.
They are the so-called industrial wing of Mr Whitlam's own Party.
Yet as leader, will he take the responsible course and repudiate
their tactics? No, he remains silent.
My Government has not stood by idly. We have acted firmly and
fairly. We have passed laws that make sure the public interest
is more easily protected in times of industrial disruption, and
that give rank and file unionists a greater say in how their own
union is run. / 2
EMBARGO:
Last year * we., passed laws for secret postal ballots for union
elections. our. Industrial Relations Bureau is now working to
make sure that the law is observed. We have provided
for breaches of industrial law, and we have created the conditions
where for the first time effective action can be taken under
the Conciliation and Arbitration Act to deal with demarcation
disputes. We have also established the circumstances in which
trade unions must report to their own members about their financial
affairs.
What did the men of the Labor Party the self-styled guardians
of the working man do when we introduced our industrial legislation?
They condemned it, they opposed it, they tried to stop it
becoming law. They were running scared behind their so-called
industrial wing. The Labor Party has. condemned every piece of
industrial-. legislation we have introduced. They have opposed
secret ballots which are designed to give union members a real
say in the running of their union. They opposed legislation which
will protect the right to work. They opposed it not because
they-thought it would not work but because it is official
Labor-Party policy to place trade unions above the law.
Mr Whitlan is bound by that policy. When Mr Hayden or even
Mr Uren takes over, they will be bciund by that policy.
And that is why, a year ago Mr Whitlam defended political
strikes by trade unions. That is why a few days ago he refused
to say what a Labor government would do if a union refused to
accp an lziLrLUo-a % Commission decision. He claimed that no
government eve. r-s olved n industrial dispute. That is nonsenseand
he knows it.
It was the Commonwealth Government that brought the crippling
air controllers strike to an end, and that ended the
postal dispute at Redfern. It was the strong stand of both the
Victorian and Commonwealth Governments that led to the ending
of the Victorian power dispute. The Western Australian Government
has recently ended a damaging dispute in that State.
Labor failed to control the extremist unions when it was in
government. Given another chance, it would still surrender.
Mr Whitlam claims concern. for the unemployed, Yet he was the
man who has refused to disown the extraordinary statement of his
Shadow Minister for. Industrial Relations, when he publicly
. supported the 2,000 Victorian power workers who held the State
to_. ransom,. and__ caused massive additional unemployment.
Mr Whitlam's record shows he knows nothing about-creating jobs.
His government produced a record rise in unemployment 157%
in one year. He'll never get a chance to do that again.
because I don't believe Australians will ever again want him
in a position of authority.