Australian unions flex powers at Labor conference

SYDNEY, July 31 - Australia's unions won stronger safeguards for workers hurt by the global downturn, and condemned unpopular building industry laws, in a show of strength at the ruling Labor Party's national conference on Friday.

As about 700 unionists staged a noisy protest march outside, delegates won government concessions to better protect worker entitlements, such as holiday and pension savings, for people who lose their jobs in the economic crisis.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made the fight against rising unemployment his top priority as he seeks a second term in office at elections due in late 2010. Longer jobs queues will erode his dominance in opinion polls..

"There is no doubt that Australian unions have demonstrated their capacity to stand up and influence the government on behalf of workers, with jobs at the core," Sharan Burrow, the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, told reporters.

Labor's policy-making conference, the first while it is in power in 15 years, has seen a strong show of unity between the government and the party's traditional union base.

Powerful manufacturing unions on Thursday averted a row when they shelved calls for preferential treatment for Australian firms in government contracts, similar to the "Buy American" rules in the United States.

Trade union influence over the Labor Party has waned in recent years, with union membership halving since 1990 and with fewer than one in five workers belonging to a union.

ELECTION TIMINGS

Rudd remains dominant in opinion polls and is due to face elections in late 2010. But he could have the trigger for a snap election in early 2010 if the divided opposition, continues to block or reject his plans for carbon trading.

Rudd has warned that joblessness will continue to rise as the Australian economy recovers from the global recession, with official forecasts of unemployment peaking at 8.5 percent from the six-year high of 5.8 percent in June, although economists now think those forecasts are pessimistic.

Australian Financial Review political editor Laura Tingle said the timing of the election will depend on which time works best for Rudd to push his message of strong economic management and long-term reform.

"Will voters still be grateful and impressed by late next year that the government's economic management has saved them from a deeper recession than that faced in the rest of the world, or will they just be feeling grumpy that interest rates and unemployment are going up?" Tingle wrote.

Age newspaper political editor Michelle Grattan said the dull, stage-managed debates and lack of theatrics at the national Labor conference means it will have little influence on public opinion.

"After the first of three days, it seems a fair bet that this conference is destined to be remembered for almost nothing," Grattan wrote.