Issue No 10 | 23 April 1999 | |
NewsY2K Crashes Bank Holidays
Wetspac are restricting holidays this Christmas amidst fears the Millennium Bug will wreak havoc within the bank's network.
The Finance Sector Union has learned that most Westpac business units have issued edicts restricting holidays over the months of December 1999 and January 2000. This means some staff will be expected to work for up to 18 months without a break. "We all need holidays to refresh us so that we can return to work reinvigorated," state secretary Geoff Derrick says. "We recognise Y2K is a problem, but the bank has had a lot of time to deal with this issue and restricting staff holidays seems to us to be an admission of failure." This is not the first time FSU has had problems with Westpac restricting annual leave -- last year they attempted to pay people out for accrued leave after mismanaged the leave allocations. "If this were a one-off Westpac could probably expect a bit more understanding, but the fact is the restricting of leave has become a pattern of behaviour," Derrick says "They're trying to solve a technology issue by merely cutting workers entitlements, rather than working co-operatively to get the problem fixed. The FSU is seeking talks with Westpac and is also developing an industry strartegy to deal with leave issues across the sector. While Westpac is the only institution known to be restricting leave, the FSU is keen to hear from any other workers in the sector facing similar problems.
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Interview: Latham: Leading With The Chin Labor's heretical voice talks about trade unions and how they'll survive in the land of the Third Way. Unions: Nursing the Numbers Active members are the key to recruitment for one of the state's strongest unions, the NSW Nurses Association. We talk to some of the star recruiters. History: A Sense of Community Historian Greg Patmore looks at labour-community coalitions in the Lithgow Valley between 1900 and 1932. International: Labor Council Official to Dili Front Line Labor Council�s Chris Christodoulou will be one of the first foreign unionists to head to East Timor in the leadup to independence. Review: When Billy Met Lindsay What happens when a British political popster meets with an Australian political thinker? Legal: CyberPorn in the Workplace A new protocol in the NSW public service is setting the benchmark for acceptable use of the internet.
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