A group of powerful Victorian left-wing unions has threatened to lodge an international complaint against the federal government for failing to comply with recognised workplace standards.
The Weekend Australian newspaper says the unions have gained legal advice for a complaint to the International Labour Organisation, alleging the government's new workplace legislation falls short on freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.
The paper says the proposal to shame Labor in the ILO, a special agency of the UN dedicated to improving labour standards, could prove highly embarrassing to the government's international reputation.
The protesting unions say Labor's Fair Work bill, introduced into parliament by Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard last month, does not go far enough in demolishing former prime minister John Howard's pro-employer Work Choices laws.
The proposed complaint has won support from Victoria's Trades Hall and left-wing unions in manufacturing, construction and education.
The Weekend Australian says legal advice obtained from a Melbourne barrister finds Labor's Fair Work bill is deficient in at least four areas that attracted ILO criticism during the Howard years.
According to the advice, Labor has contravened ILO standards by banning pattern bargaining, putting restrictions on the content of workplace agreements, limiting access of union officials to worksites and placing impediments in the way of a right to strike.
