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Bob Brown Burrow sells out jobs and conditions Media Release | Spokesperson Bob Brown

Friday 29th May 2009, 1:37pm

in Employment & Workers’ Rights Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC) Industrial Relations

Reform Parental Leave Unions Work Choices

The Australian Greens say the ACTU is selling out workers by not arguing more strongly for industrial relations

changes and by settling for a meagre jobs tally under the Government's failed Carbon Pollution Reduction

Scheme.

Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said he was disappointed ACTU President Sharan Burrow was not pushing the

Federal Government more strongly to create jobs and to protect workers entitlements.

"During the passage of recent industrial relation laws, the ACTU played backstop to the Government and failed to

argue strongly for improvement to workers conditions such as paid parental leave of 26 weeks, industry-wide

bargaining, and freedom to negotiate on any matters in collective agreements."

The ACTU released a report this week indicating breaches of ILO standards in the Rudd government's Fair Work

laws, yet earlier this year Ms Burrow told a Senate inquiry, ‘There is no question that the issues we raised and had

judged by the ILO have been, in fact, addressed in this bill'.

"The ACTU has also sidelined itself instead of arguing in favour of the Greens' legislation to abolish the punitive

Australian Building Construction Commission."

"Under

Sharan Burrow's steerage, the ACTU has charted a course too close to the Labor Government, and is

letting down workers by not taking a more independent line."

"A prime example is the ACTU's inaction on climate change."

"Sharan Burrow is happy to accept the meagre tally of 23,000 jobs promised under Mr Rudd's failed CPRS - when

in fact her own Green Gold Rush report showed we could create 800,000 jobs if we stop bowing to polluters and

move to ambitious emissions reduction targets, renewable energy feed-in tariffs, comprehensive energy efficiency

plans and start training workers for the new economy."

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