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Issue No. 152 | 13 September 2002 |
The Legacy of 11/9
Interview: Still Flying International: President Gas Politics: Australia: A Rogue State? History: Levelling September Unions: Welfare Max Bad Boss: Welcome to Telstra! Health: Fat Albert: The Grim Reaper Poetry: A Man From the East And A Man From The West Review: The Sum Of All Fears
�Robbed Generation� Seeks Stolen Wages One Year On: Ansett Crash Still Hurts Cole Exposed By Immigration Scam Car Workers on Howard Hit List Mystery Windfall for Hilton Workers Track Grab Ignores Lessons of Glenbrook Bosses Say No Living Wage For NSW Childcarers Pastry Workers Tell Boss To Get Puffed Victorian Zookeepers Down Buckets Pride and Safety for Workers Out!
Legends The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review Awards Activists
The CFMEU Race Debate #2 Keeping it Clean Sue the Leaders?
Labor Council of NSW |
News One Year On: Ansett Crash Still Hurts
That sobering estimation was provided by one-time Ansett employee, David Lupton, as he chronicled the human cost of Federal Government�s decision to cling onto millions of dollars of his former workmates entitlements. "Over 50 percent of our people still either don't have a job or are getting by on casual or part-time earnings," he said in an emotional address to Labor Council. "A lot of people are finding it difficult to survive and I know of six families that have broken up in the past four months because of the financial pressure. "We still have people, one year on, who have received none of their entitlements although they went without wage increases for two years to fund them." Lupton said he was disgusted by the "meanness" of a Government that continued to slug the traveling public $10 a ticket under the guise of helping redundant workers but refused to hand the money over to people in desperate circumstances. He pointed out that the architect of the anti-worker Workplace Relations Act, Peter Reith, had quit Parliament with a $2.4 million payout, and that former Ansett boss, Gary Toomey, had walked away from the disaster with a $3.4 million sweetener. He characterised former workmates as Australians and trade unionists who had worked hard throughout their lives and accused the Howard Government of "doing nothing for us at all". To commemorate the first year of Ansett's demise and the long-running picket which won legislated minimum standards for Australians tipped out of their jobs, TWU members will hold a barbecue and picnic at Mutch Park, Pagewood, this Saturday. The TWU is inviting anyone who supports the Ansett workers' battle to attend. Workers Urged to Attend Creditors Meeting Meanwhile, unions are urging former employees to attend the third Ansett creditors meeting in Melbourne later this month. ACTU secretary Greg Combet said unions would push approval of a program of further payments of accrued entitlements owed to employees who still have $370 million outstanding. The creditors meeting will be held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on Semptember 25. It will hear a report from administrators on the progress of asset sales.
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