Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 12.45 pm, I call on matters of public interest.

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a matter of public interest—that is, the report of the International Trade Union Congress on violations of trade union rights. Trade unionists around the world face huge challenges. Here, in Australia, they face the challenge of well-organised and well-resourced business groups doing their best to defeat collective bargaining and representative rights. They face unfounded accusations from ignorant and self-serving business leaders and those opposite who say that unions are to blame for the recent decline in Australia's productivity growth. The argument is: just get rid of those nasty unions and everything will be okay.

Sean Edwards (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear, hear!

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear 'Hear, hear' from the opposite group. It is just unbelievable that you would even say that in jest, that you would argue to get rid of the Australian trade union movement—but it does not surprise me from those who support Work Choices. Around the world, trade unionists face the relentless drumbeat of calls from business interests, their cheer squad—

Senator Edwards interjecting—

as you happen to be, and the Tory press for stripping away workplace rights—like the fundamental right of an unfairly sacked worker to challenge their dismissal. I cannot understand why you would say that, if you were unfairly sacked, that should be a right and proper thing to do anywhere in the world.

As I have said before in this place, there are challenges that the Australian labour movement will meet head-on, but they are nowhere near as challenging as the threats, violence and murder that are visited on trade unionists in countries less fortunate than ours. I raised this issue as a matter of public interest in this place in 2009 and again in 2010. Each year, the International Trade Union Confederation releases a report on the violations of trade union rights worldwide. I am pleased to note that a distinguished Australian trade unionist, the former ACTU President and a friend of mine, Sharan Burrow, is currently the General Secretary of the ITUC and is carrying on the fight she waged against the injustices of Work Choices on the global stage.

In its recent report, the ITUC catalogues the violations that occurred during 2011. As the 2010 report noted:

The crisis in employment, set off by the global economic crisis, continues in every region and those who make policy have largely failed to make the changes needed to create and sustain employment. Governments have simply swallowed free market corporate rhetoric at the expense not only of working families but also of the stability and future of their own national economies. Big banks, big finance and big business have been allowed to dominate government policy while unemployment, poverty and insecurity continue to grow.

You have only got to look at Australia—at the behaviour of the Queensland coalition government, the New South Wales coalition government, the Victorian coalition government and the Western Australian coalition government—to understand what challenges Australian workers would face if we were ever to be in the unfortunate position of having a coalition government led by the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott.

The very inequality which was a driving force in tipping the world into economic crisis is still growing and the violation of basic international labour standards is itself the primary cause of this inequality. These global forces continue unabated. Trade unions in many countries face repression by governments and employers. The introduction of the 2011 ITUC report notes:

The world economic crisis continued to impact unfairly on workers, as many governments persisted in favouring austerity measures over stimulating growth and employment. Unemployment rose to record levels in 2011, with over 205 million people out of work.

In Europe, trade unions felt the impact of the Eurozone crisis, with Portugal, Hungary and Romania all facing further restricting workers' rights as part of their austerity measures.

The most dramatic changes were in Greece however where unemployment rose to 21%, wages and living standards fell sharply and collective bargaining rights were severely curtailed.

There were 76 people killed in 2011 because of their involvement in legitimate trade union activities and many more were subjected to death threats. There were 56 trade unionists murdered in Latin America, including 29 in Columbia and 10 in Guatemala. The ITUC report also documents thousands of arbitrary arrests and dismissals of trade unionists around the world. Many more cases go unreported. This is due to the climate of anti-union fear and intimidation which many workers have to face in their union activities. Sadly, Latin America once again holds the shameful distinction of being a killing field for trade unionists. Killings were also recorded in Bangladesh, the Philippines, South Africa and Indonesia. A one-year-old child died in Zimbabwe after spending a night on the roadside, in the rain, because her family was among farm workers summarily evicted for daring to organise. In Fiji the military junta launched an aggressive campaign to dismantle the trade union movement and Felix Anthony, the leader of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, was arrested, threatened, insulted and beaten. The ILO Commission of Inquiry on Zimbabwe has confirmed that the Zimbabwean government was responsible for systemic violations of trade union rights. In Djibouti, the ILO expressed its deep concern at the government's complete lack of will to settle several cases of trade union rights violations.

Complete bans on trade unionism remain in place in several countries including Laos, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Some of the world's most wealthy economies also figure in the report including the USA where attacks on organising and collective rights bargaining, already identified in 2009 and previous years, actually intensified in 2010 and 2011. Much of this is by state governments under the influence of the Tea Party. Canada's Conservative Party government has weakened freedom of association and collective-bargaining rights, while in New Zealand amendments to the Employment Relations Act reduced worker rights.

When I spoke previously about the violence committed against trade unions in Colombia, I said that Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to be an active trade unionist. Sadly, this is still the case. The murder of trade unionists in Colombia continues unchecked. The murderers continue to enjoy immunity from prosecution despite expressions of concern by government officials. The Vice-President of the republic, speaking on behalf of the government, has recognised the scale of the violence—something previous governments have never done. While some efforts have been made to investigate these crimes in Colombia, in the majority of cases the state clearly lacks the capacity to protect trade union rights.

Over 2,800 union members have been murdered in Colombia since 1986. Aside from those murdered, hundreds of trade unionists received death threats, many were forcibly displaced, dozens were arbitrarily detained, a few 'disappeared' and many more were harassed. Over the past 24 years, a Colombian trade unionist has been murdered every three days. Colombia accounts for more than half of all the trade unionists murdered worldwide: 294 out of a total of 580 since 2006. Despite the establishment in 2007 of special courts and investigative units focussed on cases of violence against trade unionists, they have done little to quell the violence or bring the perpetrators to justice. In cases of murder, only four per cent of perpetrators have been brought to justice. The rest have committed their crimes with impunity. For other forms of violence against trade unionists, 99.8 per cent of perpetrators have been able to commit their crimes with impunity.

I must say I have grave concerns that my government is talking about making a free trade agreement with Colombia. I have been a long-time critic of free trade agreements. I think they are over-egged in terms of the benefits that workers are supposed to achieve from them, and the problems that they create are diminished in the political discourse. But I have to say I would find it absolutely amazing if any government would sign off on a free trade agreement with Colombia while it remains the most dangerous place for trade union activity in the world.

The second most dangerous country to be a trade unionist in is Guatemala. In 2011, 10 trade unionists were murdered in addition to the 10 murdered in 2010, 16 trade unionists were assassinated in 2009 and nine in 2008. Other forms of violence have escalated: 76 violent, non-deadly acts were committed against unionists in 2009—a near five-fold increase from the 16 committed in 2008. The Guatemalan government claims that unionists are killed as a result of the general upsurge of violence sweeping the country and not for their work protecting labour rights. The facts indicate very strongly otherwise.

According to a 2010 report from the Guatemalan Labor, Indigenous and Campesino Movement, 75 per cent of union leaders were threatened prior to their assassinations and 98 per cent were assassinated within a few weeks of advocating for worker rights. Nevertheless, the murderers continue to enjoy blanket impunity. Companies, the courts and the Guatemalan government continue to deny the connection. In nearly a quarter of the recorded cases of murder, there is evidence of ties between the suspected perpetrators and the Guatemalan security forces or municipal government bodies. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, far from fostering labour rights, is the obedient servant of the national and transnational employers. When there are decisions by the labour court in favour of workers, they are not applied. The Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Journalists and Trade Unionists has repeatedly refused to investigate crimes against trade unionists, determining without investigation that the individual or family was attacked and/or assassinated for non-union activity.

Violence has increased significantly since the implementation of the Central America Free Trade Agreement in 2006. No trade unionists were murdered in 2006. Four were murdered in 2007, nine in 2008 and 16 in 2009. In April 2008, the AFL-CIO and six Guatemalan unions filed a CAFTA complaint with the US Office of Trade, citing labour law violations and violations against trade unionists.

After three years of informal and formal consultations that yielded little progress on workers' rights, the US government in August 2011 announced that it would take Guatemala to arbitration. So far the complaint is unresolved and the killings continue.

I want to pay my respects to the courageous trade union members around the world who stand up for their members, stand up for democracy and stand up for the rights of trade unionism. We must remedy these attacks against trade unionists, and I say again that providing free trade agreements to countries like Guatemala or Colombia is not in the national interest. I call on Minister Emerson to ensure that we never do a free trade agreement with Colombia while it is a killing field for trade unionists.