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Issue No. 154 | 27 September 2002 |
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War On The Collective
Interview: Still Flying International: President Gas Politics: Australia: A Rogue State? Unions: Welfare Max Bad Boss: Welcome to Telstra! Health: Fat Albert: The Grim Reaper Satire: Iraq Pre-empts Pre-emptive Strike Poetry: A Man From the East And A Man From The West Review: The Sum Of All Fears
Legends The Locker Room Bosswatch Awards Week in review Activists
 The Shame (Sham) of the Democratic PartyWeapons of DestructionTears From TomGood Hearts
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News Abbott Adds Fuel to Bias Case
With the court challenge to the Royal Commission hanging on whether Commissioner Cole had made findings without hearing from the union, Abbott has admitted he has set up his Building Industry Task Force on the basis of the Cole�s interim report. "It is clear from the Royal Commissioner's First Report that unlawful practices, particularly intimidation and coercion designed to secure a closed shop, occur right across Australia," Abbott told Federal Parliament yesterday. "Over the past nine months, evidence presented to the Royal Commission has justified many of the concerns expressed by participants in the industry. "Workers and contractors have testified that intimidation and threats are commonplace in workplace negotiations." Abbott and Cole's looming problem is that the interim report was handed down before the NSW branch of the CFMEU had the opportunity to respond to these allegations. Defending himself, Cole argued that the report do not contain 'findings', a proposition that the CFMEU is now challenging in the Federal Court. The CFMEU's legal team believes Abbott's comments will only add to this case. "You can't have it both ways. Either Cole has come to no conclusions and Abbott shouldn't be flying into action. Or Cole has come to firm conclusions and demonstrated bias that needs to be dealt with by the Federal Court in October," CFMEU national secretary John Sutton says. Task Force Will Provoke Conflict Meanwhile, the CFMEU has warned that Tony Abbott's task force will herald an era of provocation and potential conflict on building sites around the country. Sutton says Abbott's announcement comes at a time of industrial harmony in the construction industry, and was more about the Minister's political agenda rather than trying to achieve any positive outcomes for the construction industry.
"Tony Abbott is playing politics with a multi-billion dollar industry that is one of the most productive in the world," Sutton says "Our industry is a key component of the Australian economy and Tony Abbott and his squads of snoops and spies could do major damage." Alan Jones Gives Cole A Spray And as criticism of the Cole Commission grows, talkback king Alan Jones has added his voice to the dissent with a scathing editorial on Channel nine's Today Show this week. Here it is in full: 'It tends to be fashionable in this country to have a hit at the union movement.' 'And I have to say I've been guilty of that in the past.' 'But when you see the farce that is Ansett and the extent to which companies just go belly-up and leave workers whistling with nothing, then perhaps some sections of the union movement aren't tough enough.' 'There has been a fairly major exercise in union-bashing going on for some months, calling itself a Royal Commission into the building industry.' 'Remember, this is the same building industry that delivered the 2000 Olympic Games and all its infrastructure miles ahead of time.' 'But the Victorian secretary of the CFMEU has been charged and faces a fine or gaol because he refused twice in July and August to give the name of shop stewards who attended CFMEU training workshops in 2001-2002.' 'So a union official is subject to criminal charges because he refuses to give up the names of union activists.' 'He simply said he wasn't going to put the livelihood of them and their families at risk.' 'Well, you might remember that the national secretary of the CFMEU John Sutton, called for the Royal Commissioner Mr Justice Cole to stand down because a report was issued in August critical of the New South Wales branch of the CFMEU, allegedly without hearing evidence from the union.' 'And the union released at the time some unbelievable figures.' '97 per cent of hearing time had been devoted to anti-union topics.' '604 employers called to give evidence: only 33 workers.' '3 per cent of the witnesses from the rank of the worker: 71 per cent from employers or their representatives.' 'And only 2 per cent of hearing time spent on topics which didn't adversely affect the union.' 'Now surely in all of these things fairness has to be real as well as apparent.' 'But a bloke refuses to give up the names of his shop stewards and he faces criminal charges.' 'It sounds fairly un-Australian.'
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