The industrial strife in the ACT has reached a stage of high farce. Unionists have imposed bans which severely affect government revenue. The Industrial Relations Commission bizarrely says that the ACT Government must negotiate while the bans are still on. It implies that the commission ultimately can order not only the amount of pay rise but how it is paid, that is, out of the Budget. So we have the ludicrous situation that an industrial relations commissioner determines elements of the Budget of the ACT, not the elected Parliament and Government.
The unionists who have imposed the bans and their leaders are just laughing. Bizarrely, they are still being paid while refusing to collect bus fares, mow lawns and do other work which is essential to their employment. In these circumstances, why would they move a millimetre until all their demands are met?
This is cuckoo-land. Imagine if the employees of a department store in town said, “”Yes; we are willing to come into work and serve customers, but we won’t collect money for goods.” And then the industrial relations commission told the store it had to negotiate under those circumstances.
The commission’s ruling is illogical and impractical. It should order the unions to lift all bans. Only then can negotiation take place.
If the commission does not do that the Government has the right (indeed, the duty) to say: “”No ban-free work; no pay.”