 |
US Forces
The concerted and increasingly personal campaign by the Howard Government to portray Mark Latham as anti-American is built on some dodgy premises.
Interview: The New Democrat
Canadian activist Judy Rebick explains how she's using lessons from Brazil to rebuild the labour movement.
Bad Boss: The Ugly Australian
Prime Minister John Howard is in California spruiking the "merits" of this month�s Bad Boss nomination �
Unions: Free Spirits and Slaves
International capital demands guest labour � legal or illegal � as a way of beating down wages and conditions and, as Jim Marr discovers, the Australian Government seems happy to oblige.
Industrial: National Focus
Noel Hester reports on another workplace death (we-will-not-RIP NOHSC), heartburn for the Canberra consensus and all the action from around the states in our national wrap.
History: A Class Act
The problem of forgetting the primacy of class in favour of other ideas of community is highlighted in a new book, writes Neale Towart
International: Across the Ditch
NZ Nurses Union leader, Laila Harr�, is in Sydney this week, comparing notes with the Australian Nurses Federation and seeking transTasman support for New Zealand�s highest profile industrial campaign.
Economics: Home Truths
Sydney University's Frank Stilwell argues that tax policy is driving the housing boom.
Review: No Time Like Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is one part Grim Reaper of the environmental movement and two parts fictitious fable dramatically window dressed with extreme special effects, writes Tara de Boehmler.
Poetry: Silent Note
Resident Bard David Peetz uncovers the current public service motto � "Don't tell the Minister!".
 Hadgkiss Sinks Boot into Safety
Put a Job in Your Trolley
Della Puts Cleaners Through Schools
Freespirit Severs "Slavery" Link
Luna Fringe Targets Fun
Labour Warriors Fall
Canberra Six in Dock
Lobbyists Look for ALP Spine
Tree Plan Faces Axe
Sydney Water to Drip Feed Public
Safety Nosedives At JetStar
Irritable Desks on March
Howard Backs Union Model
Activists What�s On!
The Soapbox
The Pursuit of Happiness Part I
The Australia Institute's Clive Hamilton questions the assumptions underlying a society that defines happiness in dollar terms. The Soapbox
The Pursuit of Happiness Part II
Clive Hamilton concludes his analysis, looking at how more and more Australians are pulling back from a marketplace that is no longer providing the goods. The Locker Room
Sack �Em All!
Phil Doyle puts his job on the line, but doesn�t everyone these days? Politics
The Westie Wing
The NSW Government has an agenda on the table but the test is finding innovative ways to finance it, writes Ian West
Lest We Forget
|
| other LaborNET sites |
|
Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
|
|
|
News
Della Puts Cleaners Through Schools
John Della Bosca has put 6000 low-paid workers on the block in his bid to save money.
Labor Council and the LHMU will register "strenuous objections" to the government�s move to flog off school cleaning contracts to the lowest bidder at a showdown with ministers this week.
The move comes as the LHMU is campaigning to have corporates, such as Woolworths, sign off on core standards for cleaning contractors.
Recent campaigns have highlighted the exploitation of immigrant women paid less than $10 an hour in an industry where "reputable" businesses contract out their obligations to people who clean their premises.
Robertson said the government's failure to insist school contractors retained existing workers, or even applied the award, was evidence IR Minister Della Bosca had embraced "the race to the bottom"
"This a government that runs around the country claiming to have the best IR framework going. Yet it won't insist on its application when it comes to awarding contracts.
"It's time these people woke up and recognised they actually need to look after working people and their families.
"This Minister and his department are threatening the job security and earnings of some of the lowest paid people in NSW."
Robertson said the latest contract announcement contained fewer protections than Liberal Nick Greiner applied when school cleaning was first put up for tender.
Greiner, at least, ensured wages and conditions were underpinned by the cleaners award, Roberston said.
LHMU secretary, Annie Owens, said contractual "standards" had been spelled out at a meeting with senior departmental officials.
 View entire issue - print all of the articles!
Issue 226 contents
|
