
Issue No 106		10 August 2001

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News

Labour for Hire Not Entitlements

By Liz Phillips

Queensland unions, legal firms and university experts will come together to develop strategies to deal with labour hire companies in Queensland.

Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Grace Grace said it is important to know the industrial and legal context that labour hire employees work in to develop strategies.

NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson will also report on the Labour Hire Task Force Inquiry in New South Wales.

"We are utilising every source available to ensure greater job security and working conditions for labour hire workers," Ms Grace said.

"There are about 400 different labour hire companies operating in Queensland and only a small proportion are paying the correct wages and conditions," she said.

"We have received information from various unions across industries that labour hire companies are used to undercut wages and conditions in existing workplaces," Ms Grace said.

"This is totally unacceptable. The end result for Queensland workers is that some labour hire companies are bringing everybody's wages and standard of living down," she said.

Originally formed to fill positions for companies in an emergency situation, labour hire companies have moved into filling all positions in a company.

"This one day workshop will ensure Queensland unions have the best strategy to tackle one of the fastest growing employment sectors in Queensland," Ms Grace said.

"It will also help identify if a push for a change in the legislation is needed to adjust to the changes in Queensland workplace structures," she said.

"The issue has become that large that for the first time this year the ATO's Tax File Number Declaration form has included labour hire as a type of employment category," Ms Grace said.

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  Issue 106 contents

Interview: In Exile
Burmese's government in exile's Minister for Justice U Thein Oo talks about a struggle for democracy that has become a test of international solidarity.

Politics: A National Disgrace
Labor's IR spokesman Arch Bevis gives his take on the workers entitlements issue and its mismanagement by the Howard Government.

E-Change: 2.2 The Information Organisation
Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel look at how network technologies will change the way organizations operate in the Information Age.

Media: The Fine Print
Mark Hebblewhite looks at how the major dailies handled the Tri-Star dispute and finds that the story really does depend on the telling.

Human Rights: A People Besieged
Labor MLC Janelle Saffin, an active supporter of the pro-Democracy movement in Burma, sets out the issues behind the ILO sanctions.

International: Postcard From Brazil
The CFMEU�s Phil Davey reports on a rural movement that puts our National Farmers Federation to shame.

History: Indonesia Calling
They needed no resolutions. Soldiers and workers who did not know one another moved together, the black ban started to reach out across the harbour from the noisy, smoke-filled room.

Solidarity: On the Frontline
Australian trade unionists are providing practical help for the Burmese through projects funded by APHEDA-Union Aid Abroad.

Satire: Skase 'Too Ill' to Fly Home for Burial
Spanish authorities have deemed Christopher Skase too ill to return to Australia for his own funeral.

Review: Living Silence
In these extracts from her new book, Christina Fink goes inside Burma to find a world where military repression is slowly crushing a people.

» Revealed: ABC Censors Industrial Reporting

» WorkCover Revisited � Public Sector Laws Rammed Through

» Bras First in Burma Boycotts

» Tri Star Only the Start of Entitlements Push

» New Spying Tactics Hit Work Cars

» Howard�s Secret Anti-Worker Plans

» Direct Action to Increase Nurses' Worth

» High Court: Courier Was Employee

» Victory for Academic Freedom

» Put A Stop To Acoustic Shock

» Builders' Bucks: Payroll Tax Evasion Rife

» Tassie Workers Brew Up a Storm

» HIH Collapse Hits Arts Industry

» Labour for Hire Not Entitlements

» Rail Inquiry Into Treatment of Homeless

» ACTU Awards To Reward Union Excellence

» Activist Notebook