Reasonable working hours

For nearly three years, one of the main activities of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has been to conduct a campaign for “reasonable working hours”. It commenced with a survey completed in October 1999, which linked the sharp increase in working hours over the past two decades with stress-related illnesses and workplace accidents.
Apart from occasional media releases, the “campaign” consisted entirely of running a test case in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), seeking the insertion of a “reasonable hours” clause in federal awards. Few workers were involved in any way. No mass meetings or industrial action were ever called. The ACTU’s purpose was to bury the issue in the industrial court and head off any independent opposition and action by working people.
When the AIRC handed down its ruling at the end of last month, the result was predictable. It will do nothing to assist the millions of workers forced to work increasingly longer hour...