
Issue No 110		07 September 2001

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Letters to the Editor

Tom Seeks Family Leave

The recent parental leave policy adopted by Penrith Council goes a long way in the acceptance of the employers' responsibility to provide for its employees and their welfare. Unfortunately this particular parental leave exposes a blatant discriminatory policy that Penrith council should immediately address.

While paid maternity leave granted and paid for by the ratepayers, some who must be male and Fathers, is of nine week duration. Yet the paternity leave granted is a miserable three days, even if they are primary care givers.

While as a resident, I feel proud and elated to see Penrith as the vanguard in this sensitive area, even if my non-existent unemployment payments mean I might need to defer my rates, I would like to see council could extend these family friendly provisions to our industrious employees and permit these new parents to bring their new born into the workplace. This will give workmates, colleagues and friends and associates the opportunity to participate in this deserved largesse. It will also create a more team based workplace by the sharing caring and bonding with our extended family, the benefit to the ratepayer being a happy and contented family atmosphere.

Let's hope we can remove this sex discrimination before this happy family becomes dysfunctional.

Who knows, we may one day soon , extend this benefit of this family participation to the mining industry, chimney sweeps, or even the funeral industry where sad children of industry employees could be paid pocket money to attend the funerals of these lonely capitalists?

Have we seen this before?

Tom Collins

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Issue 110 contents

Interview: Cast Adrift
Ethnic Communities Council chair Salvatore Scevola gives his take on the Tampa saga and the underlying attitudes driving the debate.

Workplace: Coming to Australia
Jagath Banderra recounts his own experience as a new arrival in Australia entering the workforce.

Human Rights: Long Road to Nowhere
Iraqi refugees travel the same tortuous road as Afghans. The refugees on the Tampa have almost certainly endured a similar ordeal.

Immigration: Experience Required
Veronica Apap looks at the many difficulties migrants face in having their skills recognised in Australia.

International: Why Economic Rationalism Isn't
The CFMEUs Phil Davey surveys the wreckage after 10 years of Brazil's Government doing what the free marketeers want.

History: Johnny's Naruan Wet Dream
Rowan Cahill looks at how Australia's preferred refugee dumping ground's history is indelibly linked with our own.

Unions: Getting the Message Out
Caroline Alcorso argues the integration of immigrant workers into the trade union movement has been a central issue in Australia’s post-war labor history.

Work/Time/Life: Driven To The Edge
In the ACTU’S groundbreaking Fifty Families report there is one particularly sobering story. Frank tells how the modern workplace is driving some people to the fatal edge.

Review: Whose Party?
NSW Labor’s century of successes began in 1910, as did the “middle classing” of Labor policy.

Satire: Ethnic Wog Gangs Rape Everyone
People who are white in colour are being raped by people who are not white, an exclusive Chaser investigation found last week.

» Unions Rescue Afghan Worker

» Revealed: Migrants Face Hidden Unions Barriers

» FOI Seeks Royal Commission Papers

» Long Hours Corrode Family Life Says Study

» Medibank Workers 'Feel Bitter Now'

» Chronic Stress in Child Care

» It's a Steal! Workers Underpaid Since 1991

» WorkCover: Bell Rings for Round Two

» Transfield Fire Sale Threatens Entitlements

» Foot-And-Mouth Heroes Face The Boot

» Superannuation Warning to Labor

» Bully Casino Locks Out Workers

» Bra Wars: US Giant Quit Burma

» Sydney's Salsa for Saharawis

» Labor Council Revamps Online

» Get Ready to Wobble

» Activists' Notebook