E D I T O R I A L

Abbott's Rule of Law
Tony Abbott has had a bit to say about the Rule of Law in recent times; how respect for the law should be at the centre of industrial relations and that anyone who flouts it is a national traitor.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Party Girl
Former ACTU president Jennie George on women in politics, life in Canberra and the ALP-union relationship.

Unions: Touch One, Touch All
The tribes of the union movement gathered outside the Cole Commission this week to repay the CFMEU for its generosity.

Industrial: Condition Critical
Nurses have taken their claim for financial recognition from the hospital ward to the courts, Jim Marr reports

International: Innocence Lost
There are nearly 250 million child labourers in the world, and every one has a story. As the ILO launches the first World Day Against Child Labour, here are just three.

History: Strange Bedfellows
Women�s first successes in adult suffrage came without much campaigning, and was in fact supported by Mormons, in defence of polygamy.

Organising: Just Say No
How would you react if you had to run a "no vote" campaign to oppose a non-union agreement issued by a company whose 3000 strong workforce was spread over 3500 kilometres. React quickly and expect to travel is Will Tracey's advice.

Review: Choosing Life Beneath The Clouds
Ivan Sen's Beneath Clouds is a road movie of the highest order, in which the destination becomes secondary to the choosing of a path.

Poetry: Did We Make a Big Mistake
It's one hundred years ago this week that Australia gave women the vote, and jumped early onto a bandwagon than would roll across democracies world-wide.

N E W S

Building Workers Gagged By Commission

Labour Hire Veil Lifted

Unionists Hit HP Fire Wall

Combet Drives Car Industry Summit

Green Ban Protects Aussie Timber Jobs

Unions Launch Gucci Boycott

Della Picks Up Manslaughter Baton

Jockeys Crisis Worsens

Billions Of Reasons For Reasonable Hours

Swans in Dark as Lights Go Out

Workplace Wishes Walked All Over

Airport Security Flies High

Canucks Boycott Starbucks

Campaign Steps Up To Stop Child Labor

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Conviction Unionist
In his speech to the National Press Club, ACTU secretary Greg Combet expands on his breed of unionism and charts the resurgence in the movement.

The Dressing Room
Give Greg a New Look!
We have converted the Tool Shed into a Dressing Room to give you the opportunity to give ACTU secretary Greg Combet a make over.

The Locker Room
The Other Les Murray
Those pesky colonials have been making life difficult for the natural order of things again, reports Phil Doyle.

Week in Review
Quelle Horreur
Jim Marr drags himself away from a four-yearly fascination with people of one name � Raul, Rivaldo and co � to discover fouls are still being committed on the international stage.

Bosswatch
The Great CEO Swindle
Breath-taking figures from the USA show the extent to which executives are taing a bigger and bigger slice of the corporate pie.

L E T T E R S

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Billions Of Reasons For Reasonable Hours

The historical significance of the case was highlighted when the commission requested a photo of the bar participants at the end of the hearings. The ACTU submitted over 1000 pages of submission plus a thousand pages of materials. Employers responded with similar quantities of evidence.

The ACTU'S advocate in the case, Assistant Secretary Richard Marles says the case has broadened the knowledge of everyone about the state of working time in Australia and the incredible financial and personal costs of the problem.

'A few years ago a parliamentary inquiry into fatigue in transport did costings in productivity time and accident time. One third of accidents were due to fatigue. Most were work related fatigue. The externality costs were estimated to be 3 billion dollars a year, ten times the total cost of the Reasonable Hours claim. Then there are the productivity and health costs from medical insurance claims, costs of sick leave and the costs of family breakdowns, he says.

'It is mind blowing the cost this country pays for the effects of long working hours. The pressure to act is now overwhelming.'

'We've estimated the full cost of the claim would be an increase of 0.7 per cent of labour costs in Australia. This compares with 0.5 per cent for the Living Wage. Even then it wouldn't be felt in one year and will drop with a change in employer behaviour.'

ACTU Secretary Greg Combet says the expert evidence provided to the commission during the case outlines the explosion in long hours in Australia and the personal costs.

This is backed up by new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Westpac Bank which show that in the last 12 months, full-time employees averaged 42 hours a week, nearly two and a half hours more compared with the previous year,

"Australia has the second longest working hours in the OECD. A quarter of the workforce puts in more than 50 hours - that would be unlawful in Europe. It's little wonder Australia is experiencing the highest rate of childlessness since the Great Depression, " says ACTU Secretary Greg Combet.

He says an increasing number of workers were not being paid for their overtime and had no access to paid holiday and sick leave.

"The ABS figures say working at night or at the weekend is becoming the norm for 64 per cent of employees. Unfortunately stress, poor performance at work and pressure on family life have also become the norm for thousands of workers. The ACTU is asking the IRC to restore some balance to their lives."

"This test case is the first serious review of Australia's working hours in over half a century and is long overdue. If the ACTU succeeds, people working excessive overtime will be entitled to 2 days break and will establish flexible guidelines on unreasonable hours," Mr Combet said.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005