Wood firm on workers’ rights

By Kath Gannaway
WANDIN actor, businessman and restaurateur, John Wood, appealed for a fair go for Australian workers before what was very likely his biggest audience.
As one of a number of speakers who addressed an estimated 100,000 people who rallied in Melbourne on Wednesday to voice opposition to the Federal Government’s workplace laws, Mr Wood told the crowd the laws were unequal, uneven and unjust.
His call that “they must go” brought a standing ovation.
Mr Wood said he was at the rally as a member of Actors Equity and was keen to set the record straight on his motives.
“I’ve been working as an actor for 38 years and I think I’ve been on strike for half a day. If I had been working on Wednesday, I wouldn’t have been able to be there. It’s only because I’m unemployed that I was able to go.
“It’s not about encouraging people to strike, to break laws or go against the Government. It’s about what’s right,” he said.
The same high profile which gives John Wood currency with the man and woman in the street also puts him in a position of power when it comes to negotiating – a position, he says, those same men and women don’t have.
“The reason I was there is because I do have a high profile and while I am in a position where I can negotiate with employers, most individuals are not,” he said.
“Ninety-eight per cent of people are not in my position where they can negotiate with their employer; the employer will always have the upper hand,” he added.
He said his concern went further than what people get in their pay packets.
“What these laws do is remove 120 years of hard-fought-for rights – penalty rates, overtime rates, holiday pay and sick leave. I’m not in favour of that at all.”
McEwen MP, Fran Bailey, who has supported the Australian Workplace Agreements, said the message she is getting from small business, however, is that the AWA’s are working.
She cited Diana Williams, from Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs, as a typical example.
“They reported 99 per cent of their staff are female and happy with the AWAs,” she said.