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Issue No. 133 | 26 April 2002 |
The Struggle Continues
Interview: If The Commission Pleases History: Protest and Celebrate Unions: A Novel Approach Industrial: Hare Tony, Hare Tony International: Never Forget Jenin Politics: Left Right Out In France Health: Delivering A Public Health Revolution Review: The Secret Life of U(nion)s Poetry: May Day, May Day
Shonky Bosses Get Contract Brush Deep Pocket Syndrome Stalks IRC Court Decision Threatens Thousands Of Jobs Safety Summit to Set Accident Targets Detention Centre Vets Song Lyrics Fat Sheep Dip Into Workers Pockets Government Con Drives SA Vehicle Blue Dead Worker�s Family Calls for Safety Crime Laws Aussie Agency Backs War Crimes Call Thumbs-up For Union Immigration Role DOCS Worker Assaulted In Courthouse Queensland Unions Move on Youth Exploitation
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review
Gold Star Student Time for a General Strike?
Labor Council of NSW |
News Government Con Drives SA Vehicle Blue
Three hundred and fifty workers at Walkers Australia voted to stay out this week, threatening production at Mitsubishi and Holden manufacturing plants around the country. Workers at Tenneco's Walker operation are angry that their employer is refusing to honour an agreement to establish a trust fund to protect their long service entitlements. The company is hiding behind Government's General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy scheme, established last year, arguing its provisions release it from honouring obligations it singed up to in the existing enterprise agreement. But the federal compensation scheme is full of holes as Ansett workers will attest. By Government's own figures, released in Parliament, Ansett workers, alone, have already been shortchanged $187 million on their entitlements and that figure is rising. Workers are missing out because Government has capped its liability. It's latest statistics reveal that 29 percent of money owed is leaching away under that provision. Now Walkers are using a scheme that deprives employees of 29 percent of their entitlements to try and defeat an obligation to ensure the safety of all money owed. Government describes it's scheme as a "safety net" but some employers are choosing to view it as a taxpayer-funded guarantee. The Federal Labor Party has picked up on the injustice with Workplace Relations spokesman, Robert McClelland, refloating a national insurance plan, under which Government and big employers would share the cost of securing entitlements. "It is time for Government to admit its taxpayer-funded scheme is not the answer," McClelland said. Labor's proposal would cover 100 percent of entitlements and prevent employers shifting the debt for money they owe onto the taxpayer.
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