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Issue No. 138 | 31 May 2002 |
Demonising Unions
Interview: The Star Chamber Politics: The Odd Couple Tribute: I-Conned Media: Audiences Before Politics International: The Off-Side Rule Economics: The Fake Persuaders History: Terror Tactics Poetry: Food, Modified Food Review: Spiderman Spins Out the US Satire: England's World Cup Disaster: Star Hooligan Breaks Foot
Cole Suffers Credibility Crisis Councils Armed To Drown Sweatshops Bracks Crew Not Family Friendly Waterfront Truth One Step Closer Speedy Flow-On for NSW Workers Star Sin-Binning Prompts Inquiry Call New Chief Puts ABC Back In The Picture Gravy Train Gets Richer For Max and Mates Reward For Delegate Who Stood Up Casino Workers Hit Mat Leave Jackpot Drug Haul Sparks Security Warning East Timor�s MPs Take Australia On ACTU Officials Denied Visas Into Fiji Commemorate 100 Years of Votes for Women
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review Bosswatch Postcard
In Defence of Latham Swans A Pathetic Con-Job
Labor Council of NSW |
News Getting it Wrong on Training
Unions say the decision to defund the Industry Training Advisory Boards (ITABs) will lead to the privatisation of the national training agenda. ITABs are government funded bodies, made up of union and employer representatives who advise government and industry on training. They help tailor training programs to the meet the needs of their state or territory while also meeting national standards, and ensure programs provide a practical benefit to trainees, employers and the industries in which they operate. Most importantly their input feeds back into creating and maintaining high national standards, provides form of quality control, and produces workers with transferable skills that are not limited only to one particular employer's agenda. In the NSW forestry industry alone, the ITAB program has resulted in a 450% increase in traineeship enrolments. Its decision to decimate funding of Australia's Industry Training Advisory Boards (ITABs) has angered unions and prompted the ACTU to hold an emergency meeting to determine its full impact. In NSW the move translates as a $3m funding cut, effectively siphoning $70k from each of the state's 20 industry ITABs. The money is crucial in ensuring each ITAB has a full-time worker to coordinate operations, and that basic administration support and infrastructure are provided. Labor Council's Michael Gadiel says the result will be a Government increasingly providing direct inducements to employers who will now be free to provide watered-down training programs tailored for their needs alone and carrying no guarantees of meeting basic industry standards. According to NSW Nurses' Association general secretary Sandra Moait the value of advice delivered by state ITABs have been "seriously underestimated and were ITAB to be no longer available, any credibility the national training agenda has will cease to exist because it will have disconnected from its information conduits".
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