Your Rights at Work - Union TV Ad Campaign
June 2008
Unions are running a new TV advertising campaign that highlights the importance of
scrapping Work Choices and restoring workers’ rights to collective bargaining.
The new ads are being nationally broadcast in late May and throughout June 2008. They
include:

Time to deliver

Collective bargaining — it’s good for all of us
(two versions: #1 – teacher; #2 – nurse)
The ads can be viewed on the ACTU website (www.actu.asn.au) and still photographs
are also available from the ACTU Comms Unit – ph 03 9664 7379.
Why are unions launching a new advertisement?
Unions are continuing the conversation we started two years ago with working
Australians about their rights at work. The ACTU is keeping faith with those people who
voted out Howard’s WorkChoices IR laws. We are making sure their views continue to be
heard, well after the election. Working Australians have the expectation their wishes, as
demonstrated through the ballot box, will be followed, which means scrapping
WorkChoices and restoring people's rights at work.
Hasn’t Work Choices been scrapped already?
Just because the John Howard’s Liberal Govt was defeated at the last election doesn’t
mean WorkChoices is dead. While the Rudd Govt has banned new AWA individual
contracts, most of the new laws that will scrap Work Choices will not be introduced into
Parliament until later this year. And if Labor’s new laws are further held up by the Liberals
and other politicians, then they may not be passed until next year.
Weren’t the unions only trying to get rid of the Liberals?
The Liberal party has said our campaign last year was about nothing more than defeating
Howard. That was never the case, as these ads prove. Our campaign was always about
getting rid of WorkChoices and restoring the rights of working Australians. This has yet to
happen and that is why we are continuing the campaign we started in 2006.
Has the Labor Govt broken its promise to get rid of Work Choices?
We’re making a point to all politicians that they need to respect the wishes of working
Australians, who voted to scrap WorkChoices at the last election. We’re confident Kevin
Rudd will keep all his election promises – he has so far – but we want to remind the
opposition and all Senators that they should also respect the will of the electorate.
What are unions saying to the business community?
If there is another message in these advertisements, it’s to the business lobby. We know
big business is lobbying the government, trying to get the ALP to keep elements of
WorkChoices. We hope these ads remind the business lobby that they too need to
respect the will of the electorate and they should let the Labor Govt implement the
commitments it made at the election.
Australian Council of Trade Unions – Ad Campaign Factsheet
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What parts of Work Choices are business and Liberals wanting to hold onto?
Since the election last November, big business & the Liberal Party have been defending
Work Choices and trying to stop the Rudd Govt implement its IR policy, including:

Opposition leader Brendan Nelson has back-flipped and renewed the Liberal
Party’s support for re-introducing AWA individual contracts at the next election
and has said the Liberals will oppose unfair dismissal protections for workers in
the Senate.

Big businesses is also are pressuring Labor to not give workers protection from
unfair dismissal for another two years and to provide exemptions which would
allow employers to continue to sack a wide range of employees unfairly:

Employers are pushing to limit collective bargaining by restricting the content of
workplace agreements:
“A number of business groups are pushing the government to limit the scope of
matters that can be covered by workplace agreements, despite Labor’s pledge
to allow employers and employees to bargain on any matters they choose.”
(AFR 10/4/08)
What rights for workers need to be restored?
Since 2006 unions have been campaigning for new industrial relations laws that give
working Australians:





A genuine right to bargain collectively
Protection from unfair dismissal
The right to be represented by a union
Better pay and conditions
The right to a say in their workplace
What are unions asking working Australians do to make sure they get their rights
at work back?

Tell your local MP or Senator how important your rights at work are.
Ask the Government members to keep you informed of their progress and
when the Liberals try to block fair workplace laws in the Senate, make sure they
are reminded that the Australian people voted for rights at work.

Get involved in union campaigns and public events around important issues for
Australian workers and their families such as paid maternity leave and
superannuation.

Make sure employers who exploit workers are kept in check. Contact the Union
Hotline on 1300 362 223 if you know someone being forced on to an AWA or
being hurt by the legacy of the former Liberal Government’s laws.

Be active through your union – strong unions are the best way to protect your
rights at work and improve your wages and conditions. If you are not already a
union member call the Unions Australia hotline on 1300 4 UNION (1300 486
466).

Sign up to email updates — Join nearly 200,000 supporters on the Your Rights
at Work website www.rightsatwork.com.au/joinin
Australian Council of Trade Unions – Ad Campaign Factsheet
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Ad Transcripts
Time to deliver
Family: With Labor promising to get rid of the Liberals’ IR laws, what do you want to
replace them with?
Women workers: We want protection from unfair dismissal no matter where we work.
Male worker: I want my union to be able to sit at the negotiating table with the boss from
day one.
Call centre workers: We want the right to collectively bargain. It means our voices get
heard. We get better pay and it means we can protect things like penalty rates and public
holiday pay.
Family: Australian workers voted for their rights back. Now it’s time for the politicians to
deliver.
Collective Bargaining #1 and #2
Building worker: Because of collective bargaining we have safety standards to make
sure workers don’t die on the job.
Teacher: Through collective bargaining we got smaller class sizes for all of our kids and
better pay and conditions for all teachers.
Mother: Collective bargaining got me 12 weeks paid maternity leave so I can look after
my family and still have a career.
Nurse: Collective bargaining got us better pay and lower nurse-patient ratios so you get
better care.
Voiceover: Work Choices took a way collective bargaining but Australians voted it back.
Collective bargaining — it’s good for all of us. For more information or to join a union call
1300 4 UNION.
Australian Council of Trade Unions – Ad Campaign Factsheet
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