Bryan Sketchley, Melbourne
If any Victorian trade unionist had an inkling that Premier Steve Bracks' Labor government would deliver a half way decent deal for workers, they would, by now be sadly disappointed.
With the current round of enterprise bargaining recently concluded for public servants, some unionists have been heard to say that "at least under [Liberal Premier Jeff] Kennett you could expect to get a kicking, and prepare accordingly".
The deal stitched up between officials of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and the Bracks government will result in pay outcomes that will stay marginally ahead of inflation and a handful of minor improvements in conditions.
Under the deal, Victoria's 25,000 public servants will get a 3% pay rise from this month and a further 3% rise in October. The in-principle agreement, announced by the government and the CPSU on April 2, is that public servants will get a 13.5% pay rise over the next 43 months.
The wage component of the deal, however, is dependent on there being no significant interest rate rises over the next 43 months. If there are, they will blow away any tiny gain that has been won in the face of extreme resistance by the Bracks government.
Victorian teachers are facing a similar battle as the public servants, with the Bracks government giving no indication of even half way meeting union demands.
The government also wants to increase nurse/patient ratios before it will concede any pay rise for nurses.
This miserly approach by a Labor government to its employees is taking place at the same time that millions of dollars are being poured into Commonwealth Games preparations (for example, $26 million on a footbridge that will be used for 10 days) and $1 billion will be spent over five years to maintain Kennett's privatised transport system. That is corporate welfare at the expense of putting more beds in hospitals, more teachers in schools and the provision of decent services for taxpayers.
The Victorian government is in the strongest fiscal position it has been for many years, mostly due to the huge boom in real estate prices and the associated tax windfall.
Very little of that unexpected revenue has found its way into providing increased services for either employed or unemployed workers. On the contrary, the Bracks government has been waging a sustained drive to cut services to the disabled, state housing tenants, aged pensioners and patients in rural areas.
Happily for big business, tax breaks and investment incentives have been a growth industry under the current state government.
Inner-city property developers in particular have done very well from the public purse, with little or no transparency where public funds have been handed over.
The historic Flinders Street train station is a case in point. When Kennett privatised the public transport system, the station was thrown in as a sweetener with grand promises of renovations and more public facilities. Five years later, the new owners have let the building run down and Bracks has promised to throw even more money at them to "assist" them in maintaining Kennett's original promises.
None of this should come as much of a surprise however. What we need to remind ourselves of is that Bracks in opposition five years ago was little different from federal ALP leader Mark Latham, in opposition now. Rhetorical flourishes about the need for "an inclusive society", "new opportunities" and the chance to rid ourselves of a right-wing government seemed to be sufficient reason to believe that Bracks then, as Latham today, might just be different.
However, Bracks, like Latham, is all about managing capitalism, satisfying "the markets" and ensuring corporate investment and development proceed unhindered.
Any consideration of economic stability over growth, or funding services ahead of credit rating considerations, will not be part of any ALP government, despite the promises so earnestly given in opposition.
[Bryan Sketchley is a member of Workers Liberty, an affiliate of the Socialist Alliance.]
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, April 7, 2004.
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