Speaking from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:

"Early Thursday morning (2 June) Australian time, the ILO placed the Howard Government on a list of cases that will examine instances of labour rights violations around the world.

Australia's case will be heard alongside cases from Burma, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Colombia and other countries that are known as the world's worst violators of labour rights.

The case is expected to begin in the next few days over whether Howard Government Workplace Relations and Building Industry laws are a breach of fundamental human rights including the right of employees to join a union and the right to bargain collectively.

The Federal Government will be forced to defend itself in the case which is being heard by the ILO's Committee on the Application of Standards. This ILO Committee is composed of a panel of international legal experts and is currently chaired by the government of Spain.

In hearing the case, the ILO's Committee on the Application of Standards will question Howard Government representatives about the legal and practical aspects of its adherence to international labour rights conventions in particular, The Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, number 98.

The Committee of Experts has previously stated that the Federal Government's Workplace Relations Act does not provide adequate protection against anti-union discrimination of workers who choose to have their terms and conditions of employment governed by collective agreements.

This case will be a test of the Government's willingness to respect international standards and to be a part of the international community's efforts to promote and protect the rights of workers around the world," said Ms Burrow.

"The eyes of a shocked international community are now on the Australian Government and its commitment to upholding basic rights of working people.

Australia was a founding member of the ILO in 1919 and it's authority has been upheld historically by both Liberal and Labor governments.

Local as well as international concern has been heightened by the announcement last week of the Howard Government's plan for a massive overhaul of Australia's workplace relations laws that include:

• Abolishing protection from unfair dismissal for four million workers
• Encouraging employers to put workers onto individual contracts that cut take-home pay and reduce employment conditions - workers who refuse to sign may fear being sacked
• Changing the way minimum wages are set to make them lower
• Effectively abolishing the award safety net and taking away the powers of the independent Industrial Relations Commission
• Keeping unions out of workplaces and reducing the capacity for workers to bargain collectively with their employer."

"These new Howard Government changes will further undermine the basic rights of working people in this country and shame our nation in the eyes of the rest of the world."

Media Contacts: Sharan Burrow can be contacted directly on 0419 303 849 between the hours of 4am to 9am AEST time - voicemail is not operating