Rights of women — time for progress!
The last eight years of ultra-conservative Howard Government have been marked by a concerted effort to roll back the hard-won rights of women in Australia. Stripping workers of their rights has been one of the driving aims of the Howard Government and many of these have had a serious impact on working women. Trade Unions have played an important role in the movement for equality of women in the workplace. Through regressive Industrial Relations legislation Howard has severely curtailed the ability of unions to fight for better benefits and conditions for working women. Despite recent gains by nurses and teachers, many women still do not receive "equal pay for work of equal value". The childcare, aged care and textile and garment industries are among the dozens of female-dominated industries which still pay a fraction of the wages paid to similarly skilled workers in comparable male- dominated occupations. Awards, which once guaranteed workers' rights, have been stripped back to bare minimum, doing away with clauses and conditions benefiting women and parents that the Government deemed "superfluous". The vast majority of casual jobs in Australia are filled by women. Without a permanent job and guaranteed work hours it is difficult for women to maintain financial independence. Women in casual work have no access to maternity or family leave. Casual work leaves women more vulnerable to instant dismissal — or "we no longer have enough work to employ you". This tactic is all too frequently used against women who become pregnant or who require leave to care for sick children. Even women in permanent jobs are now vulnerable as government legislation removes what limited protection there was against unfair dismissal in small workplaces. The Government's one-off "Maternity Payment" and ongoing Family Payments do not offset the enormous child-rearing costs faced by families — especially single parent families headed by women in the overwhelming majority of cases. Long hospital waiting lists and lack of access to bulk billing force parents to pay skyrocketing fees for private healthcare for their children A scarcity of childcare places (175,000 children are currently on waiting lists) and the enormous fees (increasing 30 per cent in the last two years) have forced many women out of the workforce. John Howard and his Ministers pursue an extreme right-wing religious agenda to strip reproductive rights off women. Legislation has been passed to ban single women and lesbians from access to IVF fertility treatment. The Federal Government — and some state governments — have also begun a surreptitious campaign to undermine women's right to terminate pregnancies. Legal obstacles to abortion and government funding restrictions deny women the right to make decisions. Overseas aid has been denied to programs which provide birth control or abortions to women in developing countries. The Communist Party of Australia, in line with its policy of full equality of women in the workplace and throughout society, demands: * A legislated minimum of 14 weeks paid Maternity Leave in line with International Labour Organisation standards. * The right of all people to permanent jobs, transferring all casual workers, amongst them hundreds of thousands of women, into secure employment. * Continued progress in the struggle for "equal pay for work of equal value", with a concerted government campaign on all fronts to bridge the current $100 weekly wage gap. * Scrapping of Australian Workplace Agreements, with all workers covered by comprehensive Awards to secure conditions for working women, including: freedom from harassment and discrimination; protection of women travelling to and from the workplace; adequate training of women in the workplace to achieve equity in pay increases and promotion; maternity leave and family leave provisions. * Strong Unfair Dismissal laws to protect pregnant women and working mothers. * The right of single parents to a pension providing an adequate standard of living, scrapping the current "mutual obligation" conditions, and maintaining adequate PBS prescription, travel and other concessions. * Government-funded childcare places for all children to allow women to fully participate in the workforce. * Full access to fertility choices, including contraception, IVF treatment and abortions.