Workers Online
Workers Online
Workers Online
  Issue No 15 Official Organ of LaborNet 28 May 1999  

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News

Revealed: New, Meaner Breed of Body Hire


Body hire firms are offering employers a bank of independent contractors rather than employees to replace their full-time workforce, meaning that even minimal industrial regulations will no longer apply.

 
 

Workers Send Their Message to Woolies

Workers Online has obtained a document circulated to real estate agents from a firm calling itself ODCO Agency Contracting promising to "remove award restrictions through a workforce with "no contractual connection" to the business.

The document comes to light as it was revealed Rail Services Australia, an offshoot of the State Rail Authority, is using labour hire to complete the New Southern Railway tunnel.

Meanwhile, sacked workers from Metro shopfitting have again picketed Woolworths (see Workers Online issue #14) after being replaced with labour hire under what the union suspects is a Patricks-style corporate manoeuvre.

The rush of activity highlights the importance of the Labor Council's push to regulate labour hire through industrial relations legislation which would make it illegal to pay precarious labour less than the enterprise agreement covering the workplace in which they are placed.

June's ALP Country Conference is shaping as the site for that policy showdown, after the Premier poured cold water on the union's reform package earlier this month.

Real Estate Spin

The aggressive push into real estate by ODCO Agency Contracting is the first proof that body hire firms are marketing their services aggressively into new markets.

In a new twist, the labour hire workers are constituted as independent contractors, not employees -- meaning the labour hire firm can bypass all industrial laws and regulations.

As a result, it says employers no longer need to worry about: award wages, annual leave pay and loading, penalty rates, sick leave, public holidays, workers compensation, superannuation, payroll tax, Fringe benefits Tax, redundancy and severance packages, unfair dismissal, equal opportunity legislation, seniority or parental leave.

"ODCO Agency Contracting is a simple, cost effective way for real Estate Agencies to legitimately engage independent contractors, outside the jurisdiction of the Industrial Relations system," the document begins.

Citing High Court rulings, the pitch continues that the ODCO body hire will not be deemed to be employees, are not subject to award conditions and have "no contractual connection whatsoever to your business"

In short, ODCO is offering workers without any form of industrial regulation, Labor Council assistant secretary John Robertson says. "This marks a new low point in the push for the lowest common denominator in industrial relations."

Rail Services Go Offline

Meanwhile, the CFMEU has revealed that Rail Services Australia has engaged body hire firms to help it meet its contract on the New Southern Railway.

Rail Services Australia, once part of the State Rail Authority, but still a government-owned corporation, won the contract to install track and overhead wiring and signalling on the airport link by Transfield Bouygues.

RSA has now contracted out some of that work to several body hire firms, including Sheriden Maintenance, which has come to the attention of the CFMEU for failing to meet award conditions such as superannuation and LSL payments.

CFMEU organiser Peter Harris claims the labour hire firms are bidding for the work from RSA at such low rates they can't afford to meet their obligations.

The union says RSA has been forced down the labour hire track after sacking hundreds of full-time workers.

It now plans to work with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union to clean up the RSA demanding job security, proper workers compensation policies and an inquiry into the RSA's tendering processes.

Woolies Feels Community Heat as Patricks Allegations Fly

Building workers joined the general public in picketing Woolworths city store this week, as fears of a Patricks-style corporate manoeuvre to sack full-time staff and replace them with labour hire came to light.

CFMEU says Metro Shopfitting, who do work for Woolworths and Coles supermarkets, had formed a series of new companies between which they had shuffled workers and equipment.

CFMEU state secretary Andrew Ferguson says the company has now sacked their unionised workforce and replaced them with body hire who are being paid less then that stipulated by the certified agreement which had previously applied.

Ferguson says the dispute with Metro highlights the need for the state government to take firm action on the use of labour hire agencies to undermine or circumvent certified agreements.


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 15 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Back to the Grassroots
Trade union trainer Jill Biddington looks at old problems through a new lens. Her message: talk to the workers.
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*  Unions: TWU: The Workplace Union
Ring Tony Sheldon, State Secretary of the NSW Transport Workers Union, and if you don't get through straight away you're told it's because "I'm organising members at the moment".
*
*  History: Proud to be a Member
Retired transport workers remind young members of the struggles which produced the benefits they now enjoy.
*
*  Indigenous: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
Australia's treatment of its indigenous people is a problem that won't go away.
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*  Review: Popcorn Goes for the Crunch
A Sydney production attempts to bring Ben Elton's satire of film-shplatt cinema to life.
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*  Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour review, Labour Council's fortnightly update on industrial issues.
*
*  Health: Being Lead Astray
Workers in a range of occupations are exposed to lead and are not being made aware of the hazards
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News
»  Labor Council Unveils New Public Face
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»  Revealed: New, Meaner Breed of Body Hire
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»  Unions Wins Own Safety Prosecution
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»  Timor Protest Calls for UN Troops
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»  Pay Equity Jitters as Report Gathers Dust
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»  Paid Maternity Leave: One Step Forward - One Step Back
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»  Court Victory for PNG Workers
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»  First For Union With Multicultural Arts Grant
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»  Cleaners Clean Up In Backpay Bonanza
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»  Unions Join Sorry Ceremony
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Columns
»  Guest Report
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Piers Watch
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Letters to the editor
»  Concern at Timor Attitudes
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