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Issue No. 130 | 05 April 2002 |
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Lights Out on The Hill
Interview: Change Agent Industrial: Balancing the Books Unions: Breaking Out Politics: Pissing on the Light on the Hill History: Of Death and Taxes International: Now That's a Strike! Satire: Mugabe Voted Miss Zimbabwe: Denies Election Rigged Poetry: Flick Go The Branches Review: Red, Red Clydeside
The Soapbox Sport Week in Review Postcard
 Puplick's SermonChikka's LegacySocialists in the UKOrganising GloballyGrape DisappointmentUnion Resignations : Crisis or Opportunity?
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Industrial Balancing the Books
************** The PSA calls it a "historic victory" for women and the trade union movement. Employers have chosen to down-play its significance, while a newspaper, not a million miles away from News Ltd's Holt St bunker, queries its impact on state finances. It is Pay Equity and the theory runs something like this - for decades the work done in certain industries has been undervalued because the majority of workers were women. But, what does it mean in practise? Well, for Sue Moir, a librarian with 16 years experience and twin degrees, it means she now earns as much as her 25-year-old son who has just graduated with an engineering degree. Moir's salary has jumped from $53,000 to $65,000 because of the decision handed down by the NSW Industrial Commission full bench. And, she says, it hasn't come a day too soon. "It's a victory for the people I work with and our profession," she says proudly. "Finally, the value of what we do is being recognised." Being a librarian, as the commission found, is not as simple as outsiders might think. Moir works at the NSW State Library, along with around 250 of the more than 1000 workers whose wages will jump immediately, as a result of the PSA victory. The library is a state treasure, holding books valued at up to $50,000 each, newspapers, historic photos, manuscripts, pamphlets, papers and increasingly, electronic publications. It attracts all types - from those wanting to boost their chances at the casino or improve their marijuanna crops to writers, film makers and artists researching their subjects. Peter Weir's researcher based the costumes and settings for Picnic At Hanging Rock on photos from the Allen Family Albums, while acclaimed novelist and Orange Prize winner, Kate Grenville, is in and out, collecting data for her next work. The library backs writers festivals, literacy programmes and has vast Health Information, Family History and Legal Information resources on tap. At the hub of the operation are the librarians, library technicians and archivists affected by the Pay Equity decision. Moir, generally in charge of 11 other workers, has just been alloted a special four-month project on Australian Performing Arts. An offsider is hauling together the thousands of different legal advices and papers published on the web, cataloguing and archiving them for accessibility. "Paper is a very friendly format," Moir explains, "but electronic documents are another story. "In 20 years time, who will know what you were doing on your little website at the Labor Council? Unless it is being stored in a retrievable fashion, we are going to lose our history. "We have people, upstairs, archiving all sorts of web sites and electronic documents. They are saving them for future generations." With technology coming in and out of vogue, it's not just about collection and storage but ensuring data can be retrieved in 20, or 50, years time. As more and more evidence was presented, Steve Turner the PSA officer who ran the Pay Equity case, started to wonder whether or not the women had been sold short. "As things developed it became apparent the work they performed - primarily the storage and retrieval of information - was more akin to IT workers than the engineers we had claimed parity with," he explained. Moir doesn't doubt some talents have left the library because of low wages but reckons their numbers would be few. Why? Because, she says, most are driven by love for and commitment to the job. She began agitating for better recognition years ago and filed her first formal submission more than two years ago. But, she recognises, the battle for gender equity has been waged over decades. Former workmate, Lesley Payne, was pushing the issue in the 1970s. "It's a great result," Moir says, "but they are the ones I feel sorry for, the ones who won't get the advantage. A lot of people worked here for a long time and have moved on or retired."
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