An electoral landslide does not give you a mandate to attack workers’ rights

There must be an instruction manual for incoming governments that demands rhetoric about election mandates and Budget black holes.

Whether they get in by whisker or romp it home in a landslide, they all claim a “mandate” – seemingly, code for doing all the things that were never mentioned at the election. And with mind numbing predictability, the mandate’s evil twin, the  Budget black hole gets trotted out as well.

Few incoming governments, however, have used these well-worn political clichés as cynically as the current NSW Government. Barry O’Farrell is now tenuously relying on both to unfairly attack the rights of public sector workers in NSW. Under changes currently before parliament, the state’s nurses, teachers, fire fighters and prison officers will have weaker workplace rights than any other worker in the country.

The Premier continually seeks to hide behind a fig leaf of implementing the previous government’s wages policy and getting public finances in order. Why then does his policy go so far beyond wages?

Under the Industrial Relations (Public Sector Conditions of Employment) Bill, the Government will have the right to determine all conditions of employment for public sector workers. The Industrial Relations Commission – which previously exercised that role – will have the job of enforcing the government’s regulations.

In practical terms, the independent umpire will be sidelined and  Parliament will determine conditions for the very people it employs. Unless workers can show “employee related savings” (either job cuts or poorer conditions) they will not get a pay rise above 2.5 per cent. As anyone living in Sydney knows, that’s a pay cut in real terms.

The policy means everything is up for grabs. From annual leave and sick leave to superannuation and hours at work. Nothing is sacred and nothing is protected by an independent umpire.

The question this government will not answer is why do these fundamental rights have to be stripped away if this is about wages and public finances? What is the broader agenda?

And if the Government does push ahead with its wage straitjacket, who will look after the sick, drive our buses and work in our juvenile justice centres?

A recent study by the University of Sydney’s Workplace Research Centre paints an alarming picture of public services under the Coalition’s policy. According to their independent modelling, if the policy had been in place for the last decade, pay rates for NSW nurses, police and teachers would languish well below their counterparts interstate, by thousands of dollars. A registered nurse would be worse off by $12,232 a year, a teacher by $14,580 and a senior constable by $8,961.

You can rest assured of one thing. If this policy had been in place you’d have no problem with public sector wages, because you would have no workers. They would all be in WA or Queensland.

There’s no doubt Barry O’Farrell and the Liberal/National Coalition scored a thumping victory at the recent state election. Hundreds of thousands of NSW voters shifted their vote to the conservatives, fed up with the ALP’s naval gazing, ministerial scandals and indecision over rail infrastructure.

But an electoral landslide does not a mandate make. Just ask John Howard.

The then-Opposition promised to improve front line services and retain the powers of the industrial relations commission. Now, from the comfort of Treasury benches they’re introducing radical changes at breakneck speed, attacking the very people they want to deliver those services.

Unions want to work with the Government on a new productivity agenda. Our public services can work smarter and more efficiently without job cuts and pay freezes.

Unions want consultation and co-operation. But failing that, we will challenge these unfair laws in the courts and the community, ensuring everyone knows just what’s at stake.