From: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/index.asp?URL=3D/national/4330908.htm Reith's $220m reform ultimatum By MICHAEL BACHELARD 19may99 THE Howard Government has threatened to withdraw its $50 million investment in Melbourne's Federation Square project if the developer's agreement with unions on the site is not rewritten. In a strong rebuff for the unions and the Kennett Government, which oversaw negotiations for the agreement, Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith appears to be using the Government's investment in the $220 million project as leverage to force reform in Victoria's construction industry. Mr Reith has described the Victorian industry as the worst in Australia. But the threat has enraged unions, who have been negotiating for four months to gain a site agreement with developer Multiplex. Electrical Trades Union Victorian secretary Dean Mighell said Mr Reith and the employment advocate, Jonathan Hamberger, had knocked out key parts of a good agreement for ideological reasons. He said they had objected to a provision allowing unions to take industrial action when enterprise-bargaining agreements with individual contractors came up for renewal during the life of the site agreement. They had also wanted to allow individual contracts on the site instead of just enterprise agreements and they had knocked out a hard-fought productivity provision that included flexible hours and a nine-day fortnight in return for no restrictions on overtime. Instead, workers had been offered a $1.30 an hour productivity bonus if the job was finished on time =AD a provision the unions rejected early in negotiations. Mr Mighell said the State Government's Office of Major Projects, which oversees the project, had obtained legal advice saying the site agreement was legal. "I'm really shitty about it ... they are threatening to hold up the funding because a legal agreement doesn't suit Jonathan Hamberger's and Peter Reith's ideology," he said. Mr Mighell said the unions would lodge the agreement in the Industrial Relations Commission today for certification to try to flush out opposition to it. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Victorian secretary Martin Kingham said the Federal Government's changes breached its own legislation by restricting workers' access to industrial action while negotiating new enterprise agreements. He said Mr Reith was trying to "dictate to" Mr Kennett, and called on the Premier to stand up to the Federal Government and ratify the agreement. "They want to use Jeff Kennett, they want to embarrass Jeff Kennett. I have told the State Government to go ahead with the job and tell Reith to pull his head in," Mr Kingham said. Neither Mr Reith nor Mr Kennett could be contacted last night. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html =20 Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=3Dsubscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=3Dunsubscribe%20leftlink
