Australian workers rally against labour laws

CANBERRA, June 28 (Reuters) Tens of thousands of workers attended mass rallies across Australia today to protest against new labour laws, which are shaping up as the key political battleground for next year's national elections.

Shouting anti-government slogans and carrying banners calling for the new laws to be scrapped, more than 100,000 workers took to the streets and blocked traffic in the main cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with smaller rallies in other centres.

The government passed the new laws late last year, saying they would improve productivity and weaken union influence in the workplace by encouraging workers to sign individual work contracts and abandon union-based award conditions.

But the union movement and opposition Labor Party say the new laws cut wages and work conditions, make it easier for employers to sack workers, and decrease job security.

The new laws have re-energised Australia's union movement, lifting the union-based Labor party in the polls after a decade in power by Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government.

''This is a battle for ordinary Australian life. This is a battle for Australian families,'' Labor leader Kim Beazley told the biggest rally of more than 80,000 workers in the southern city of Melbourne.

The government said the turnout would have disappointed the unions, as millions of Australians went to work as normal.

''The majority of the 10 million workers in Australia will go to work today and will get on with their jobs because they know there are more jobs and higher wages as a result of the reforms over the last decade,'' said Workplace Minister Kevin Andrews.

Beazley has promised to scrap the new laws if his party wins power at the next elections, due in the second half of 2007.

Labor has been ahead of the government in the polls for four of the past six months, although Howard reclaimed a narrow 51 to 49 point lead in mid-June after announcing widespread tax cuts.

But a Newspoll in mid-June found Beazley's Labor more popular on social issues, and ahead 48 per cent to 29 per cent on the question of who could best handle workplace laws.

A poll in the Age newspaper on Wednesday said some of Australia's biggest companies have so far shunned the new laws, preferring to promote company-wide employment agreements.

REUTERS KD BST1124