Union leaders will meet in Canberra over the next three days at an ACTU conference to discuss how to scrap the Liberals’ Work Choices IR laws and restore the rights of workers.
The 2008 ACTU Leaders Forum will be held at the Australian National University in Canberra from Wednesday 30 January to Friday 1 February. Over 200 union leaders and officials are expected to attend.
It is the third year in a row that unions have held a forum of this kind in Canberra, however this year’s conference will be larger than previous years with 200 people attending and all of the major unions represented.
Ms Burrow said:
“The Howard Government’s WorkChoices legislation destroyed many workers’ rights and conditions.
“Eleven years of neglect under the Liberal Government has also resulted in skills shortages, falling productivity, rising inflation and infrastructure bottlenecks.
“None of these problems can be miraculously fixed by the Coalition’s defeat.
“Significant work still needs to be done and the union movement is taking a long-term, strategic approach to improving the rights of working Australians and meeting the needs of working families over the coming years.
“In particular, unions will focus on representing workers in industries that really suffered under the Liberals and WorkChoices and where there are significant economic challenges affecting future job opportunities and the rights and living standards of employees and their families.”
