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Issue No. 192 | 22 August 2003 |
Flexing the Muscles
Interview: The New Deal Unions: In the Line of Hire Culture: Too Cool for the Collective? International: The Domino Effect Industrial: A Spanner in the Works National Focus: Gathering of the Tribes History: The Welcome Nazi Tourist Bad Boss: Domm, Domm Turn Around Poetry: Just Move On. Review: Reality Bites
Socialists Give Banks a Kicking Workers Bag Leave Entitlements Australia in Terrorists� Sights Rheem Taps into Lock Out Pattern
The Soapbox Education The Locker Room Postcard
A Harsh Lesson Axe The Max India On A Dollar A Day
Labor Council of NSW |
News Workers Bag Leave Entitlements
Delegates endorsed a platform that recognises portability of entitlements as an objective of all enterprise agreements, meaning workers could pool leave over a number of different jobs. The policy is seen as a key way that casual and short term workers can acquire the right to long-term leave and career breaks, a right full-time workers automatically accrue after ten years. Under the ACTU proposal workers who change jobs within ten years would be able to take the accrued leave with them, keeping it a trust fund. After ten years in the workforce, they would be able too draw on the leave. In a rare show of unity the AMWU and AWU co-sponsored a series of Amendments to the Wages and Collective Bargaining Policy and the Employee Entitlements Policy. Congress heard a variety of reports highlighting the growing proportion of workers with no access to any paid sick or holiday leave. The extension of portability schemes to various industry sectors is now part of the broader push by unions to establish new family friendly employment standards that assist workers in a deregulated environment. Service to an industry rather than an individual employer is now being seen as a necessary response to the flexibility of employment that is now an unwanted but inherent part of today's labour market. CEO of the National Entitlements Security Trust Andrew Whiley applauded the new direction. "NEST has the capacity to administer diverse sector and industry based portability schemes," Whiley says. "We have a state of the art platform for unions and employers to use in developing such schemes." "As a non-profit national Trust Fund we are well placed to advise and assist industrial parties in negotiating the introduction of such schemes." "Portability schemes are well suited for industries with seasonal or cyclical work patterns, high use of labour hire, and service industries with regular turnover of contracts or high labour mobility." Mr Whiley said. Whiley says the construction industry provides a good example of how well run portability schemes with joint employer and employee participation and governance can benefit all parties"
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