   |
||
| Issue No 103 |  |
20 July 2001 |
|
|
|
Letters to the EditorProblems with Hunter Decision
Congratulations to the workers at Hunter Valley No 1 who won reinstatement & back pay (Workers Online #102). I wish to raise, however, a very disturbing aspect of the AIRC's findings. In the case, the AIRC found against the company on a number of grounds (& thus ordered re-instatement & compensation), but upheld the company's actions in two other important respects. (a) The AIRC found that "the criteria chosen by management are not new or uncommon and just because there is no agreement with employees or their representatives does not make the system unfair". Therefore, the employer can apply redundancy criteria to which its employees have not agreed. Think about it. (b) One of the above criteria was "acceptance of change with enthusiasm". This is highly alarming. "Change" is one of the contemporary terms by which employers refer to attacks on our working conditions. Not only are employees supposed to accept this on pain of dismissal in redundancy situations, but we have to accept it with enthusiasm. So, according to the AIRC, the employer now has the right to impose values & attitudes of its choosing on its employees. If the AIRC's decisions are allowed to flow through to the rest of the workforce, we will find that the employer will be dictating not just our actions, but our thoughts as well. A contract of employment used to be about the sale of our labour. According to the AIRC, it now includes the sale of our souls. We cannot let this stand. In Solidarity, Greg Platt
|
   Interview: Political Witch HuntCFMEU national secretary John Sutton on the mooted Royal Commission and what is really needed to clean up the building industry E-Change: 1.3 The Nation State in CrisisIn the latest instalment in their study on the new politics, Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel looks at the rise and fall of the institutional State. Unions: Industrial ViolenceRowan Cahill agrees with Tony Abbott that thuggery and violence are part of Australian industrial relations landscape - but it's the bosses who do most of the bashing. History: Total RecoilNeal Towart looks at how Royal Commissions designed to kick unions have typically come back to haunt their architects. International: Behind the Eight Ball Jubilee Australia's Thea Ormond looks at the international activity being generated around this week's Group of Eight Summit in Genoa Politics: Now We The PeopleA new group believes there is an alternative to corporate gobalism and economic rationalism Satire: Marsden Now to Sue HimselfSydney solicitor John Marsden is suing himself for defamation, claiming the recent libel case he brought did irreparable damage to his reputation. Review: In The HouseResident Four-Eyes Mark Morey attempts the impossible with this attempt at a serious analysis of Big Brother.
Notice Board View entire latest issue
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
![[ Home ]](/images/nv_home.gif){kind=small} ![[ Notice Board ]](/images/nv_board.gif){kind=small} ![[ Search ]](/images/nv_search.gif){kind=small} ![[ Previous Issues ]](/images/nv_previous.gif){kind=small} ![[ Latest Issue ]](/images/nv_latest.gif){kind=small} |
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/103/letters1_one.htmlLast Modified: 15 Nov 2005 [ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ] LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW |
|
![[Workers Online]](/images/logo_small.gif){kind=logo}
![[Social Change Online]](/images/sco_logo.gif){kind=logo}