The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union has described the federal government move to change the industrial relations laws on workers’ leave entitlements as a “clear example of the importance of workers belonging to a union”

The Federal Government’s backdown follows public outrage at the treatment of a young New South Wales coal miner, Lorissa Stevens, who was being forced to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement that included a $200 fine and the loss of a day’s pay if she took a day’s sick leave without first giving 12-hours notice.

Stevens took the case to the CFMEU, which brought it to national attention. The union is also fighting Stevens’ case in the Federal Court.

CFMEU national president Tony Maher said that if the case had not been brought to national attention, the Howard Government would not have been forced into the backdown.

Last Friday, Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews said that in the six months since the legislation was introduced, Australia had experienced record job growth, wage increases and low levels of industrial disputes.

“It's an appropriate time to make some finetuning of the workplace relations system and these new regulations ... clarify some of the aspects of the way in which the workplace system operates," Andrews said.

He said the finetuning is not a concession of failure: “WorkChoices is working – more jobs are being created, wages are continuing to go up, industrial disputes are at the lowest level in history.”

Under the amendments, the regulations will extend the transitional period during which employers cannot be prosecuted for failure to comply with the record-keeping obligations.

The current transitional period expires on September 26, 2006. The proposed regulations would extend this timeframe to March 26, 2007.

Andrews said the regulations would take steps to ensure employees cannot be penalised when they are absent from work due to illness, or for failing to meet notice or evidence requirements.

Maher said the announcement was “far short of doing anything substantial about redressing the enormous injustices being inflicted on thousands of Australian workers through WorkChoices.

“It does nothing to change the unfair and predatory nature of AWAs and it does nothing to protect employees’ rights at work or to restore any sense of balance in the workplace.

“It is tinkering at the sharp edges of these desperately unfair IR laws in an effort to blunt the growing public concern over the injustices thousands are experiencing under WorkChoices,” he said.