To the Honourable Speaker of the House and Members of the House assembled in Parliament: The petition of certain citizens of Australia draws the attention of the House to the fact that:

WE BELIEVE that Australians should have basic rights at work, including decent minimum wages and awards conditions, protection from unfair dismissal and the right to reject AWA individual contracts and negotiate collectively with their employer.

WE OPPOSE the Howard Government’s plans to:

• Remove employment conditions from awards.
• Change the way minimum wages are set to make them lower.
• Use individual contracts to undercut existing rights and conditions.
• Keep unions out of workplaces and reduce workers’ negotiating and bargaining rights.
• Abolish redundancy pay and protection from unfair dismissals for the 3 million people who work in small businesses.
• Reduce the powers of the independent Industrial Relations Commission to settle disputes and set fair minimum standards at work.
• Take away rights at work by using federal taws to unilaterally override and weaken State industrial relations systems, awards and agreements.

And we, your petitioners, ask the House to ensure that the Government upholds Australians’ rights at work and does not implement these plans that we oppose.