My letter to Tony Burke MP, Minister for Employment & Workplace Relations, dated 26 June 2023 is clear on the facts that workers were deliberately exploited.
When union bosses collude with dishonest multi-national employers and unaccountable government agencies, workers are left with no protection.
I have been working for four years to reverse the serious violations stripping workers of their rights, protections and entitlements.
That’s why I continue, after almost four years, to champion tens of thousands of workers across Queensland and in the Hunter Valley, NSW.
Why have Labor & Liberal-National federal and state governments ignored basic questions?
Stop the rot, Minister Burke. The ball is now in your court.
https://i0.wp.com/www.malcolmrobertsqld.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ricardo-gomez-angel-F2iCP_knaj8-unsplash.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1Sheenagh Langdonhttps://www.malcolmrobertsqld.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/One-Nation-Logo1-300x150.pngSheenagh Langdon2023-06-29 14:24:112023-06-29 14:24:17Stop the Lies and Dirty Deals Stealing from Miners!
The Queensland Labor Government’s decision to add an extra fine to unjabbed teachers is vindictive and cruel. It’s also about political donations and Labor taking care of their mates.
The Labor-aligned Queensland Teachers Union was nowhere to be seen when mandates were in effect and teachers were stood down without pay for more than half a year. The Red Union was different. They fought against mandates and teachers flocked to them and ended their memberships to the QTU who donates to the Labor party.
This fine was a move to punish unjabbed teachers who didn’t stay with the Labor-aligned QTU when they didn’t stand up for workers’ rights. If you ever thought Labor was the party for the worker, they certainly aren’t now.
Transcript
Rowan Dean Well, as I mentioned at the start of the show, we’ve seen so many conventions and rights, democratic rights tossed aside all in the name of public health. The sad reality is that it isn’t over. We learned today, we learned last night actually that the Queensland Government is planning to dock the pay of Queensland teachers who have decided not to get vaccinated.
00:26 Rowan Dean And the Federal Government seems fairly indifferent to what’s going on as well.
00:32 Anika Wells Ultimately I think everyone has the right to make a choice about whether or not to get vaccine. But no one has the right to be free from the consequences of that choice. And these have been set out a long, long time coming. And they’ve had their pay docked, you know, for the six months running up to this. So this isn’t a surprise and it’s something that the Queensland Government going to have to work through with this very small pocket of teachers, given 99% are actually vaccinated.
00:56 Rowan Dean A very small pocket of people we’re humiliating, demonizing and punishing. And here I was thinking labor was supposed to represent the workers. Hmm. Joining me now is One Nation Senator for Queensland, Malcolm Roberts. Great to see you, Malcolm. How are you?
01:15 Malcolm Roberts I’m very well, thanks, Rowan. How are you? It’s good to be here.
01:17 Rowan Dean Good mte, good. Listen, I got all these emails yesterday from several teachers, their families and other people who are absolutely livid with anger. You know, these are human beings. They’ve got feelings, they’ve got families. They’re being treated like dirt and scum, even though we know that, according to the CDC, the Center for Disease Control itself in the US, there’s no need.
01:42 Rowan Dean They’ve now announced there’s no need to distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated. Personally, I wonder whether there ever was. Malcolm Roberts, what did you make of this news and how vindictive can a government be?
02:01 Malcolm Roberts The real issue here is about political donations and about punishment. They’re the three words to remember. Now, I’ve been dealing with a teacher who’s been fighting for restitution for the teachers for a year and a half now. Sorry, sorry for half a year, because they were only cut on December 17th. But she’s been very strong. And so I called her up today and she pointed for four points with regard to punishment.
02:27 Malcolm Roberts She said, first of all, they’ve been penalized for losing seven months worth of work because they were suspended due to not complying with the vaccine or the injection mandates, not misconduct, suspended due to noncompliance. They lost their pay for seven months. They lost their homes, marriages broke up, distressed people making decisions that were not good and sometimes causing lots of problems and heartaches.
02:52 Malcolm Roberts Suicides. She’s personally had to talk four people out of suicide. Now after, if that’s not enough, they’ve been penalized for serious misconduct. So just January 23rd, which is only seven months ago, they were penalized, they were suspended, they were told, because noncompliance. Now they’re being accused of serious misconduct. Then the third thing is that some of these people have been living in state education, in state homes, and so they’ve been paying rent to the state government.
03:22 Malcolm Roberts The state government tossed them out, tossed them out. And some of them couldn’t get their furniture out in time, were charged rent because the furniture was still in the place. One woman was denied the right to even access the furniture in her house. She had to pay someone to get it out for her. The fourth thing is they have now been labeled with this:
03:41 Malcolm Roberts Quote “any further reprimand could lead to terminations.” This is belting them. It’s not just humiliating them. It’s belting them. This woman has been prevented from doing the work she loves for seven months.
03:56 Rowan Dean Exactly. Malcolm, these are teachers. These are the people we rely upon to educate our young. To show. To show our children the ways of behavior, the values to take forward in life, positivity, creativity, inspiration, education. These are the people we rely on to bring those values to our children. I tell you, the sheer vindictiveness is there a more nasty, vicious government than the Palaszczuk government?
04:32 Rowan Dean We saw Dan Andrews. He’s just a thug. We saw all the police brutality, throwing people to the ground, pepper spraying them and all this stuff. But we have this nasty, vindictive Palaszczuk government that seemed to want to hurt and punish anyone who disagrees with them. Is that an unfair comment?
04:51 Malcolm Roberts You’re exactly right. If a private employer or a public company were doing this wrong, the Queensland Government would have been down on them like a ton of bricks. Now these are doing it. It’s bastardry at its worst, but there’s a reason why they’re doing it. The teachers believe that it’s got something to do with the fact that the Red Union, I think it’s called the teachers professional Association of Queensland a new Union has been making very great increases in numbers in the last few years and the Queensland Teachers Union is scared of that increase.
05:20 Malcolm Roberts The Queensland Teachers Union has lost a lot of members. Now the Queensland Teachers Union is close to the ALP state government and they had d large sums of money from teachers dues to the Labor Party for their for their campaigns. Now all of a sudden they’re looking at membership drops and the Teachers Professional Association of Queensland, the Red Union, is taking over.
05:41 Malcolm Roberts And so when the vaccine mandate came along, the injection mandate came along the QTU the Queensland Teachers Union, abandoned these workers, abandoned these teachers and the red union saw them flocking to them because the red unions stood with them side by side and took them,
05:59 Rowan Dean Fascinating
06:00 Malcolm Roberts Defended these people, supported them and that’s what’s going on now. We’ve got an industrial relations amendment bill coming in that’s going to make it difficult for the red union to get more members. This is about labor punishing people who dared to join the Red Union.
06:15 Rowan Dean Malcolm Roberts, political donations. You’re 100% spot on there to point to the Machiavellian maneuvers behind it. Great to speak to you. Thanks so much for speaking up for those teachers and we’ll chat again soon. Thank you so much.
One Nation’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Bill 2022 ensures the rate of pay for casual labour hire workers are the same as or better than full time workers doing the same job.
Senator Roberts said, “The exploitation of casual workers stops here and now, and my Equal Pay for Equal Work Bill will ensure casual workers are remunerated fairly.
“Companies need to re-invest in traineeships and apprenticeships for their future labour requirements, rather than contracting casual positions on lower wages.”
My Bill applies to the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2010 and the Aircraft Cabin Crew Award 2020, both of which have a history of claiming flexibility requirements but undercutting wages.
This Bill will include the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Enterprise Award 2016, the Fire Fighting Industry Award 2020, the Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Award 2020 and the Seagoing Industry Award 2020.
Senator Roberts said, “While some of these industries do not have a history of casualisation, they all inherently need to maintain high and consistent standards of safety using a stable workforce.”
One Nation accepts the need for casuals to cover sudden spikes in labour demand.
Senator Roberts said, “We need to make sure casual workers are just that, a short-term requirement to address business demands, and that employers in these specific industries shift their perspective to an investment in longer term workforce planning and permanent employment.
“The overuse of casualisation has driven down wages, making it a struggle for a sole breadwinner to provide for their families.”
One Nation has achieved many positive changes for casual workers in the black coal mining industry, along with introducing casual to permanent conversion rights and protecting small business from red tape when implementing casual conversion. “This Bill is award-based and allows for wage negotiation between the employee, union and employer, which is an investment in the employer and employee relationship,” added Senator Roberts.
I was unable to give this speech in the Senate last night but it’s important you get these details. While the government has backed down on changing the BOOT test after One Nation pressure, there is still much to fix in the casual employment mess. There is a lot of chest beating about this bill but no real detail, only One Nation will give you this amount of detail and transparency about our analysis.
Transcript
Inservingthe people of Queensland & AustraliaIwant todiscussour sharedneedfor:
Improvingindustrial relations to protecthonestworkers and employers, especially casual workers.
Our concerns for business, particularly small business.
The bigger picture andavision fora securefuturefor Australia.Today the governmenttook the first stepinrecognisingOne Nation’slegitimate concernsfor employers and employees– itbootedout the BOOT!
We listened:Wearelisteningto workers – casual and permanent – acrossQueensland andAustralia.Listening toallstakeholders inemployment including welfare organisations.Listeningto UB’sand union bodies.Listeningto small and medium sized businesses.Listeningtoemployer and industry groups.Listeningto the government.Listening reveals that across our country, people are hurting, feeling vulnerable. Afraid for their jobs, worried they won’t be able to pay the mortgage, afraid of the future.Everyday Australians are hurting fromgovernmentCOVID restrictions andlock-downs keepingpeopleaway from jobs, businesses and loved ones.
TheProblems with this Bill:There are many problems with this Bill that need to beresolved to make it safer for bothemployeesand employers.There are many‘hairs’ on this Bill that need to be trimmedto makeit fit-for-purpose.Our concern is for the unintended consequences ofthisgovernment’s so-called reforms that arereally justtinkerings. We’re investing the time and effort towork with all parties toimproveoutcomes foremployeesandemployers.
The firstproblemis with the definition of “casual”,The proposed casual definition at Section 15Ais lengthy and complex, it suggests that theemployer’sintentionexpressedat the time of commencementof employment isthe only important factor,determining employment status. It’s not. Hunter Valleycasual coal miners we’ve championedwereclearly permanentandnot casual asthe dishonestlabour hire company, Chandler MacLeod designated.
This must be clarified in the Bill or Explanatory Memorandum.The definition also refers to“nofirm advance commitment” yetmany casuals have a firm advance commitment. Because it suits both them and the businessas insingle parents working during school hours and intakeaway shop. Thedefinitionof casuals inS.15(A)(2)is aloosecompromise because theterm ”asrequired” is confusingand must be removed.Last week, MrBukarica, Legal Director for the CFMEU Mining Division and his team agreed that their union had ignored casuals for many years. The same can be said of this government.The CFMEU in the Hunter Valley and the government have contributed to the exploitation and confusion in thepermanent casual rort.
The second concern we have is with theproposed‘right to conversion’Many casuals have a regular pattern of hours, yet Sections66A and B suggests that this means casuals areactually permanent.This section as it stands throws many burdens on small businessand puts the casual loading at risk for workers who enjoy thebenefit of a casual loading.
The proscriptive nature ofrequired record keeping andtimeframes foroffers of conversion, as in the proposed Section 66B,represent a burden for small business who cannot afford the time off the tools.The answer is to take this unnecessary burden away from small businessand likewise to reviewthe silly ‘windows of opportunity’workershave toapply for conversion.
Even morerecord keeping.Yetsadlythischangewill do nothing to change howcompanieslike BHPexploit andabuse casualsthrough labour hire arrangements.BHPand big businesscan randomise rosters andextend casual arrangements to suit themselves.Somealready are and that disrupts workers needlessly.
The third concern is thenew Section 545Afor offsetting claimsThisintroducesa statutory rule for offsetting claims forunpaidentitlementsfrom permanent casuals. Calling this doubledippingin many instances is a lie.Let’s be clear I donotsupport double dipping on entitlements.Yetemployees have a right to entitlements under circumstances where they have been treated differently to a true casual.
We will fight for retaining and protecting these workers’ entitlements just as we have done for 18 months in the Hunter Valley.The Full Court in theRossatocase clearly statedthat the casual loadingpaid to a casual worker did not offset their entitlement to paid leave as guaranteed to allpermanentworkersunder the Fair Work Act.
Thegovernment seemstothink ithasto change this becausethe decisioncould impact big businessprofits.Section 545A (1) (b) takes thisevenfurther and states that it protects employers where they pay a flat hourly rateeven whenit’s not clear whether a loading is being paid.What’s going on here? How is this fair or making things simple?
In the Hunter Valley, casual mine workers were put on permanent rosters and in permanent roles beside the permanent workforce.It could not bemore clear, yet the IR laws created ambiguity and injured workers are still waiting for their just entitlements nearly six years later.As it stands, this provision coulddeny workers their lawful entitlements where theywere notgivenacasual loadingorwhenthe EA resulted from a flawed process.
I commend the CFMEU Mining Division’s LegalDirectorMrBukaricafor the courage and integrityhe showed when in answer to my questions he acknowledged the Hunter Valley CFMEU’s role in colluding with employers todeprive casuals of basic employment entitlements and rights.
Wewillworkwith thegovernment to create a workable solutionto ensure workers are treated fairly.This is crucial and not negotiable.Small Business:Small business needs clarity and simplicity. Itdeservesa fair go andcannot afford the days or weeks away from work to defend a casewhenthe big end of town candig into deep pockets to paylawyers and consultants.
Whilethe overwhelming majority of claims against small business settle before arbitration, small business owners have suggested this is because they have learned to pay ‘go away’ money.Thousands of dollars.Wehave received representations suggesting that theincreases in fines (Schedule5, Parts 1, 4, and 5) and new criminal penalties (Schedule 5, Part 7) be suspended for 2years for small businessesto soften theblow for an already damaged part ofAustralia’s economy.
Webelieve this is worthy of support.Small business deserves and needs atailor-madesolution for them.Small business spansmultiple awardsandcannot afford enterprise agreements.They cannotsubmit totheinflexible rulesthat the IR Clubcreates for its benefit and forlawyers’financialbenefit.
The IR Omnibus Bill so far:ThePrimeMinisterdescribes the IR system as, quote: “not fit-for-purpose, especially given the scale of the jobs challenge that we now face as a nation.”Who can forgettheDysonHeydon’s(Royal Commission)diabolical findingsonunion bosses?The whole nation saw the need for changes to protect workers from lawbreaking union bosses.
One Nation supportedgovtlegislationto implement theRoyal Commission’sfindings.We supported theABCC, ROC and thefirstEnsuringIntegritybill.Yet wecouldnot supportthegovt’s ill-consideredsecondEnsuringIntegritybill.Nor can we support this Bill as it stands.
I’ve spokenoftenaboutHunterValleycoalminersbeing exploited, abused and discardedas a result of the collusion between BHP, Chandler Macleod,thelabour-hire firm andthe Hunter ValleyCFMMEU.Andwhilethe governmentknew about the “casuals” problem for yearsitdid nothinguntilRosattothreatened big business profits.
One Nationis standing up toprotect workers’and employers’rights.One Nationknows that only employers, entrepreneurs,small businessesand workerscreate jobs.Government COVID restrictions have done enormous damage.Yet the govt-inducedrecessionis not an excuse to cut pay or job security.
Instead,for our country’s sake,let’smake a genuine attempt at IR Reform together.
We’re ready towork with the government and stakeholders to improve outcomes for employers and for employees.For businesses, especially small businesses and for honest workers.
https://img.youtube.com/vi/lU4SFG_Uyl4/maxresdefault.jpg7201280Senator Malcolm Robertshttps://www.malcolmrobertsqld.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/One-Nation-Logo1-300x150.pngSenator Malcolm Roberts2021-02-17 11:41:022021-02-17 11:58:49The detailed breakdown of the Industrial Relations Bill