“Take me to jail or fine me,” National Tertiary Education Union Representative Margaret Lee said when stating the commitment she has for action against the recently implemented Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Act.
In a media conference today, Mrs Lee acted as a voice for the NTEU and members of a select number of other union groups, including the Construction, Forestry and Mining Union.
These unions, working as part of the ACTU plan to take the federal government head on, starting with planned acts of civil disobedience as of the end of June this year.
According to Mrs Lee, the unions are well prepared for any penalties they may be faced with.
“Your rights are worth fighting for” says Mrs Lee as a motivator for the general public.
Personal belief of Mrs Lee is that government is primarily concerned with shifting the balance of power in the economy, rather than anything overtly politically motivated.
It has been said by a number of major critics of these amendments, including Mrs Lee, that they are more about profit than productivity.
This criticism is in stark contrast to Prime Minister John Howard’s claim that what the federal government expects from WorkChoices is a vast increase in workplace productivity and economic growth.
At no point did Mrs Lee show any support for or any agreement with a single part of the drastic workplace reform.
The success or failure of the campaign against these reforms will be a display whether or not the unions still retain any sway with both the Australian working class and with the federal government.
Ms Lee sees things in a positive light.
“The union movement isn’t as a weak as the Howard government likes to portray.” She said as the conference began to wrap up, doing her best to leave those attending with a feeling that the unions may just win.
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