Wearing Two Hats !

Last Saturday Sally McManus won a seat in the Federal parliament when she prevailed in the Batman by-election.  As she is also the leader of the ACTU and shows no sign of stepping down it raises a good question of who she will be representing.

The voters of Batman delivered her sufficient votes for a win and that is their democratic choice but the ACTU is engaged in a " change the rules " campaign which - if successful - will materially alter the employment situation in Australia.   It wants a law change to allow people who work on a casual basis to demand that they automatically change to the status of a permanent employee when they complete six months of service.

There is a giant gulf between casual and permanent employment rules in this country, not the least is the legal contortions an employer must take if it becomes necessary to shed labour.  This same ACTU is adept at harnessing the many appeals that will delay the process and cost the employer an enormous amount of money.

Many small businesses require labour to meet demand peaks but could not afford to employ that person for the full week, and that is why casual positions fill that gap.  A permanent employee is entitled to statutory public holidays and both annual and long service leave.  A casual receives a higher hourly rate than a permanent employee to compensate for those losses.

The ACTU argument is that casual employees have no job security and this is usually the decisive factor in obtaining a housing mortgage.  A permanent employee is deemed financially " settled " while the ability of a casual to repay is in doubt.   Many casuals have worked for the same employer for years but the vagaries of the market make it reluctant for that move to permanency to be taken.

What will aggravate many people is the ACTU demand to remove the choice of casual or permanent from employers.   Employers would need to carefully count the days and rotate casuals to ensure nobody achieves that fatal six months of employment.   Running a business would become a battle with the unions to cover demand peaks without falling into the trap of falling into permanency that the business could not support.

The ACTU is also demanding more flexible work arrangements for those caring for sick family members.  Many employers do make special arrangements, but the priority is to cover demand peaks and that must come first.  The ACTU has a strange view on work preferences.

It seems that when Sally McManus sits in the Federal parliament she will be wearing two hats.   She will also represent the people of Batman who didn't vote for her, and her other allegiance will be to a union movement that is openly hostile to employers.  Split loyalties will bring interesting vote choices when contentious issues are decided by a parliamentary plebiscite !