by Tara de Boehmler
Mohammad Akram with Andrew Ferguson |
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union this week won the $17,000 back pay for the migrant building worker whose boss had avoided paying his entitlements.
In the 11 months Afghanistan painter Mohammad Akram (Hazara) worked for his employer, Storm Painting and Decorating, he had not once been paid on time.
He was paid a daily rate - irrespective of how many hours he worked - which was presented to him by cheque at irregular intervals. Eventually the payments lapsed so far behind he had to borrow some $5,000 from friends just so he could afford to feed his young family and pay the rent.
When Mohammad finally approached the CFMEU to find out what his legal entitlements were, the union discovered his employer had never paid him annual leave, loading, rostered days off, sick leave, overtime or any other entitlements. The union approached Mohammad's employer and less than one week later he was presented with a $2,000 cheque. Next week he will be paid the remainder of the $17,000 he is owed.
"Every worker in Australia that is not a union member should join a union now and not just wait until something goes wrong", Mohammad said. "I now realise that unions are here to defend the little person".
CFMEU State Secretary Andrew Ferguson said there was nothing unusual about
Mohammad's case and said it was a "disgrace that so many migrant workers are subjected to this kind treatment when trying to do an honest day's work in Australia".
Labor Council secretary John Robertson says the case highlighted the need for the federal government to provide new arrivals with information on the workplace rights - including their right to join a union.
by Veronica Apap
A survey of community leaders commissioned by the Labor Council has found education - and the fear of being punished - as key impediments to joining unions.
"For some people who come from overseas, in their countries, unions do not exist, so they don't exist here for them either," said Mohammed Issa a spokesman for the Australian Arabic Communities Council.
The report shows that in countries that do have unions the role is very different. Joining a union can often mean declaring a political affiliation, which can be risky business.
"The problem is we often don't go out and ask ethnic communities what they are thinking," said Caroline Pinto the research co-ordinator. As a result, many migrant workers are unsure of the function of the unions, how they can benefit or how to get active.
"Workers were often active in their home countries but don't know how to communicate here," said Jagath Bandara, an organiser at the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union.
Language is the other main barrier to union membership. "When I worked on a building site, the unions would bring people to the site to speak to us. But the person that came only spoke English," Issa said. This caused a problem as some of the workers only spoke Arabic.
Unions will use these findings to reach out to migrant workers. "We plan to get more active in community functions and events. We have already taken some steps and will continue," said Bandara. He says many people from Non-English speaking backgrounds are already joining. "About 50% of our delegates are migrant workers," he said. "Workers often feel neglected because they can't communicate with their bosses."
The LHMW Union will also get in touch with ethnic radio stations to get their message to communities. "If I could give anyone any piece of advice it would be, don't take anything for granted," said Pinto. She believes that the unions have to get out there and talk to migrant workers to help them.
Migrant Workers Forum
Workers from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds and their union representatives will engage in a forum to improve the working life of migrant workers.
The forum will be held in Fairfield - one of the most ethnically diverse suburbs in Australia.
Key issues to be addressed include:
- formal recognition of foreign skills
- employer under-utilization of migrant worker expertise
- perceived barriers to union access for new arrivals
- specific strategies to organize workers from different backgrounds.
Speakers:
- Caroline Alcorso - Sydney University
- Jagath Bandara - LHMU organizer
- Debbie Carstens - Asian Women at Work
Labor Council secretary John Robertson will launch a new pamhple4t promoting the benefits of unionism in seven community languages - Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Hindi, Korean, Italian and Vietnamese.
Mr Robertson said that migrant workers were an important section of the union movement, who are confronted with particular challenges and issues.
"The transition to work is an important part of entering a new culture. Unions are committed to helping migrant workers make that transiation as smoothly as possible."
WHERE: Fairfield School of Arts, 19 Harris Street, Fairfield
WHEN: Monday, September 10 10.00am- Noon
Speaking at the opening of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's new NSW offices in Sydney, ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said he believed the documents on the Cole Royal Commission would show the inquiry had been established for political reasons.
"The motivation and the timing for this inquiry is all politics," said Mr Combet. "You can bet that the Government will seek to use the Royal Commission to throw as much mud at the CFMEU and other unions as possible before the election. John Howard's got a simple re-election strategy - throw money around, attack the unions, and play the race card. The Royal Commission fits neatly into that pack."
The FOI request covers documents and communications relating to the establishment of the Royal Commission between Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister, the Office of the Employment Advocate and all Government departments.
"If there is nothing to hide the Government should hand over these documents," said Mr Combet. "The establishment of a Royal Commission is no small matter. It will cost a lot of money - as much as $80 million - and it should not be set up for political purposes."
Mr Combet said that if the Royal Commission was genuinely examining problems in the building and construction industry, its terms of reference would specifically include the estimated $1 billion a year in tax evasion.
"Tony Abbott recently wrote to CFMEU NSW Secretary Andrew Ferguson and said that 'there is no evidence that tax evasion is more prevalent in this industry than others'. This reveals Abbott to be both ignorant and na�ve," said Mr Combet.
The National Crime Authority has reported that there is systematic tax fraud in the building industry. The NCA Swordfish Task Force found that:
The businesses involved were reducing their operating costs by evading tax, avoiding superannuation payments, avoiding contributing to workers' compensation premiums and other typical operating expenses required by Commonwealth and State laws. (Extract, Page 29, NCA Commentary 2001)
"The amount ripped off each year in the building industry was $1 billion in 1999, and has grown since then. Tony Abbott should be aware of this. That's what he should be telling this Royal Commission to investigate - a $1 billion tax fraud," said Mr Combet.
The Fifty Families study - conducted by researchers at the Universities of Adelaide and Sydney - reveals that long hours are an entrenched and widespread experience at least in the 12 industry sectors researched.
The ACTU believes the report provides a strong argument for reining in unreasonable hours cultures and practices that injure healthy individuals, families and communities.
Many interviewees in the study feel that little real choice is attached to their hours. Some have tried to take control by changing jobs, going part-time, taking demotions or changing employers - and sometimes these strategies work. However, many feel that they have little power to control or reduce their long hours - hours that are increasingly entrenched in a culture of long working days across a range of Australian workplaces. These hours have created, de facto, a kind of new hours standard for many workers. They raise the 'hours bar' for all in some occupational groups or workplaces or industries that have been permeated by a new long hours culture.
A picture emerges from this study of long hours that feed off several factors. They arise from pursuit of money, understaffing, worker's commitment or love for the job, and fear of reprisal or loss of employment. They are embedded in the culture of some workplaces or occupations. Whatever their source, these hours then encroach upon the individual's life, health, family and community in ways that are corrosive.
Zombies at work are a health hazard
There were several accounts of life threatening events that occurred when fatigued workers were at work. These included doctors, paramedics and mining truck drivers falling asleep at the wheel, other vehicle accidents, horse riding falls, electricians that took dangerous 'shortcuts', a paramedic being pierced by a patient's needle, near misses on building sites. The partner of an engineer suggested that serious disasters like train accidents could be traced to the culture of long hours: 'the powers that be are not doing maintenance on the track, they're not giving their workers breaks, they're working them 7 days a week'. Doctors had concerns for patient safety and one pointed to prolonged operations because of declining productivity.
The 'over-time junkie' is an unhealthy person
Health concerns arising from long/unreasonable hours included physical effects like high blood pressure, long-term fatigue, constant tiredness, and poor sleeping patterns. Several interviewees listed depression as an outcome of their hours, along with moodiness, 'being grumpy' and being short tempered. A wide range of workers identified vulnerability to illness as an effect of long hours: doctors, postal workers, paramedics, teachers and flight attendants all felt that their immunity was compromised by tiredness.
Sex on the run
Almost all couples felt that long hours negatively affected their intimate relationships. Tiredness emerged as the enemy of intimacy, so that couples struggled for time and energy to talk, and to spend enjoyable time together. Many described their partners as grumpy and they approached them carefully, choosing their time to talk. 'Grumpiness', irritability, short tempers, and simple unavailability all contributed to a dearth of intimacy in many 'long hours' relationships. In some cases they simply spoiled relationships and had resulted in rocky marriages, and to marriage breakdowns. For some, the choice was between the marriage and their pattern of hours. Not surprisingly, the presence of tiredness, lack of time, occasional moodiness and the existence of some tension around hours in many households affected sexual intimacy. Some grabbed their chances when they came, with 'sex on the run' as one partner described her situation.
You are 'family' or you are 'worker': Mummy and Daddy tracks
This study affirms the widespread presence of the 'mummy track' for many women in this study who put their caring responsibilities squarely alongside their paid work. This track is a second-class career track, in that women drop back into lower status, lower paid jobs with poorer career prospects in order to secure conditions that accommodate their motherhood. Interestingly the study also found evidence of a 'daddy track' for men who refused to work long hours in workplaces that were frequently imbued with a long hours culture. Men who refused extra hours, tried to restrict their working week, asked to work part-time or refused promotion because of its implicit long hours, found themselves viewed with suspicion in their workplaces - or simply disbelieved.
Long hours: embedding systemic disadvantage for women
While there are examples of men in this study who take up the greater role at home, much more commonly women do so. As their domestic burden grows in support of their long hours partners, so does their labour market situation weaken. A growth in hours standards in some workplaces means that those with more responsibility for care - traditionally mothers and daughters - are increasingly unable to meet the standard of the 'long hours' workplace. Many drop back to part-time work, change jobs, or leave the labour market, as this study documents.
The effect on extended families
The time famine in long hours households had significant effects on the fabric of the extended family. Some workers felt that they did not see grandparents or grandchildren enough, and that they frequently missed family events. Further, many felt that their contact was built around asking for help - for childcare or other support. Some felt guilty that their hours, or those of their partner, precluded offering help to their extended families.
The effect on communities
Alongside the impact of diminished activity within the family, the extended family, sporting clubs and voluntary work, many families affected by unreasonable hours described a closing in of their social circle. Those with families found that much of their non-work time was spent together, or trying to be together. When asked about their friendships, several long hours workers said 'what friends?' and described how work commitments affected these. Others worked hard to maintain their community of friendships which they saw as invaluable to the maintenance of their life style: being able to easily call on neighbours when called to work, for example, relied on a good community of neighbours and friends.
Productivity and unreasonable hours
Unreasonable hours not only erode the social fabric of families and the communities in which they live, but many workers mentioned their impact upon productivity. Most long hours workers want to get their jobs done efficiently. There were however, many examples of negative impacts of long hours on productivity. Public service workers pointed to the impact of serious errors that arose when long hours were worked. Miners and paramedics recounted expensive - indeed, life threatening - events that occurred at the end of long shifts. Paramedics were concerned about the quality of their judgment in demanding emergency situations after they had worked for 14 hours through the night. Teachers explained the added difficulty of finding creative solutions to behavioural and teaching problems when very tired, and pointed out that recovering from a bad teaching choice was very time consuming - and frequently necessary - for tired teachers.
New technology and unreasonable hours
We have long lived with technologies that take work into the home and extend the working day beyond its formal and physical boundaries. However, for those working unreasonable hours, the expectation was that they were 'available' well beyond their already long hours. This was especially the case for highly skilled workers but it was not confined to them. A number mentioned the impact of mobile phones and email upon their patterns and hours of work.
What would help?
Many workers had comments to make about what would help them to work more reasonable hours. High on this list was the right - genuinely - to refuse hours that were unreasonable. Also high on the list was the issue of staffing. Improved staffing, some said, was the only way to see a reduction in unpaid leave especially in jobs - like health, teaching, postal work, public service - where 'it is the unpaid hours that get the job done', as at present. It is also important to challenge the stigma and secondary conditions and possibilities that attach to part-time work, to job sharing and to other workplace time strategies that allow workers to reduce their hours without 'trashing their conditions' as one put it.
The new rosters - which also include a six day rostered week - have led workers to accuse Medibank of turning back the clock 100 years in their treatment of workers.
While the company is attempting to trade-off the extended rosters with a $1000 sweetener, the majority of workers are standing firm in defence of their family lives.
Worker Carol Jordan addressed the NSW Labor Council this week, painting a grim picture of her life under the new rostering system.
Under the changes, all staff would be rostered between 7am and 9pm, with compulsory Saturday shifts 12 times per year.
Major problems include the lack of ability of child care before 7am and after 6pm, problems with getting children to school and the total dislocation of domestic routine by having the shifts varied on a week to week basis. The lack of secure public transport outside the 9-5 spread of hours
The staff - who have never taken industrial action before - have begun wearing lapel ribbons to work, emailing their opposition to the managing director and have carried a resolution to consider a possible industrial campaign.
Labor Council secretary John Robertson says Medibank Private was emerging as another 'stone-age employer'.
"Unions are often accused of wanting to turn back the clock - but more and more it is the employers who are acting in a retro way turning back the clock to a six day week and trashing the notion of ordinary working hours," he said.
MEU General Secretary Brian Harris has warned that the deteriorating situation could lead to industrial action by child care workers. "They are desperate to draw the public's attention to an increasingly unmanageable situation."
The survey findings were officially released this week by MEU General Secretary Brian Harris at the Earlwood Childrens Centre.
"Between 1996 and 2000 the Howard Government stripped $850 million from the child care budget. Those lost funds have directly resulted in child care centre closures, overworked staff and under-resourced centres", Mr. Harris said.
The survey of workers employed in local government child care centres found that over 86% of workers said they had too much work to handle in standard working hours, and nearly 60% regularly worked unpaid overtime. "Caring for children under five is demanding and we all know their needs are immediate. Many tasks just have to be picked up at the end of the normal working day", Mr Harris said.
The survey also found that child care workers suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of their increased workload. 59% of workers believe that reduced funding restricted the ability to offer a creative environment for children and 68% believe that decreased funding regularly impacted negatively on the ability to operate a service. "This is a disgraceful legacy of the Howard Government's commitment to child care and families in general", Mr. Harris said.
The TAFE workers, members of the Public Service Association and the Australian Workers Union, have been nunderpaid since a 1991 wage variation was incorrectly applied.
PSA general secretary Maurie O'Sullivan says the Department of Employment and Training is now hiding behind the Statute of Limitations Act to avoid paying money owed between 1991 and 1995.
O'Sullivan says the Department's attitude is nothing short of a disgrace. "For the Department to hide behind a legal loophole and thereby not pay due salary is tantamount to stealing," O'Sullivan says.
"For the government to use such a law, it may be acting in a legal manner but it is certainly not acting in a moral or decent manner.
"Stealing money from employees makes the Government no better than Alan Bond or Christopher Skase or Stan Howard."
The Labor Council will approach Education minister John Aquilina on the workers' behalf.
The union representatives on Justice Sheahan's steering committee will be briefed on the recommendations on Monday, with a meeting of all affiliates Wednesday.
The key issue in the report include the threshold for accessing common law and suing negligent employers. The government has argued for 25 per cent whole of body, the Labor Council submission is 10 per cent.
Other issues include the treatment of workers with psychological stress and provision of payment for non-economic loss and pain and suffering.
The Sheahan Inquiry was called as part of an agreed process to handle the bitter dispute between union and governments over the Della Bosca reform package. The unions have made it clear that will not be bound by the outcomes of the inquiry's report.
The Della Bosca planned called for a 25 per cent whole of body threshold, which would have excluded all but the most horrendously injured workers from common law actions.
The AMWU is concerned that the company proposing to buy Transfield's Processing Technologies Division is a shelf company.
Unions are concerned that the lack of assets would meant that in the event of financial problems, the bank would claim everything and there would be nothing left to pay the employees their accrued entitlements.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, is the major union representing workers at Transfield's Seven Hills site.
State Secretary, Paul Bastian, said that the union would take a very tough position on protecting workers' entitlements.
"The Union estimates that TPT owes its workers more than $3 million in accrued entitlements, including superannuation" said Mr Bastian
"Transfield has been trying to offload this division of the company for more than a year and this is the second time the potential buyer has been a company with no assets."
The Industrial Relations Commission has made orders in relation to the AMWU's demand for the establishment of Manusafe at Transfield. However, Mr Bastian said that this would not deter the Union from action to protect the workers' entitlements.
"We will continue to use every means possible to protect our members' entitlements" said Mr Bastian
"Examples such as HIH and OneTel mean that no worker can take any employer on trust anymore. They have been burned too many times." said Mr Bastian
"Like every other worker, employees at Transfield should be able to count on 100% of their entitlements."
"The proposed Transfield purchase is a disaster waiting to happen and the AMWU will simply not stand by and watch out members get ripped off" said Mr Bastian.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CSPU) says the Botany Bay workers are angry at their shabby treatment and are considering strike action which may affect the movement of containers.
The Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) workers at the centre of the dispute are part of a nation-wide workforce put in place earlier this year to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Their main task is inspecting and decontaminating foreign containers.
CPSU spokesperson, Matthew Reynolds, said, "These people diligently perform vital work in extremely trying and hazardous conditions. Since February, they have put up with substandard accommodation, lack of toilets, lack of water and inadequate protective clothing. Despite repeated requests for action, AQIS have failed to address these problems. Now they are facing the sack," said Mr Reynolds.
On Monday AQIS announced it was terminating the employment of all Botany based staff and engaging a labor hire company to perform the work.
"Some of these workers moved interstate or gave up other jobs to take up this work. Management led them to believe they were in-line for permanent positions with AQIS, should they come up. They have done their bit to keep us free from the devastating effects of foot-and-mouth, surely they deserve better treatment."
"The failure of AQIS to seriously address the concerns of these workers is potentially jeopardising Australia's billion dollar livestock industry. We call on management to reconsider their decision. They should support these workers, not discard them, " Mr Reynolds added.
Labor Council secretary John Robertson has sounded the cautionary note as Thompson outlined his superannuation agenda to the Council this week.
Robertson says superannuation is one area that a Beazley Government could distinguish itself from both the Keating and Howard Administrations.
"I think Labor really needs to look at the compulsory employee contribution requirements and whether this is how workers want their money being used," Robertson says.
He also says the security of superannuation must be an emerging issue to be addressed at a national level in light of the ongoing problems with workers entitlements.
Up for Review
Addressing the Council, Thompson told delegates an incoming Labor Government would institute a review of superannuation.
Issues for consideration would include adequacy of the nine per cent contribution, the complexity of the current system, prudential regulation and the access of superannuation to casual and part-time workers.
Thompson says superannuation policy has been drifting under the Howard Government, whose only agenda has been to attack industry super funds.
There are lots of rumours and gossip around the big name gamblers expected at the Casino this weekend for the grand opening - with the highlight name - Australia's own Kerry Packer.
Jupiters Casino have said they will lock out gaming staff from Saturday night onwards, because LHMU Casino Union members want to wear badges telling the wealthy new gamblers about the poor pay earned by the people who serve them at the tables.
" If Jupiters Casino don't want to be embarrassed in front of these rich new punters they can solve it easily; sit down, talk and show us some respect," LHMU Casino Union Queensland Assistant Secretary, Irene Monro said today.
" Casino workers are outraged that the company has posted a $77 million profit, however the majority of table games employees have received no wage increase.
" The best show of respect would be if the Casino talked with union members about a better pay structure and a worthwhile enterprise agreement - and stopped putting forward plans to slash away at basic working conditions," Irene Monro said.
Third lock-out this year
This is the third time this year that Jupiters Casino has locked out its 500 gaming staff, who have been persistent in their campaign for their first ever enterprise agreement.
The LHMU Casino Union members have been involved in this campaign for six years.
" Jupiters is one of the most profitable Casinos in Australia and with the new high rollers room they expect to reap even more profits but they are not prepared to talk to our members," Irene Monro said today.
" Instead they have designed a management strategy to smash the will of the workers to stand together to demand their rights, to demand respect.
" The Jupiter Casino gaming staff are among the lowest paid casino workers in Australia. "
The US multinational gaming and resort giant, Park Place Entertainment Corporation, runs and operates 21 casinos around the world including Jupiters.
by Alison Peters
Sara Lee, who own the brand Hanes and are a top seller of underwear in the United States, took the action after the Free Burma Coalition (FBC) publicised on their web site that Hanes products had been found in shops bearing the "Made in Myanmar" tag.
In a letter to FBC Sara Lee Vice President and Chief Counsel Melvin L. Ortner wrote " We want the Free Burma Coalition to know that production in Burma violates both our Global Operating Principles and our Supplier Selection Guidelines...two of our licensees did use Burma facilities in direct violation of their contract with us...We have taken immediate steps with both licensees to confirm that neither will make our product in Burma again".
Labor Council Secretary John Robertson has welcomed the move by Sara Lee and has called on other organizations, including Triumph International, to follow their lead and stop trade with Burma until such time as the military regime in that country ceases its practice of using forced labour.
"Australian Unions will continue working with community, church and student groups to highlight those companies who continue to operate in Burma in contravention of the ILO decision" he said. "Decisions like this one made by Sara Lee give ordinary people a choice of buying products from companies who do the right thing and those that put profits above human rights".
This is a critical time for supporters of democracy in Burma with a team of high level experts due to visit Burma to gather evidence for the ILO on what has occurred since the decision taken last year. The delegation is headed up by Sir Ninian Stephens from Australia and will report their findings on the use of forced labour to the ILO later this year.
by Stephanie Brennan
On the dance floor human rights lawyers and trade union leaders mixed dance steps with students as well as activists of all kinds including those from East Timorese and Burmese solidarity groups and humanitarian NGO's. Beneath the shadow of Sydney's Harbour Bridge the Harbourside Brasserie resounded with chanting as the crowd shouted 'Viva Polisario! Free Western Sahara! ' when Jagath Bandera of the Western Sahara Alliance took the microphone in between sets.
Earlier in the night the vibrant dance troupe Metro Flamenco wowed the crowd with their elegant flamenco steps and earned encores and wild applause. Tomas Dietz, of Metro Flamenco, said later "It was a great feeling in the room, it was fantastic, people were so responsive." The dramatic red, white and black costumes of the flamenco artists were shown to great effect as they danced on stage with a huge Western Sahara banner behind them - FREE WESTERN SAHARA painted in red letters over the red, white, green and black of the Polisario flag.
Kamal Fadel, the Polisario's Representative in Australia spoke to the crowd after the accoustic duo Soiree opened the evening's entertainment. He told them of the current situation in Western Sahara and how it has deteriorated with the UN's consideration of James Baker's recommendation to abandon the referendum. He asked them to do all they could to pressure the Australian government and the international community to support the referendum on self-determination that's been promised for 10 years. He was greeted with warm enthusiasm by the crowd who then packed the dance floor as BaBalu continued playing late into the night.
Organisers of the event were ecstatic and declared the event a huge success. "It exceeded even our expectations, and is a testament to the strength of feeling Australians have for the Saharawi people's tragic situation once they find out about it," said Natalie Joughin of the Western Sahara Alliance. Paul Reid of the Australian Western Sahara Assocation agreed. "AWSA is very happy with tonight", he said. "We need to build on this to continue our campaign here in Australia even more vigorously as we try to ensure the international community don't allow the UN Security Council to vote down the referendum in November."
Money raised by the Western Sahara Alliance and donated to AWSA will be used to bring a Saharawi woman out from the Refugee Camps on a speaking tour to educate Australians about her people's plight.
Labor Council Online located at http://council.labor.net.au will present all of the NSW Labor Council's work online for the information of affiliates and the general public.
The site features all of Council's circulars online, all Labor Council documents online, the Information Centre catalogue, Labour Review, Meetings, Events and much more.
Private areas (indicated by a yellow "lock") will only be assessable to affiliates who have been issues with usernames and passwords.
Delivering their pure guitar driven pop rock, successful Sydney band STELLA ONE ELEVEN will headline the night. Local singer songwriter and actor PETER FENTON will perform brand new material joined by DAVID LANE who will offer his keyboard prowess. Of course a new music initiative wouldn't be complete without some developing talent, Wobbly Radio is proud to introduce the pop hook laden locals LAZY SUSAN and Brisbane based duo GORGEOUS who recently released their debut self titled album.
Of Wobbly Radio, Cindy Ryan lead singer and guitarist from Stella One Eleven said,
"This is a great initiative particularly for emerging acts. With the exception of Triple J and community stations the quota of new Australian music on radio is very small in comparison to the swag of international hits that get aired. We are happy to support this event because the Wobbly Radio site is there to help the local music scene flourish and that's a real positive."
Wobbly Radio's emphasis is to introduce young acts and also display established acts to a wider audience. The site allows new or existing artists to upload their own MP3's, which are then added to the Wobbly play-list. The site also displays a photo and biography on each act to offer a complete package.
Labor Council secretary John Robertson said,
"This is a way the trade union movement can promote Australian culture and also give support to the music industry. We'd also like to think that Wobbly will create goodwill amongst younger people who might look at what we have to offer them when they are at work."
Each week the latest Australian releases will be streamed to global online listeners, with feature albums, a featured MP3 of the week and special themed programs. MP3's and music programs distributed through wobblyradio.com are not downloadable, so there's no way the artist's music can be captured or pirated.
So if you're an Australian Music fan or an emerging band looking for some free online exposure be sure you check out the new all Australian music site wobblyradio.com Musicians can send their CD and hard copies of biographies and photographs to: Wobbly Radio, NSW Labor Council, Level 10, 377-383 Sussex St Sydney NSW 2000. Or simply follow the links on the site or email MP3s and info to [email protected]
The Wobbly Radio launch celebrates Australian Music so we invite you to come down and enjoy a great night out with some of our finest talent. Wobbly Radio launches on Saturday September 22 - Newtown RSL with STELLA ONE ELEVEN, PETER FENTON and two new emerging acts LAZY SUSAN and GORGEOUS to kick off the night.
Tickets are at the bargain price of $10.00 and are available at the door on the night, doors open at 8.00pm. Please note Newtown RSL requires all patrons to provide photo ID on entry to the club.
"Politics in the Pub
Friday week, September 14, the topic is "Public Culture Under Threat: What should the next government deliver to the Arts? The speakers are Glenda Linscott, actor and Fiona Winning, Artistic Director of the Performance Space.
Politics in the Pub meets every Friday at the Gaelic Club, 64 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. The website is http://www.politicsinthepub.com
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REFUGEES ARE WELCOME RALLY & MARCH
12:00pm Sunday 09 September
REFUGEES ARE WELCOME! Let the Tampa asylum seekers stay! Stop the war on refugees! Close the detention centres! Mass protest against the federal government's refugee policies.
[where] Town Hall Square
[transport] Catch a train or bus to Town Hall. march to Circular Quay via John Howard's Office.
[contact] Refugee Action Collective 9660 5222
Free the Refugees Campaign 0410 629 088
[email] [email protected]
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2nd Whitlam Institute Forum
Riverside Theatre Parramatta
19 September 6 for 6.30pm
Nonviolent Political Change in the 20th Century
An Interactive Forum with Steve York, Peter Ackerman, Jack DuVall Plus preview of the acclaimed A Force More Powerful
Introduced by E.G. Whitlam
Spaces are limited RSVP essential
02-9685-9174
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APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad
Annual Study Tour to Vietnam and Thai-Burma Border
Meet the people who benefit directly from Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA's work, and be inspired !
1. Vietnam & Burma human rights combined 6th - 25th January 2002 (Approx price - $ 1,990 + air fares)
2. Vietnam 6-18th January 2002 (Approx price $1,600 + air fares)
3. Burma Human rights (Thai-Burma border, Bangkok, Chiang Mai) 19th - 25th January 2002 (Approx price $1,150 + air fares)
� Get a direct update on trade union, economic, cultural and social changes through tours hosted by APHEDA's project partners in these countries.
� Visit major tourist sites
� Share the experience with other trade unionists
Price includes all internal travel, accommodation, interpreters, customary gifts, departure taxes and some meals - great value !! Costs may vary slightly depending on numbers in groups.
Minimum of 7 persons, maximum of 12 persons per group.
The earlier you book, the cheaper the international airfares
For bookings and further information www.apheda.org.au
Or contact Lisa or Peter at APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad
Email: [email protected] Ph: (02) 9264.9343 Fax: (02) 9261.1118
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Youth Arts and Social Change
- A One Day Forum 9am to 6pm
Wednesday the 24th of October 2001
Blackfriars Campus, University of Technology Broadway, Sydney (map available on registration)
WHAT IS YOUTH ARTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE?
There is a growing body of work in Australia and internationally that investigates the relationship between cultural expression and social well being. Much of that work focuses on young people - particularly young people who may be considered at risk or marginalised. This forum
will provide an opportunity to discuss the characteristics of arts interventions in young people's lives.
For administrative enquiries please contact the above office. For enquiries about this Forum and its research program please contact mailto:[email protected]
Appreciate the satire about the Tampa.
Apart from that it's funny but I find myself for the first time in my life backing the Libs on the issue as long as they make sure the bastards don't get in.
After nearly 50 years in the ALP why is this? Am I becoming more conservative in my old age as I have been told would happen since I was a kid?
Keep up the satire but don't let it cloud your judgement.
John Bosworth
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Dear Sir or madam,
John Howards new theme song.
WALZING NAZIlLDA.WALZING NAZILDA
Voters, we'll go a WALZING NAZILDA WITH ME.
AND HE SANG AS HE WATCHED AND WAITED TILL THE TAMPA WENT
YOU'LL COME A WALZING NAZILDA WITH ME.
NOT IF YOU READ WORKERS ONLINE
IAN FERGUSON
I've watched my adult child suffer the consequences of not only the horrendous bullying by a Queensland Health middle manager, but then made to suffer through the equally horrendous grievance processes set up by that Department. Oddly enough, those processes were controlled by the same middle manager who began the bullying! Consequently, justice and equity have been conspicuously absent. Makes me think that the bullies are blessed by those at the top!
I'm sure there any number of parents like me, who are watching in horror as members of their family are seriously mistreated in the workplace.
There are bullies-afoot in the Queensland Public Service, and it seems the victims have reached a point of enough's enough. A major strength for public service management bullies, is that the workers are isolated from each other. A point of contact has been arranged for any workers who wish to communicate with others regarding bullying in the workplace, including involuntary psychiatric referral ... PO Box 1367, Stafford City 4053.
V E Griffith
Hi, I have found in my family tree there was a John McNeill who was a Labour MP for Pyrmont in the early 1900s.
Do you have any info on him? I would greatly appreciate any info.
Thanks,
Janette Sadler mailto:[email protected]
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
As an organiser a long way from colleagues and support machanisms, I love and depend upon my weekly fix of Workers Online.
But I have a whinge - Workers Online, like so any other publications has fallen into the trap of assuming that a spell checker is a substitute for proof reading.
In this week's Review article, "Let there be Rock" we find the usual errors, "where not gonna take it anymore", "Borders are a construct of people and economic in order..." etc, which the reader can figure out, albeit sometimes after having to pause to sort out the statement so it makes sense.
But then we come to the last paragraph and the question "Will we let ourselves be forced to wear the puffy shits to gain acceptance and have to pretend to enjoy Pseudo Echo?" which slipped past the spell checker without a murmur of complaint. Maybe what is written is what is intended, but I for one would prefer the option of wearing a "poofy suit" rather that what is on offer here.
Cheers,
Peter Szacsvay
UNE Cmpus Organiser
CPSU
Eds Reply - having referred your complaint to the piece's author I can confirm that puffy shit should have been puffy shirt - refer Seinfeld episode #63 - The Puffy Shirt. Any suggestion that Pseudo Echo wore poofy suits is only a product of your own sick mind.
To Whom it may concern {all Australian workers }
Five months ago I was injured at work. Suffering ligament damage to my left knee and a Herniated disk { c-6, c-7 }
It took five weeks to get surgary on my left knee because my employer not only sacked me it that time but they delayed workcover paperwork as long as possible.
It took daily calls to workcover before something happened. Mind you the employer should of had the paperwork filled out in seven days. As for my neck injury, I am still waiting to see a neurollogist that will answer my questions.
Workcover sent me to one but he would't answer my question because he was only thier to answer workcovers questions. So I have to wait two more months until I can get into see one that will answer my questions.
And I pay for that one, not Workcover because that way I know he has to answer my questions.I dont know the extent of my injuries or how long i will have constant pain, numbness , pins and needles in my left neck shoulder and arm.No one can tell me anything.Yet workcover dont care about that they just want to know what work i can do so they can send me to a host employer.So don't fooled by !
their web site. they don't care about anything except thier bottum line.
After all they're just an insurance company. my advice to everyone, Join a union.I didn't and I'm suffering big time because of it.
D Middleton, Queensland
Salvatore Scevola |
What is your organisation's reaction to the handling of the Tampa crisis?
We are absolutely appalled that the Government has taken the course of action that it has. It is in breach of United Nations conventions. I think that all migrant groups, as well as the broader community prescribe to a sense of decency and a fair go, and I think these people haven't been given a fair go.
So these arguments about queue jumping don't wash with the people that actually stood in the queues?
There are no queues. I am afraid that that is a misnomer, that there are queues out there somewhere in the desert. That refugees are lining up. Refugees don't form queues because they are asylum seekers. They are fleeing oppression and tyranny to save their lives. Australia has an obligation to see that under humanitarian grounds asylum seekers are given asylum.
Should there be an open border policy on asylum seekers?
No. Absolutely there needs to be some control as to how many Australia can accommodate, but with the current numbers I think that the Government is creating a storm in a teacup, because really as compared to the rest of the world and the actual refugee numbers around the world, Australia's contribution is really miniscule.
A lot of this debate tends to be tapping into an anti-Arab sentiment that seems to be somewhere out there in the community. What is your take on that?
I have no doubt that certain sections of the media are running a racist agenda. I, like many Australians, just last night watching the 60 Minutes program of the girls who were raped, was absolutely appalled, but what sort of message are we sending out here? That they alone are the perpetrators of gang rapes? There would have been 10 other gang rapes on the same night, or in the same court, but not of it got air space because there was no ethnicity involved. Suddenly where there is ethnicity involved in any way, shape or form, they are doing their level best to stereotype the whole community.
What is the current make up of the population in terms of how many Arab people there are in Australia?
In NSW there would be about 350,000 that identify with Lebanese culture - according to the last census. Now, we have just conducted another census so that would be very important information that we will need to draw upon, but anywhere between half a million and 750,000 all around Australia I would say, that identify with Arab culture.
The vast majority of those are integrated into the community and play an active role I take it?
Absolutely. The great bulk of them are law abiding, tax paying citizens and absolutely abhor any suggestion that their community by culture is part of any business of crime.
So what is it that is being tapped into in the Australian community?
I think it is just the fear. It is the politics of fear that is being wedged between the community. I am pretty cynical of the Federal Government, and it is because I have watched them over the past year and a half, and how they have conducted themselves. If the Prime Minister wants to make a national announcement he will go to Channel 9 to make that announcement. Isn't it ironic how Channel 9 is just pushing this barrow continuously. I mean it is almost as if they have planned this over the last 12 months: calling asylum seekers queue jumpers and illegals and all these sorts of terms, which Channel 9 and others and the Telegraph have actually picked up on and repeated in the community. That just means that there is no moral leadership in this country, because these people are placed into a category for which they do not belong.
What would a progressive, compassionate government be doing at the moment with the whole issue?
It would be taking them onshore, assessing their rights to asylum under United Nations Conventions, and it would either be determining whether they should be out in the community with temporary protection visas, or sending them back to their country or origin if they are not deemed to be genuine asylum seekers.
In fact, neither major political party seems to be embracing that view. Does that leave your constituents wondering who is actually standing up for them?
Absolutely, it has created a real vacuum in Federal Parliament - in Federal Government. And Opposition - the alternative government - have been silent on this and therefore complacent with what the government has done.
I just think they are playing with the politics of the community and the community expresses its views on the information that it gets. If the information is incorrect - In fact I have gone as far as saying that the community has been lied to consistently, particularly with this issue of the queue. Australia has 12,000 humanitarian visas annually for humanitarian grounds. In 1999 - 2000 they filled 9,960 of those places. In other words, there was a shortfall of 2,040 places which were carried over to this financial year.
What does it tell you? It tells you that the government couldn't even get the other 2,000 from the refugee camps that they tell us are so deplorable around the world. That's an absolute lie, and the Australian people need to be woken up to this.
Do you think if we were handling Zimbabwe farmers or Eastern European refugees there would be a slightly different attitude?
This goes to the heart of those that are expressing concern that the government is engaging in racism. Because it is prepared to introduce a completely new visa category for two or three thousand Zimbabwean white farmers to come to Australia and have a direct route and it won't take 430 asylum seekers. Because why? Why the white farmers get one thing and because you come from a war-torn country you are not allowed to come in - I mean, that really smacks of racism actually.
But broadening it out for a second -there was a period where Australia had basically an assimilation policy for its immigrants and then we moved into an era of multiculturalism - probably the 70s and 80s. Where are we up to now, and how does what is happening now fit with our current philosophy on immigration?
We had a policy of integration. The assimilation went to integration, where the government saw that it was much better for the communities to maintain their culture and their religions and their languages and enmesh that into the Australian society and create what is known as Australian multi-culturalism.
Basically, it is under threat. It is definitely under threat. The reason the current government has taken this line with this particular boat issue, has much to do with the sorts of sentiments that are echoed by Hansen and her cohorts, who say that multiculturalism is not the place for Australia. So, what we are seeing is a Prime Minister that can't even say the word multi-culturalism. He certainly doesn't promote it, and whether it be State or Federal, nobody is talking it up. But you and I that live in the community and mix with so many different cultures know that there is nothing really nothing wrong, and it is probably a strength that Australia has this diversity. But our political leaders at the top aren't really leaders.
The other change in the Howard stewardship of immigration has been a shift in emphasis from family reunions to skilled migrant places. How has that impacted on the communities within Australia?
Severely because the ethos of most culturally diverse communities that come from the Middle East or Europe or South East Asia under the family reunion - it is a fact that they work and they leave their siblings with their parents and the parents play a very big role in the family unit as a whole. By reducing the number so drastically, which is what the Federal Government has done, I think they are undermining the very fabric of the nation and that is that we have to maintain a family unit, and if that means family reunion ... For instance, somebody from Lebanon can't even get a relative here for a wedding or the birth of a child, because they are not on the ETA list that gives them automatic visa entry, such as America and some of the other European countries. So, it is all that discrimination, and I am not sure what the government is trying to do. I mean, it is very hard to gauge.
The other issue I guess that does emerge if you are having a skills based scheme, is skills recognition when you get here. Have they got that in order?
No, not at all. It is ironic that you mention that because here they are saying, we will let them all in with skills - on the other hand when they do come here with their skills, they are not even recognized by the various different departments that are responsible for giving recognition to foreign qualifications. So, it is a paradox, and I think it is an immigration policy that is really in a mess. What they have shown through the Immigration Minister and the Federal Government is that they don't have very good ideas of leading this country and what they want to do is try and move away from what they fear will become welfare dependency on the Australian people, and there is just no evidence of that.
How important is the trade union movement to people from new communities in terms of feeling that they are not on their own?
The union movements have been very supportive of the ethnic communities throughout all our times and dealings with government. It is nice to know that the union movement in general has come to the aid of the various communities that have issues of common concern, and it is based around access and equity, which is basically where the unions come from. They want to see the best equity to their constituents - the workers - then they are always supported, and there is a good reciprocal relationship I believe between ethnic communities and the trade union movement.
Part of our research is showing that a large number of people that come to Australia are scared to join a union in that first two year period because of their concern that it would count against them in terms of getting permanent citizenship. Do you think there is a role for the Federal Government in maybe making it clear to people that they are free to join a union and it is not a criminal activity?
Yes. That is something that I have often heard in my travels and in my dealings with the various communities, and yes, the government has an obligation to see that if individuals wish to be part of a union, then that will not work to their detriment in any way, shape or form when determining their application for residency.
Looking at the upcoming Federal Election. There has been a tendency for many community groups to support Labor. Do you think that is going to flow through this time around?
That is very hard to guage. Labor has been inconspicuously silent on a number of key issues, and I am not sure that washes terribly well with the various communities that we engage with. I would send a very strong message to Labor that they have always been a catalyst with regard to moral leadership in this country and this particular era and this particular election is no different.
Jagath in Jakarta |
When I arrived in Australia 1990, I didn't have any clue what was happening, in terms of political activism. Not long after, I began to work in the Building Services Industry as a cleaner. As a cleaner, my fellow workers and I had many problems and no one to approach for support. As with many people from non-English speaking background in this type of situation, we would have joined a Union if someone had simply spoken with us and asked.
The time went fast and I managed to get myself a job in a hotel in Parramatta and confronted many workplace issues on my own. After a while, I began to develop an understanding of the issues and political climate of Australia. It took me at least 2 to 3 years to develop the knowledge and an understanding of the Australian political system. I had also heard about bodies such as the ACTU and the Labour Council but I had not seen any sign of unions or of union officials recruiting people in the Parramatta area.
Working in a major hotel
When I started working at Sheraton on the Park in 1994 (then Park Lane Hotel) there wasn't a single union member there even though we had a workforce of about 400 employees. I stated to think why are the unions not here? But we began to act collectively when we had problems. We would talk to each other in an open manner, but still we couldn't found solutions to our problems because at the end of any action we took, we had to confront the Human Resource directors who had the final say.
A lot of NESB workers were isolated in our workplace and we could not find the support we needed. I began to search for help. The LHMU organisers from Haymarket office visited us in 1994- 95 which I was delighted with.
Building up the relationship with the Union
We began to understand what the role of the organiser was and they also stated to be friendly with us and develop a network. My work colleagues and I started to trust the union officials and we would discuss our issues. It was an open and genuine friendship that built up between us. Various NESB workers stated to join the LHMU as we felt the Union would fight for us.
If we are looking to make our unions successful, we need to understand the workers and their work or ethnic culture. To win them over you need to be one of them and be able to understand the issues from their perspective. I am a very strong believer in this approach. It took around 4 years for me to signup to the Union simply because I couldn't understand the Australian System. Also, many workers amongst the migrant community come from different cultures and have different cultures beliefs that impact on the way they view unions. If unions are not willing to try to learn about these cultures and understand them, then we will never win these people over to the union movement.
Amongst these NESB workers there are many whom have been involved in political struggles back in their countries. These members, their enthusiasm and activism can bring better working conditions for the working class of this country and assist unions in their work with different cultural groups.
Cultural Festivals - Key to Success
When I began to work with the LHMU we took part in some cultural events and represented the Union on those occasions. In my opinion, it is these types of activities that help to build the profile and recognition of union amongst theses communities in the long run.
It is good to see the Labor Council starting to develop some resources targeting ethnic communities. They need to be congratulated but still we have a long way to go to ensure that there are results for unions, union members and ethnic communities. These activities need to become regular events that are on going rather than one off events.
Jagath is an Organiser with the Liquor Hospitality & Miscellaneous Workers Union (NSW)
by Andrew West
Iraq |
Talal Basha fled a forced marriage in Iraq, was raped at knife-point in Malaysia and, traumatised, chose an abortion in Darwin, as hospital documents show.
Hassan Abu-Tabikh has six bullets from the guns of Iraqi police lodged in his legs and stomach, and the scars to prove it.
When the rotting hulk carrying Kassim Al Saiek washed ashore in north-western Australia, he carried with him the execution certificates of his parents, brother and sister from Saddam Hussein.
They are all legal refugees, their stories confirmed and accepted by the Australian government. But they were among the 85pc of people from the Middle East whose claims to refugee status were, at first, doubted and then upheld by the Refugee Review Tribunal or the federal court.
And, they say, they are no different to the 460 people aboard the Norwegian ship, Tampa, refused entry to Australia but now shunted to safe havens in New Zealand and Nauru, the world's smallest republic of just 11,000 people.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock calls people like these "illegals'', "queue-jumpers'', "designer refugees'', pawns in a people-smuggling operation who pay thousands of dollars to middle-men in Indonesia and Malaysia.
But for these Western Sydney-based refugees - whose English is still limited, although they are taking lessons - people-smuggling was the only escape route from the dictatorship, religious zealotry and famine that now blanket Iraq and Afghanistan.
The recent surge of refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan can be traced directly to the western powers. After the Gulf War, the anti-Saddam coalition, which included Australia, encouraged the Kurdish and Shi'ite communities to rebel. But when the dictator's helicopter gunships fired on them, and his Republican guard invaded their villages, western support vanished.
The Islamic fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan is also a creation of the United States, which funded and armed its earlier incarnation, the mujahideen, to fight the previous Soviet-backed government. "You don't get in a queue to leave these places if your life is under threat,''
said the refugees' spokesman, Dhafir Al-Shammery, himself one of the first Iraqi dissidents to arrive in Australia in 1996. "You pay whatever you can and take whatever transport you can get.''
Mr Al-Shammery, 35, was one of the Shi'ite Muslim majority crushed by Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War. He saw his cousin summarily executed and fled, using a forged passport, by bus to Jordan and plane to Indonesia.
Mr Al Shammery's experience with the people-smugglers mirrors that of almost every other boat person, and probably the ordeal of the Tampa refugees.
Their initial contacts in Jordan, Iran or Pakistan, send them to travel agents in Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur. As soon as these agents see an Iraqi or Afghan passport, they know they are dealing with vulnerable, desperate and, now, nationless people.
Contrary to Philip Ruddock's claim, refugees do not wilfully target Australia as a destination. Malaysia and Indonesia are the only two countries that will accept Iraqi or Afghan passport holders without a visa, an impossible requirement if you are fleeing for your life. Once in South East Asia, the refugees' journeys stretch only as far as their finances. Mr Al Shammery's agent quoted $10,000 for a flight to Sweden, $8000 for passage to Canada, or $4000 for a boat to Australia. "They promised a big boat, with kitchens and cabins,'' he said.
Instead, he joined three Indonesians and six other Iraqis on an open skiff, eight metres long and one metre wide, which for seven days battled two- to three-metre waves. He neither slept nor ate, just sat with his knees pressed against his chest. "Smoking, drinking, scared,'' he said. "I knew I had a 100pc chance of death if I stayed [in Iraq] but only a 90pc chance of death if I fled in a little boat. So I chose the 10pc chance of life. Wouldn't you?''
When the outboard motor broke, they ripped a piece of timber from the skiff, and tore a shirt from the back of a refugee to repair it. All the men arrived with their skin, cracked, red and bleeding.
An Australian customs boat intercepted the craft and Mr Al-Shammery ended up in Villawood Detention Centre, released nine months later. Now an Australian citizen running his own business, he has become a voice for people like Mrs Basha.
Earlier this year, Mrs Basha, 23, fled a forced marriage in Iraq, to a man 44 years her senior. Along with their 20-month-old daughter, Malak, she travelled via Kuala Lumpur. One night, in a cheap hotel, her "immigration agent'' held a knife to her throat and raped her. Soon after landing in Darwin, about $4000 poorer, doctors examined her, confirmed the attack and she chose to abort the child.
Immigration detained her for three months at Woomera, where she married a young Chechen refugee, a man whose education promised a brighter future. But the federal government claims he is Russian, and so not a refugee, and he remains in detention.
Last December, just before Christmas, a Jakarta people-smuggler extracted $10,000 from Hassan Abu-Tabikh. He was not in the mood to argue, even though the "big tourist ship'' he was promised turned out to be a 12 metre fishing trawler, which he shared with 118 others, and where he plugged up the leaks with his rolled up tee-shirt.
In 1997, the 32-year-old Iraqi had suffered six bullet wounds to the legs and stomach from Iraqi intelligence officers who raided his house, executed his mother and earmarked him for death. The crime of this farmer from Gamash in southern Iraq was to be Shi'ite and, automatically, a suspect in the anti-Saddam uprising.
Kassim Al Saiek's family felt the wrath of Iraq's ruling Ba'ath Party as early as 1979. That's the date on the execution certificate, which refugee agencies have authenticated, and which record his father as being "hung by the neck until death''. By the time Mr Al Saiek, 31, fled - first to Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and then, last year, to Indonesia - his mother, brother and sister had also been executed by firing squad. The Iraqi police demanded he pay them for the bullets, in short supply because of international trade sanctions.
His tug-boat voyage from Jakarta to Darwin, shared with 40 other people, cost the comparatively small sum of $1000. The people- smuggler confiscated his passport, which he admits was false, but left him some crumpled, yellowing pieces of paper with Arabic script - the death certificates for his mother and siblings.
It was the tragic proof Philip Ruddock now demands.
Unemployment |
************************
When scanning through the employment section of the newspaper, two words commonly appear, 'experience required'. Many gripe that they can't get experience without getting a job first. It's a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break.
Many job seekers do have the experience and qualifications to do the job that is offered. Unfortunately that isn't always enough.
Ahmed Mowafaq has plenty of experience as a mechanical engineer. He gained qualifications in engineering in Iraq and worked there as an engineer for many years.
He migrated to Australia two years ago and completed a refresher course at TAFE. He is still not considered a qualified mechanical engineer and can't find employment in his field.
Despite applying for around 40 jobs, he's only had one interview. "When they see my certificate is not from Australia or the USA or England, they think it is not as good," says Mowafaq.
Mowafaq is one of many people who migrate to Australia and are not getting their overseas qualifications and skills recognised here.
For these people those two important words carry an additional meaning, 'local experience required.' They have learnt that they must read between the lines in these job advertisments.
"The biggest barrier that migrants face is that they don't have experience in Australia," says Merryn Jones, a Specialist Migration Placement Officer at the May Murray Neighborhood Centre.
In some cases, migrants qualifications are recognised however their skills are not. "This is common in the IT industry," says Jones. "Their problem is that their overseas experience isn't recognised here, when their qualifications are comparable to Australian standards."
This means that many migrants have to find unpaid work experience on their own. This is made more difficult when combined with the two year waiting period faced by migrants to get government benefits.
"Most of my clients are professionals, and their skills lose their currency within six months," says Jones. She estimates that about 80% of her clients have difficulty getting their skills or qualifications recognised despite coming into Australia based on the Skilled Workers Stream.
To make ends meet, Mowafaq has had to take work as a security guard on weekdays and as a machine operator on the weekends.
In the mean time, he is trying to complete three reports that will allow him to have his qualifications recognised. "Each one takes about a month to complete, I'm working on the third now," he says.
Completing qualifications assessments is made even more difficult in other industries. Sarath Mandalawatta works as a Quality Improvement Co-ordinator at an aged care facility. This job does not require his skills as a doctor that he gained in Sri Lanka. "I'm just doing staff education and co-ordinating referrals," he says.
"To get my registration on the Medical Council, I have to sit an exam. It costs up to $5000 to take this exam," Mandalawatta says. He does not have the money to sit that exam yet but intends to sometime in the future.
Statistics supplied by the Department of Immigrations and Multicultural Affairs show that last year 44,740 skilled migrants entered Australia. "There is no qualification recognition problem," says Nick Hind, a spokesperson for the department. He says recognition of skills only becomes a problem if people come to Australia based on family ties.
He said any changes that are to be made in the recognition of qualifications are to be decided by the individual industry not the government.
"Some heads of industries have recognised that changes need to be made," says Jones. However she does not know of any changes that are to be made in the near future. "I think they need to develop industry traineeships which are of a higher level than the current appreticeships. These positions would give migrants the necessary training and they would be paid while they get this experience," she says.
Mandalawatta also believes there are better ways to get migrants qualifications recognised. "The government should introduce a familiarisation course to gain experience in medical standards in Australia," he says. "You have to take a theory exam and a practical exam. But without practical experience in Australia, how can you take the practical exam?"
While Mandalawatta and Mowafaq both agree that they are very upset at not being able to work in the profession they are qualified for, Jones expresses her frustration. "It's frustrating because nurses and teachers are in such shortage here and yet they too have to face a long process to get recognition," she says.
There are hundreds of other stories like these. Steven Zhang from China has been in Australia for two years. He used to work as a computer engineer for one of China's biggest banks. He can't find any employment in Australia.
Abdul Quershi from Pakistan has been in Australia for six months. He was an Electrical engineer but now he is a process worker in a factory because he can't find work in his own field.
Jones says there is an influx of people coming to Australia from India and China. "These people have good and current skills but their qualifications only count for about 10% when they go for a job," she says.
Phil Davey |
************************
I remember hearing about Brazils "economic miracle" in the mid 1990�s. The "Real plan" of pegging the local currency to the US dollar, embarking on a massive program of privatisation of state owned enterprises and savagely reduced social spending seemed to be working.
For a few years the international media was in a frenzy. The Brazilian miracle that resulted from these policies -low inflation and "improved competitiveness"- was held up as a shining example for the whole developing world to follow.
Of course then the spotlight shifted suddenly and we were not allowed to hear what happened in Brazil a few years later.
Well what happened of course is that the economic rationalist, neoliberal agenda resulted in the most horrendous collapse in the economy, the standard of living, ultimately even the currency.
In fact every indicator imaginable showed, quite simply, that economic rationalism, free market fetishism, didnt work! Brazil is a case study that clearly contradicts the prevailing orthodoxy that developing countries benefit from such policies due to an expansion of local production and the creation of new jobs.
The uncontrolled liberalisation of the Brazilian economy brought the opposite result- shrinkage of the productive base, decreased investment, loss of national control of industry and loss of jobs.
Consider the following,-
Under the "Real plan" of 1994
* The current account defecit of Brazil jumped from 0.4% to 4.4% of GDP between 1994 and 1999
* Between 1994 and 1997 the value of imports increased by almost 100%, while imports increased by only 22%
* In 1998 Brazil had approximately 7 million unemployed (at least according to the official figures), compared to only 2 million at the beginning of the decade
* The net gains in efficieny in the 1990s were not passed on to workers.
Industrial production per hour paid increased 76.5% between 1991 and 1998 while the wages of industrial workers increased only 8.5%
In fact the country fell apart so quickly under the new economic regime that by 1998 there were 2.9 million child labourers in Brazil, as well as 21 million children living in absolute poverty- massive increases relative to the 1980s.
The complete picture is that Brazils economic rationalist policies since 1994 have resulted in extreme unemployment, high levels of debt, increased concentration of income, an increase in the informal economy, decreased social spending, decreased job creation, stagnating exports and massive child labour and absolute poverty for working Brazilians and their families.
Strange that the international media dosen't report on any of that...
Nauru |
**********
The Pacific island of Nauru lies 4000 kms north-east of Sydney. Originally administered by Germany, the island was surrendered to Australian forces during World War 1. It subsequently became an Australian responsibility under the League of Nations, and later the United Nations. Independence was achieved in 1968 with Australian trade union support.
The 21 square kilometre island and its 11845 inhabitants, constitute a poor nation. Once the site of the world's richest phosphate deposit, a century of greedy phosphate extraction by British interests decimated and trashed the environment. Local water is now unfit for human consumption, and fresh water is imported from Australia.
Most of the island's trade is with Australia and New Zealand. Alongside the phosphate residue, the economy relies on coconuts, and being the world's second-largest tax haven and money laundering facility.
So how did a poor speck of fertiliser, fractionally closer to Hawaii than Australia, its highest point a mere 60 metres above the Pacific, get the nod to host two-thirds of the Tampa/Christmas Island asylum seekers?
In Canberra the logic must have been abundantly clear and simple; something along the line that if Nauru can launder money, then why not asylum seekers? Horses for courses.
And maybe there was another angle. When it comes to dealing with allegedly troublesome Asians, like Afghans, Australia has an interesting link with Nauru, going back to the 'good-old-days' of Australian conservative icon and John Howard role model, Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
During the 1950s the Menzies government was paranoidly afraid of communist China. Far, far, away, on Nauru, the British Phosphate Commission employed indentured Hong Kong Chinese to work the phosphate deposit.
In Canberra, the Menzies government and its military and security advisers regarded most Chinese as potential communists, subversives, and saboteurs. As Nauru was an Australian trust territory, the 1400 Chinese workers there came under Australian security and military suspicion.
Alarm had been raised earlier, in 1948, when the Nauruan work force rioted against its British employer, protesting against poor working conditions, confinement, and lack of amenities. A State of Emergency had been declared in response; eleven workers were wounded, and four killed.
Between November 1950 and June 1953, the Australian government and the British Phosphate Commission planned to contain any possible communist menace on Nauru. The 50 strong local police force was covertly supplied with Australian weaponry, shipped to the island disguised as "merchandise". The existing armoury of thirty .303 rifles, three Bren guns, and six Owen sub-machine guns, was supplemented with twenty .303 rifles, bayonets, ammunition, and 100 specially commissioned tear gas grenades.
The Director of Police on Nauru was a former (British) Indian Army officer and tear gas expert, linked to the quelling of Palestinian rioters in the Middle East.
Additional plans were made to form a special mobile Australian military platoon capable of quelling "disturbances, and to boost Nauruan defences with artillery placements. Budget constraints sidelined these plans.
During 1953, amid persistent fears of a communist menace on the island, the Chinese workers were searched for subversive materials. However the only "strategic supplies" found were a few hand tools, screws, and scrap metal from the island's World War 2 litter.
An eventual investigation of the political loyalties of the workers established they were all supporters of the anti-communist nationalist government on Taiwan.
As a result, and despite advice of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization to the contrary, Australia's paranoia about the Nauruan workers ended.
Those with a racist bent no doubt welcomed Prime Minister John Howard's announcement last week of Nauru as the processing site for the bulk of the Tampa/Christmas Island asylum seekers. For those who also look back fondly to the Cold War days of Menzies, it possibly brought with it a warm, fuzzy, sense of deja vu.
After all, the asylum seekers are Asian, and buried in the Australian/Nauruan psyche is a 'good-old-days' precedent of confining Asians, limiting their rights and amenities, paranoidly distrusting them, and administering military style solutions to any problems posed, either real or imagined.
In the simplistic knee jerk mind of Johnny Howard, this must come close to being a wet dream.
***********
On the one hand, unionists have recognised that the protection and empowerment of immigrant workers is essential to ensuring that they are not cast into the role of a cheap and super-exploitable labour supply. This model, where culturally distinct workers (for example, US blacks and today Hispanic workers) are denied access to primary sector jobs and crowd into jobs with poor conditions and low pay not only undermines the construction of a civilised society, but directly undercuts the pay and conditions of workers in better jobs. Workers who are vulnerable and needy can always be found to fill jobs for low rewards if the existing workforce becomes too demanding. Moreover, the capacity of vulnerable workers to struggle for improved conditions is weakened by their relative insecurity.
On the other hand, the Australian trade union movement has had a history of racism and exclusion that has been an impediment to the effective organisation and incorporation of immigrant workers. It is not necessary here to revisit the history of the White Australia Policy. However, the racist history of the movement meant that considerable hostility to immigrants flourished in parts of the union movement even in the post-war period; as late as 1972, during an economic recession, one union sought to exclude immigrants members by refusing to allow 'newcomers' to join unless special approval was given by an official (Hearn, 1978:119). Despite the equivocation, any project of excluding culturally diverse people from the Australian workforce died with the long boom and today, despite Ruddock's best efforts to keep out 'undesirables', is completely incompatible with the globalising tendencies of modern capitalism.
What then has been the practice of the Australian trade union movement, in the context of its 20th century history? During the period of mass post-war migration, trade unions were in fact relatively successful at enlisting immigrant workers as members. Because migrant workers were employed primarily in semi-skilled and unskilled labouring occupations, they came under the jurisdiction of active and influential union organizations, such as in the building trades, metal industries and in packing and warehousing work. Indeed, union density rates amongst non-English speaking background immigrants have historically been consistently higher than those of Anglo-Australian workers. For example, in 1976, over 60 per cent of Yugoslav, Italian and Greek employees were union members, compared to around 50 per cent of Australian-born employees (Lever-Tracy and Quinlan, 1988:139). NESB workers have remained more likely to be union members until recent times, though the margin has fallen as manufacturing has become a less numerous industrial zone.
The issue has rather been about the nature of migrant membership in unions; or alternatively, how unions have related to their non-English speaking background members. These questions came first to be raised during the 1970s, as migrant workers began organizing in their own right (the Victorian Migrant Workers Conferences, for example, were held in 1973 and 1975). In 1978, a detailed study of immigrant workers and trade unions concluded that unions were only slowly, reluctantly and belatedly willing to grapple with the myriad of problems affecting migrant workers' lives. Comments such as the following abound in accounts of migrant workers' experiences of the time:
At the union meeting I said very little because they would not have listened to what I had to say. For them, I was a second class citizen. At first they would not let me speak. Then they would not listen when I spoke: "Shut up, bloody dago!" they would say (Italian worker, 1970, in Wilton and Bosworth, 1984:97).
Immigrant women have consistently complained about trade union neglect of them and their issues. In the 1970s and 80s, a key demand from immigrant women activists was for recognition within union organisations. One of the most important early pieces of research on migrant women's working lives (But I wouldn't want my wife to work here...) highlighted the women's alienation from 'their' union, and the union's failure to tackle the appalling working conditions confronting them in Australian factories (CURA, 1976). In 1982, the National Migrant and Refugee Women's Speakout on Employment and Health Problems in Australia denounced 'the archaic situation of the unions in Australia, particularly in relation to the lack of participation of women'. The feeling of neglect by unions is still widespread amongst immigrant women, including those interviewed for the current ACIRRT multicultural health and safety project (see below).
However, a survey of unionists in 1990 suggests that it is a passionate minority that holds such views. Overall, the survey found little difference in the NESB and ESB attitudes to their unions or to unions in general, although NESB workers were more likely than ESB workers to say they wanted more involvement in their union. Around 29 per cent of NESB women and 27 per cent of NESB men felt that their union did not treat all members equally at that time (Bertone and Griffin, 1992:81).
There has been a tendency for unions to organise less actively in multiethnic workplaces, prompting some commentators to suggest that many migrant unionists are 'apathetic conscripts' (Lever-Tracy and Quinlan, 1988:150). In 1952, for example, the Railway Workers Union agreed with employers in NSW to deduct union dues automatically from 'new Australian' pay packets. This practice was not extended to 'old Australians' for another ten years (Wilton and Bosworth, 1984:97). Some 40 years later, in 1990, the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey found that 'high NESB workplaces' were still more likely to have compulsory union membership rules than 'low NESB' ones. The relative proportions at that time were 52 per cent and 42 per cent respectively of 20+ workplaces (Callus and Knox, 1993:19).
The lack of active migrant participation in unions was reflected in the difficulty non-English speaking members have had in moving into official positions. In the same way that immigrants have met major barriers to their entry into managerial occupations in the public and private sectors, they have remained significantly under-represented in union leadership roles. In 1974, Hearn found that in Victoria, NESB workers occupied less than 3 per cent of full-time leadership positions - despite their rank and file activity in significant industrial disputes of the period (Foster, Marshall and Williams, 1991:58). At that time, NESB workers made up some 22 per cent of the Victorian workforce, and a much larger percentage of the unionised workforce (Lever-Tracy and Quinlan, 1988:149). Twelve years later, after a decade of official multiculturalism in Australia, a study of the NSW union movement revealed a similar percentage - 3.1 per cent of full-time positions were held by NESB members (Foster, Marshall and Williams, 1991:59). The most recent survey (this time back to Victoria) found significant improvement - nearly 10 per cent of full-time officials were NESB in 1990. However, almost all of these were Italian and Greek at a time when these groups were becoming less significant in the workforce. And most were in appointed, rather than elected, positions (Bertone and Griffin, 1992:42).
So - it is clear that the track record of Australian trade unions has been mixed in relation to organising immigrant workers. On the one hand, there has been mass participation, and as a result of the award system, the avoidance in Australia or ethnic low pay ghettos within the workforce. On the other, there has been a failure by unions to build on immigants' potential strength, or to address in a systematic and thorough manner the particular needs of immigrant workers. As a result, the contribution of immigrants to the union movement has been more limited than their numbers and strategic workforce position offered. Of most concern has been the slowness of immigrants' rise to official union ranks, leading to major problems of the ethnic unrepresentativeness of leaders.
It seems that the most obvious difficulty in the union-migrant relationship has in fact remained the central one - namely, communication. The following all too familiar shop steward's comment exemplifies the problems on both sides:
They'll talk in groups to each other at mass meetings. You ask, "Does everybody understand?" and they'll say 'yes' and then after they've walked out of the meeting, they'll say "What was the meeting about?" Language is definitely a problem (in Bertone and Griffin, 1992:57).
At the same time, many unions have for decades published newsletters and circulars in a range of languages, used interpreters, supported on-the-job English classes, and established training courses for immigrant members. A systematic survey of the frequency of these measures found in 1990 that some 40 per cent of unions used interpreters and a similar proportion published multilingual information (Bertone and Griffin, 1992:31). Clearly, the resources needed to support these good practice measures have become scarcer as union density rates have fallen. What lessons are there for unions in struggling to organise actively amongst immigrant workers today?
With the Workers Health Centre, ACIRRT (University of Sydney) has been examining the effectiveness of a range of multicultural communication strategies used in occupational health and safety. Although the project is in the early stages, interviews with workers and other service providers suggest the following points are important:
� Integrated approaches to education and information provision are more successful than those relying on a single-pronged approach. Multilingual literature will be more useful if it accompanies and is designed for bilingual officers; educational campaigns utilizing ethnic radio, community television and press will reach many more people than just a leaflet. Getting the distribution strategy right is considered more important than designing the right product.
� Leading edge government and non-government agencies are today committed adherents of community development approaches in their communication strategies - action research, bilingual educators, workshops and community consultation are now part of the tool box of agencies from waste boards to drug and alcohol services. The ethnic liaison officers network established by the Victorian Trades Hall Council during the 1990s is another example of this approach, modified to the context of the labour movement.
� Learning English is as major an issue for immigrant Australians as it ever was, and the ability to communicate in English can never be assumed. English language learning is today more severely rationed than in previous decades, and consequently, many immigrants (like those on temporary visas) miss out; most immigrants who can't afford to pay for private classes don't have enough instruction to reach survival English. So unions must be proficient in arranging and using interpreters, or have trained member language aides available at meetings. Workplace English language teaching is a more important demand than ever.
� Different ethnic groups will have different preferences for receiving information, and different concerns. For example, while Arabic women have very high rates of radio listening, Chinese-Australians are avid newspaper readers. The approach to the topic may also vary across communities (just as it does across the whole population by age and gender). Simply translating materials produced first in English is rarely effective.
� Use of information technology has facilitated the rationalisation of communication through the use of multilingual web-sites. The NSW Department of Health for example, hosts a web-site with hundreds of continually up-dated fact sheets that can be down loaded in a variety of languages. While this is not necessarily a strategy for reaching members or potential members, it is easy to see how a consolidated multilingual web-site could be useful for union organisers, delegates, union trainers or occupational health and safety representatives. It is basically a means of quickly accessing appropriate translated literature at no extra cost. Similarly, more sophisticated telephone systems are being used by organisations such as local councils to give non-English speaker direct access to someone who speaks their own language, wherever they may be located in the organisation.
Many of these strategies have been taken up by government agencies which see information provision and social education as strategies for social change. Often however, such bodies are faced with the inherent limitations of their strategies. In the occupational health and safety field, for example, immigrant workers have repeatedly told agencies such as WorkCover that information on its own can achieve little if, as workers, they have no power to change their work environment or the work process. Knowing more about your rights can be a relatively lame option if the problem is employer abuse of those rights.
In contrast, trade unions can offer much more - awareness and empowerment. This is an appealing mix to many immigrants feeling increasingly under attack in today's Australia.
Caroline Alcorso, Senior Researcher, ACIRRT, University of Sydney.
ACTU |
***********************
I used to spend an 8 hour day with the men, and then an hour before work and an hour after work of paper work, so that was making it a 9, 10 hour day 5 days a week, and a half a day Saturday, or all day Saturday...We were working extremely long hours, sometimes from 6 o'clock in the morning through to 8 o'clock at night. Often I wouldn't have my lunch break because if you did it would be a cup of coffee and a sandwich at your desk while you were doing more paperwork. And it just got progressively more and more and more, just keeping on adding to our jobs... and then one morning...bang!
...I actually went to work, and it was a really, really hot day and we had a seminar on O, H and S for some reason. And I got home at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, got away early, and I came in and I was really hot, really stinky, and my wife was on the phone with a friend. I came in - and the kids were just playing - well one was just born and the little bloke was three and was playing, and I just did my block. And I told my wife off. Had a go at my kid and then realised I was tearing the hair out of my head. And it was all because I'd just had enough of it...I'd started to bring work home - mentally - for months before that. Like on the weekend I'd come home from work on Saturday or whatever it might be and just lie in front of the TV and didn't want to talk to nobody, just wanted to be left alone. At night I'd be dreaming. Like you'd be in bed and all you'd be doing is dreaming about work...
I ended up . . . I mean once I had got to the point where I brought my work home and realised that there was just too much, I was virtually suffering from severe panic attacks, during work, and at home. Every little thing was upsetting me. If I saw something which I thought wasn't right, it'd create this panic attack where I'd feel hot and sweaty, very, very nervous, or agitated and it might last for anything from 20 minutes to an hour or two hours. And it got to the point I saw a doctor about it and he wanted me to go on medication, antidepressants or whatever. I wasn't interested in that.
But then that day when I came home and blasted my wife, and had a go at my kid - my wife, she rang the doctor and made an appointment and sent me down. And I remember breaking down and crying and going into the doctor's surgery and telling him what was going on and he gave me time off work immediately and I ended up having a number of weeks off. That turned into burnout - I went into depression, and I ended up having the full-scale mental breakdown.
And I went through stages there of complete memory loss where my wife would send me up the street to buy stuff and I'd get to the shopping centre and have absolutely no idea what I was doing there. I knew I had to buy something, but forgot what I had to buy...
Frank had something of a relapse a few months later he continues:
I ended up arguing again at home. Had a very, very bad 8 to 12 months and had suicidal thoughts before being put onto anti-depressant medication.
Despite Frank's severe experience, his employer shortly afterwards began asking Frank to extend his hours once more, and once again he broke down. He says:
Over the last say 6 months I've been seeing a psychiatrist and my GP, and taking my medication, I've been feeling better. That was up until possibly a week or two ago when they put me under [pressure again] So it got to the point where I virtually did a breakdown at work in the manager's office. I went in there to tell him, 'look, it's just too much for me.' And I actually broke down and he's since - I've got a track record I guess - so he's cut my hours down. I think he now realises that a man can only do so much.
I actually said to this manager, I said, 'Every person's got a bucket of water they've got to carry it around' and I said, 'I had too much water in that bucket - it overflows' and I actually asked that certain manager, a while ago to get someone to give me a hand because work was starting to increase and they wouldn't give me no one to help, they just said, 'no, no, you just keep on going the way you're going and we'll see what happens, we'll see what happens'... Until I virtually broke down again. It's only been the last two or three weeks where I thought 'Bugger them, I'm not going to go through that again'.
But they are still pushing me to do extra hours. And I feel strongly about not doing them... I don't think they know they are actually playing with people's lives.
The ACTU's Fifty Families Report is available at: http://www.actu.asn.au/vunions/actu/article.cfm?objectid=B5C50A85-C113-45E4-8A3B313FCE8F3A63
by Neale Towart
NSW Labor faced the 1910 state elections confident of victory. The federal ALP won an absolute majority in the same year for the first time that year, after two previous minority governments (of Watson in 1904, and Fisher in 1908-9).
Michael Hogan, in The People's Choice Electoral Politics in 20th Century NSW, charts the fortunes of the ALP in the 1910 campaign that brought James McGowen to the Premiership.
Labor's enemies had tried to promote the class bogey for years, but the "responsible" approach of these administrations ( and the "Seven Day" Labor government in Queensland in 1899) laid these fears to rest.
Many people, including Labor MPs, had felt until then that the only way Labor could get its policies up was by working with the established fiscal parties (Free Trade v Protection). By 1907, however, the ALP had become the only serious opposition party.
Many people significant as heroes or villains (sometimes both) in the Labor pantheon were involved in this election. Apart from McGowen, William Holman, George Beeby and Arthur Griffith featured, and Jack Lang had the year before become Mayor of Auburn when he was a member of the ALP (he stood as a Progress Association candidate).
Some familiar themes emerge in Hogan's account of the politics of the era. The official ALP was seen as becoming increasingly "middle class" and out of touch with working people. The party did gain strong support from the Catholic community, with conciliatory statements from Cardinal Moran about socialism.
The central executive of the Political Labor League handled pre-selection of candidates. This was the first election in which Labor had contested each seat. previously in some seats deals were done in exchange for support to independent candidates. The problem with contesting everything was that party organisation was absent from many areas, necessitating central organisation selection. Where there were branches local wishes were generally accepted (sounds familiar!!)
The Premier at the time was Charles Wade from the Liberal and Reform Association. He had assumed the job in a hurry after the 1907 election when his Premier, Joseph Carruthers, suddenly resigned. Wade was not highly regard in his own party or with the public as a credible leader. This of course benefited the ALP.
With some on the left seeing the ALP as too moderate and no longer a working class party. T.W. McCristal led the "splitters" into a new party, the Social Democrats which combined elements of the Political Labour Leagues, Industrial Workers of the World, the International Socialists and the Australian Socialists' League.
The other major issues were the perennials temperance and sectarianism. The liquor issue was termed the local option, as legislation in 1901 introduced by the Lyne government allowed choice by local communities as to whether they wanted hotels in their electorates. Temperance bodies were a strong political force, but so was the Liquor Trades Defence Union, who made appeals to their workers. The temperance advocates got strong support from the Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Anglican churches.
The major Protestant churches refrained from explicit endorsement of the Liberals. Dr Dill Macky, a long serving anti-Catholic warrior, warned of the strong support Labor received from the Catholics and urged protestant workingmen to support the Protestants. The Catholic Press urged a vote against sectarianism, from which Labor was claimed to be free.
The ALP won 46 of 90 seats, the first majority it held anywhere. This result was achieved despite strong anti-Labor campaigning by the press across the state. Labor leaders saw the result as being due to the efforts of their party organization and women's committees, who campaigned on the new issues of women at work and a maternity allowance.
Hogan more realistically attributes it to the liquor industry opposition to the liberals. The result effectively killed wowserism as a political force.
The other long-term result was the cementing of the arbitration system into place in NSW and federally. The ALP was in government in both places, and employers, employees and political parties generally supported the "Australian Settlement".
The highs and lows of NSW politics are traced well in these volumes, and, as Bob Carr commented at the launch, the cartoon history of NSW politics is a highlight of the collection, with each chapter liberally sprinkled with the best work of the political cartoonists of Australia from 1901.
The People's Choice: Electoral Politics in 20th Century New South Wales. Edited by Michael Hogan and David Clune. Three volumes (1901 to 1927; 1930 to 1965; 1968 to 1999). Published by the Parliament of NSW and the University of Sydney.
Available from NSW Parliament House. Copies will be distributed free of charge to all public libraries in NSW.
For information on the seven day government in Queensland, see Ross Fitzgerald; Seven Days to Remember (UQP, 1999)
by The Chaser
The Chaser |
While the exact number being raped at any one time is unclear, the exclusive Chaser report shows that it is approximately equal to absolutely everybody. The disturbing conclusions to be drawn from recent anecdotal evidence will confirm the unarticulated fears of average readers that by and large all non-junkie related crime is perpetrated by citizens from non-Anglo Saxon backgrounds known as "non-Australians".
While our investigation is intended to suggest that all ethnics are at least potential rapists, there are even more shocking revelations. Based on isolated incidents from areas which can be described as ethnic ghettos if you ignore the white majority, the shocking evidence show that all people from the Middle East are even bigger rapists than the others. The cause of this chronic deviance is a terrifying, mysterious religious cult known as "Islam" which promotes a "jihad" or "holy rape war". Sources say that if you are an "Islamist", it's just rape rape rape rape all day long.
Our investigation discovered that the whole community is guilty and that attempts by the majority from these ethic communities to condemn those committing the crime should be ignored. It is far safer to assume that they are all behind it.And they probably came up with the idea in their Mosque-thingo.
We call on the government to make immediate knee-jerk changes to legislation in the midst of this public furore we have created. Laws must ensure that these rapists never the see the light of day, unless they are willing to renounce their ridiculous and difficult to understand beliefs and convert to Christianity.
We call on the government to make sure that laws see these foreign rapists spend their life in jail (while not being too harsh for times when our tanked up sons get too frisky at their college victory dinners).
Arthur Rorris |
It had all the ingredients of a well-known recipe passed down from generation to generation. Just add Muslims, foreign vessels 'threatening' our territorial waters, Aussie commandos and stir.
For John Howard, this was the crisis we had to have, the lucky break he was looking for. After all, kicking people when they are down comes naturally to him and here was an opportunity where mum, dad and the kids around the country could join in and where the victims can't be seen or heard, let alone vote.
If opinion polls are to be believed, the vast majority of Australians support Prime Minister Howard's actions. Exactly what they are supporting, however, is less clear and it seems that the tide of public opinion might be turning as the real issues are starting to surface.
The problem is that Howard, aided by sections of the media, has deceptively portrayed the issue as one of stopping illegal migrants, queue jumpers and recalcitrant ship captains from entering our shores. Nothing could be further from the truth. The issue, if we cast our minds back a fortnight, began as a written distress call or alert from Australian authorities to vessels in the vicinity of the sinking ferry carrying the asylum seekers. As per international maritime convention, the Tampa, being the closest vessel, responded to Australia's call and rescued the passengers.
Put yourself in the Captain's shoes. You rescue hundreds of people at sea at the request of another country and then that same country and its neighbours refuse your vessel passage into their ports. To make matters worse your ship is only equipped and licensed to carry 40 people. No wonder our international image is sinking at the rate of knots.
Now you would think that the decent thing to have done is to relieve the Tampa of their unexpected passengers, thank the Captain for responding to our call for help, let the Tampa continue with the rest of its journey and then sort out the problem with Indonesia and the UN. Resolving the problems of international people smuggling and resettling genuine refugees is the responsibility of governments in the region and the United Nations, not the captains of commercial vessels, even if they do show more humanity than our Prime Minister.
This brings me to the question of the asylum seekers on the Tampa and the unsupported allegations that they are feigning illness, that they are queue jumpers and rorting the humanitarian program. If this is the case, why doesn't the Federal Government allow the media to interview these people and expose the scam?
Is it because pregnant women stranded in the tropical heat and crying traumatised children might not look pretty on the evening news?
Lets make this easy, lets assume for one moment that they are not genuine refugees. No one is saying that these people should remain in Australia. All that is required under international law and convention is that Australia assess requests for asylum and determines their status. If asylum is not granted and they are not given refugee status, they may be deported.
That is the difference between seeking asylum as a refugee and jumping the queue as an illegal migrant. You cannot be an illegal asylum seeker but you can have your claim rejected. Unfortunately, many Australians seem to confuse the terms 'migrant' and 'refugee', a confusion that Howard and Ruddock appear to be exploiting for their own political purposes.
This highlights the most concerning aspect of this affair. When national governments declare 'they will not surrender' to the foreigners, when the military rolls in and when the Prime Minister warns of threats to our sovereignty and 'national security', our ability to have a rational debate becomes very difficult. Perhaps that is the intention, to muddy the waters by resurrecting deep seated feelings of xenophobia in our society.
The question is, are the waters so muddy that most Australians can't see the extraordinary contradictions and hypocrisy on the part of the Federal Government that this incident has exposed?
First, lets start with the Talliban regime in Afghanistan from which the refugees are fleeing. It is the same one that the Western powers assisted to take over after the fall of the Soviet backed regime twenty years ago. Remember the Moscow Olympics? Now that's progress.
Second, I seem to recall that two Australian aid workers are on trial in Afghanistan for the crime of spreading Christianity. If found guilty they could hang. Amnesty International must have thousands of people on their books in a similar position around the world. Question. When Foreign Minister Alexander Downer tries to assist the Australians by seeking the support of the UN to broker a deal, will Kofi say, "see the queue, man?"
Third, if Australians are really concerned about illegal migrants then they should send the commandos to our international airports. Statistics show that the vast majority of "illegals" come from the UK, New Zealand and the United States and overstay their visas.
Fourth, it's funny how 450 Afghanis in a boat have caused a crisis in national security and border protection requiring half the Navy and the introduction of a draconian bill into parliament when the sale of the second largest Telco in Australia to a foreign power, Singapore, got the Government's tick of approval.
This illustrates the ridiculous notion of fortifying our physical borders to stop a few hundred desperate people who really want to live here when our economic borders have been 'opened up' and our economy is, to a great extent controlled by multinational and for all intensive purposes foreign capital. The motto is, you can buy the place but you can't live here.
Finally, All Australians, need to ask themselves whether saving John Howard's face, and not allowing the Tampa on our shores was worth the damage he has caused to our international reputation and integrity. A reputation as a humanitarian nation that prides itself on its openess, compassion and respect for international law and convention lies in tatters.
by Good Sports by Peter Kell
|
The concept of nation itself is breaking down in a world where major nations and sporting powers like the former Soviet Union have dissolved into a myriad of independent republics. The diminishing importance of nationalism as the prime motivation for sports stars is evident in the way countries such as the United States can, with huge sums of money, lure tennis stars such as Pete Sampras to represent them in the Davis Cup. Representing the nation now means little more than that; it doesn't necessarily involve any sense of 'belonging' or an intense loyalty to that nation. Nor is there any overt shame in selling skills to the highest bidder. These sports stars are the paid representatives of the countries that hire them.
There are several key challenges for Australian sporting organizations and administrators if they are to reconceptualise a sense of nationalism which supersedes the legacy of racism and insularity which has, to date, always characterised Australia's sporting relations. There is a need for leading figures in sporting organizations to come to grips with the challenges that have emerged from the dynamics of globalisation and to move beyond images of an Australianess which is only sustained by jingoistic hype and bears scant resemblance to Australian society today.
This book has sought to document a number of contemporary issues in the media in order to illustrate the story which remains hidden behind the news; a story about intolerance and xenophobia which is rarely spoken about. It is a story about the continued tensions which emerge from a failure to appreciate the role sport has in perpetuating many of the racist myths that have sustained a sense of Australian nationalism. From the early days of federation Australian nationalism has been nurtured on racial anxiety, a distrust of foreigners and an insularity from the outside world which has created an inward-looking society beset by a deeply ingrained xenophobia. Australian nationalism, for these reasons, has been characterised by attempts to sublimate and oppress difference, rather than acknowledge or welcome it.
Even when it seemed that the barriers of cultural insularity needed to come down during the waves of postwar migration, the intake of foreigners was only accepted with reluctance; justified on the basis that they would become real Aussies who were 'just like us'. It meant that those wher were different were expected to become less like themselves and aligned with the anglocentric view Australians had of themselves. Sport in Australia has been scarred by these assimilationist policies that saw sport as a convenient way to facilitate integration into mainstream Australia. The myth that sport is a vehicle for acceptance that could forge new international partnerships ha been built on such premises.
This myth has meant that Australian sporting administrators, media commentators, participants, stars and fans are continually responding to a shifting and complex environment as if they were in a time warp. They are seeing the world through a prism which distorts it and is, for this reason, totally inappropriate in the context of a globalised, professional sporting climate where notions of identity and nation are diffuse and complex. It is a narrow and parochial prism which turns the viewpoint inward; a prism which has restricted the range of vision of the Australian sporting community into monochromatic images that do nothing to illuminate the colourful spectrum of diversity that enriches Australia.
One of the key challenges Australians face is to develop a critical awareness of the extent to which this racist legacies behind Australian sport and use this awareness to produce change. This change has to be accompanied by a profound and systematic re-examination and questioning of the myths that are an accepted part of the fabric of Australian sport. As we have seen in the stories related in this book, sport is typified by exclusion, hostility, vilification and inequality. It is a shocking story that starkly contradicts claims that sport has been, and indeed in its present form can be, crucial in defining a new more mature and independent international Australia.
In this atmosphere events such as the recent incidents of racial vilification in the AFL are seen as coming 'out of the blue' rather than as entrenched in the sports culture. In this way they can be waved aside rather than be confronted. Current administrative responses in the form of racial vilification rules and codes of practice may provide a framework to resolve occasional incidents but they do nothing to challenge complacency and entrenched intolerance. In fact, as these incidents are increasing in frequency and are now involving senior sporting administrators and managers with, in some cases, national responsibilities, complacency is the lease effective stance to be taking.
Similarly, fines and suspensions can do little to rid sport of dangerous and violent tactics. Punitive action cannot change attitudes; only better preparation to position athletes in the context of globisation can do this. Professional sporting organizations have already responded to the need to cater for the growing demands of the intensified physical aspects of professional sport. Training, diet, scientific monitoring andmodern management techniques are now a part of the preparation of the modern athlete. It is time to include social and cultural training in the knowledge of the professional athlete as well.
These athletes are poorly prepared and unaware of many of the complexities of race, identity, nationalism and inequality. Part of the preparation of superstar sporting celebrities should be to increase their ability to competently deal with these complexities. This does not just mean cultural awareness classes about how to deal with 'others', but something of greater complexity. It is about understanding the broader story and learning a new way to view their sport and their responsibilities in order to model behaviour and attitudes which demonstrate tolerance and understanding. The new global athletes fit into a new social order and they need both the preparation and the corporate support systems which will enable them to meet these additional off-field challenges.
The new sports stars also need to be able to recognise the social and political context of their sport together with its history and place in the formation of the racial legacy of Australian sport. At its most basic this may be some form of training and preparation and at its most complex it may involve a broader recognition of diversity through reforms to the administration of sporting organizations. Increasingly sporting organizations will need to be more aware of how to tap into diversified supporter bases and this will require better linkages with ethnic communities and international communities. In the new era, overseas chapters of support similar to those of Manchester United and the Chicago Bulls will be crucial to the economic survival of some clubs. Limited supporter bases will spell the end for many clubs and sports.
Survival and prosperity in the future may mean organizational responses that include a broader representation on boards of management, the appointment of mentors and advisers from members of ethnic and indigenous communities, the adoption of sister club twinning with overseas clubs and the recruitment of ethnic support groups. Many of the case studies documented in this book are the result of management and administration which is incapable of recognising the changes necessary in working in a community typified by diversity and globalisation. Sports administrators have shifted rapidly from being part-time amateurs to full-time professionals. Unless the skills of Australian sporting administrators are improved, they are likely only to prolong Australian's image problems as an undisciplined pack of racists.
Good Sports, Australian sport and the myth of a fair go by Peter Kell is available from Pluto Press
Labor Council Online |
Labor Council Online
Well finally the Labor Council of NSW has a new website, but it has been worth the wait. The newest addition to the LaborNET family is located at http://council.labor.net.au. The site will be a valuable resource to union movement with virtually all of Labor Council's work now available online.
Labor Council documents such as Circulars, Submissions, Research Papers, Events and even lists of the meetings taking place at the Labor Council Building will now be available online to Council affiliates and the public. Documents which are private will be locked and assessable to Labor Council's affiliates through a password facility. Documents will be classified into Labor Council's three key areas of work those being Organising, Industrial & Community.
Other features of the site are Neale Towart's popular Labour Review, Campaigns, Annual Reports and the Labor Council Library Catalogue. The site has been programmed by LaborNET partners Social Change Online http://online.socialchange.net.au.
Wayne & Diana's Employment Service
I originally heard about this site on "A Current Affair", Wayne & Diana are two Cotton Farmers from beautiful Toowoomba who also run a "School Fundraising Confectionary Service" they obviously put their heads together and thought why not round out their emerging business empire and start a Human Resources Consultancy.
Wayne & Diana's piece de la r�sistance of their Human Resources Consultancy is their website http://www.wdes.tmba.net where they have set a "Australian National Register for Workers who have taken a sickie or claimed Compo". Basically their idea is to allow employers to discriminate against potential employees who have had an illness or claimed Workers Comp. Thankfully, judging by the design and grammar on the site, I would doubt it if Wayne or Diana will be able to make the register work, but it's a scary thought if a real employer organization decided to copy the idea.
ETU National
Another union joining LaborNET this week is the CEPU Electrical Division National Office (ETU). Their site located at http://cepu-electrical.asn.au has all the latest news and views from the ETU across the country.
Get Wobbly
As previously reported Labor Council's foray into the online broadcasting world Wobbly Radio http://www.wobblyradio.com is up and running. Wobbly will be officially launched at a Gig with frontline act Stellar One Eleven at Newtown RSL on 22 September, email Wobbly Programmer Dan Buhagiar for more info mailto:[email protected].
ZPC
This week I stumbled across the Zarate's Political Collections site http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith. This site has been put together by a Spanish political addict and features a wealth of information on all political leaders around the world since WWII. The information is amazingly up to date (for instance Clare Martin has already been added to the Northern Territory Section) and covers just about every nation and state in the world.
If you have any sites you would like Paul to review let him know mailto:[email protected]
Since our last skirmish, Piers Akerman's star has continued its inexplicable rise. He's one of the new token right-wingers brought into the ABC at the behest of its Tory board. Another of the ABC's recent initiative is to give a couple of right-wing newspaper columnists their own radio show. As an aside, I'm still trying to work out the logic of this shift to the Right. Given the ABC's charter is to full gaps in the media, and given the mainstream media is dominated by right-wing talking jocks (witness the past two weeks), it seems an intriguing exercise in editorial diversity. Regardless, it's good to see us taxpayers giving a battler like Piers a push along.
Which brings us to Piers work over the past few weeks. The Tampa dispute brought on the best in many of the media commentators, who actually tried to grasp the complexity of the issue, reconciling the domestic fears with our international obligations. The Telegraph's stablemate, The Australian, for instance, has been close to breath-taking, the analysis of Kelly, Sheridan and their leader writers, pointing out the dangers of placing domestic political considerations above international diplomacy. For mine, the Oz came of age as a national newspaper of real substance over the past fortnight.
But like Howard, Piers saw the Tampa dispute as an opportunity to spread fear and loathing. Piers brought the Howard line hook and sinker: the 'illegals' were wealthy queue jumpers who were bullying their way into Australia, one of the most 'generous' countries on earth. It is only from this position that the Australian reaction can come even close to being justified and justify it Piers did.
But as has emerged as the saga grew on, the facts are a little more complex. The asylum seekers are in fact the victims of both a breakdown in law and order in Afghanastan and the total breakdown of the UN refugee vetting process. These twin geopolitical failures have created an environment for people smugglers to thrive and exploit these desperate people. On every count they are victims - yet Piers views than as aggressors.
Witness one of this more offensive lines from the past week: "There was no crisis at Christmas Island, but there is globally as young men, in the main, desert their nations, leaving no-one to fight their intellectually or physically, for change and strip them of the muscle needed to rebuild." Ignore the fact that they are leaving a nation ravaged by the failure of US Cold War policy, they are not only queue-jumpers, they are traitors.
But if Piers' analysis of the Tampa crisis is facile, his attempt to geopolitics is laughable. Take this gem: "As for relations with Indonesia, so what? They will always be difficult". It gets worse, monstering Norway, throwing some choice barbs such as: "They gave the world the word Quisling an epithet now hurled at those who betray their countrymen"; he also throws some bombs for their treatment of indigenous people (an irony from Piers, surely) and their treatment of whales (a metamorphisis into a greenie of convenience). If mainstream Australia is as xenophobic as the opinion polls suggest, then Piers can take pride in helping set the environment.
We've said it before, but Piers' efforts beg a restatement. The Daily Telegraph is a paper of immense influence. At it's best, it synthesizes the news in an informative and sometimes, enlightening, way. At it's worse it breeds prejudice and dislocation by inflaming issues with misinformation. None more so than as the Tampa lay off Christmas Island.
At the end of the day there are facts and then there is context. The problem all Piers' critics fall into is to attack Piers of the detail. This can be an involved but ultimately futile effort. All post modernists know that all truth is relative, an argument can be constructed for most positions. What can't be constructed is a soul - and this is where Piers always betrays himself. If the choice is to open the mind or open the heart or close it up, he'll slam it shut. Just like the door of the Tool Shed.
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