ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said:
"Employment Minister Kevin Andrews is wrong to say that Health and Safety regulation is wholly a matter for State and Territory governments.
“The Howard Government's new WorkChoices IR laws ban workplace agreements from mandating that Health and Safety training can be provided by a trade union.
“Section 8.5 of the WorkChoices IR regulations lists various matters that are banned or deemed 'prohibited content' in a Collective Agreement or individual contract (AWA), stating:
A term of a Workplace Agreement is prohibited content to the extent that it deals with the following:
(c) Employees bound by the agreement receiving leave to attend training (however described) provided by a trade union;
(d) Employees bound by the agreement receiving paid leave to attend meetings (however described) conducted by or made up of trade union members;
WorkChoices Regulations: Division 7.1, Subdivision B, Section 8.5
“And Section 365 of the WorkChoices law provides that a person who seeks to include prohibited content in a Workplace Agreement can be subject to Government fines and penalties of up to $6,000 for individuals and $33,000 for unions.
“Thousands of Australian workers in almost every industry receive Health and Safety training by unions every year.
“It is a fact that in the last two years alone, NSW unions have trained 20,000 workers in Occupational Health and Safety with access to the training specifically provided under the trade union training leave clauses that are in Awards and Agreements.
“It is essential that Australian workers continue to have access to Health and Safety and other training that unions provide.
“I call on the Prime Minister to intervene and repeal the ban in the new WorkChoices legislation on union training in Workplace Agreements on union training in Workplace Agreements," Combet said.
