Issue No 10 | 23 April 1999 | |
NewsNo Training on Coat-Hanger Sparks Job Fears
There is not a single apprentice being employed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, sparking fears of imminent skills shortages, the Labor Council was told last night.
CFMEU organiser David Glass, a member of the ACTU Organising Works program, said the union had been appalled to learn that there was not one apprentice among the Birdge's 60 painters. Glass warned the Council the failure to train young workers was undermining the industry and contributing to social problems like alcohol and drug abuse. The CFMEU is trying to gain acceptance for an industry-wide standard of one apprentice for every four tradsepeople, but Glass says many sub-contractors are way below that level at present. Apprentice numbers throughout the building industry had fallen about 40 per cent in the last five years, he said. Labor Council secretary Michael Costa said it was upsetting that the Department of Transport was not meeting its responsibility to apprentices. "It's hard enough to get the private sector supporting training, but when the public sector is also neglecting it we know are facing a serious resistance to training. He said he would follow the issue up with the Minister for Transport and the Premier.
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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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