Workers Online Issue No. 242 - 15 October 2004
Workers Online picks itself up, dusts itself off and looks forward to a brand new world
And it's true, although - with the admitted benefit of hindsight - I would argue that the lies are not all of Howard's making.
In fact the central issue that dictated Saturday's dire result: economic management and interest rates, was allowed to grow a life of its own because of a lie we have perpetuated over the last eight and a half years.
That lie is based on the failure of both the ALP and the union movement to own the tremendous economic achievements of the Hawke-Keating Accord years.
This was an era when the Australian economy opened up to the world - driven by a partnership between a social democrat party and organised labour, something that did not happen anywhere else in the world.
We avoided the social dislocation and break-down of the Reagan and Thatcher regimes. The change, while radical, included industry plans, massive investments in education and retraining, and a national savings strategy.
And it went further; the union movement took the principled decision to back labour market deregulation - even though they knew it would make their own job tougher - because it recognised that an economy based on productivity could only benefit its members.
At every stage of this process the government worked with the union movement, through seven rounds of Accord negotiations, a series of agreements that fundamentally recast the workforce.
Yes, there was pain in the transition, including high interest rates. But the outcome was a national economy that is today delivering prosperity to more people than ever before.
It was a remarkable achievement for a party of the Left, but one which we have failed to take the credit for.
The tide turned after 1996 when an electorate fatigued by a decade of economic change, still waiting for its benefits to be realised, threw Labor out of office.
In the post mortems that followed, the ALP determined it had got too far ahead of the electorate and reverted to a more economically conservative policy agenda.
Meanwhile unions entered a period of denial where they seemed to give up on the benefits of economic reform and mount a campaign to wind back the changes, even as the benefits began to flow. By recanting the Accord we nullified our achievements.
And so the lie was planted - that Labor and the unions were against reform, against change.
From this lie many others have followed: Labor can not manage the economy; unions are anti-reform; the only way to achieve improved productivity is to smash collective labour.
This was the fertile soil that, seeded with an energetic but new leader, Howard was able to cultivate as proof of Labor's incapacity to govern at this election. It worked a treat.
There will be much soul-searching in the weeks ahead; valid arguments about the direction of Labor, the policy settings, the campaign tactics.
But until Labor comes to terms with its recent history and constructs a story that allows them to own the reforms that are delivering the standard of living that Howard now claims as his legacy, it will struggle to make a case to lead.
For the union movement the challenge, even at a time when the Conservatives will be on the attack, is to reclaim our positive agenda based on the acceptance that change is inevitable and the best ideas come from the ground up.
Peter Lewis
Editor
In this edition:
*****
While Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss Peter Hendy's reaction to the Federal election may not be the only political equivalent of premature ejaculation we saw this week, it was certainly one of the more impressive.
Poor old Peter let the cat out of the bag when he revealed his wish list following the return of Dear Leader Howard.
Hendy was foaming at the mouth this week on the need for radical workplace legislation blocked in the Senate over the past seven years to be passed.
The reforms include the old hoary chestnut of compulsory union secret ballots before strikes to stop those hairy Bolsheviks from intimidating the honest Australian yeomanry, more AWAs and small business exemption from unfair dismissals.
There is also the laughable call for a permanent commission to police corruption in the building industry. Obviously Hendy is keen to see his mates at the ACCI locked up for killing people.
Hendy also wants the Orwellian titled More Jobs Better Pay Bill passed.
Still, this advocate of paying people in salt shouldn't surprise us. Hendy first rose to mediocrity as a staffer for the man so fondly loved by Australians, Peter Reith. Was it Hendy that showed him how to use a phone card?
Hendy has a unique philosophical position that only members of the Liberal party should receive funds from the taxpayer - advocating that mothers and workers in industries such as sugar should be forced to stand on their own two feet.
Which is fair enough. We can all see how members of the ASX200 would struggle without the assistance of not only taxpayers dollars, but also the judicial, legislative and executive arms of the state to defend them from the rampant greed of Australians working 50-plus hours a week for $35,000 a year.
Luckily Peter Hendy has dedicated his life to ensuring that no Australian millionaire will ever live in poverty.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (which is none of the above) is an interesting organisation, in much the same way that the Ebola Virus is an interesting medical development.
In his drive to reduce Australia to a third world nation populated by a grateful peasantry Hendy claims that there is no such thing as a bad job. No doubt shovelling asbestos is seen as 'enhanced employment mobility' by our Tool Of The Week.
Or maybe Hendy could lead the way by going and chipping cotton piecework in 50 degree heat for 40 dollars a day. Or maybe he'd prefer to work from home 16 hours a day as an outworker and have as much at the end of the week as his mates at the ACCI spend on a bottle of wine over lunch.
This is the sort of dribble we can expect from someone who's never done a day of real work in their lives to start with.
All of this subtlety does make sense if we understand Hendy's view that getting paid less to work longer is a good thing, the Kyoto protocols' are evil and that Hitler was really just a misunderstood genius
In Hendy's view his fellow Australians are little more than robots to be picked up and put down like a shovel, which is consistent with his view that people with more money are more worthy and better human beings.
No wonder the Howard government is proud to have the support of Hendy's glorious vision of a new Reich; soon our Tool Of The Week can start rounding up Bolsheviks, single mothers, trade unionists, Catholics and other free thinkers as soon as the camps are freed up.
Secretary John Robertson says unions have 10 clear months to organise resistance to the legislative assault expected from a strengthened Coalition Government.
Prime Minister John Howard went to the electorate, last Saturday, making no secret of his plan to gree-light unfair sackings at workplaces with less than 20 employees; restrict the ability of unions to visit members; introduce compulsory secret ballots; promote individual agreements; and increase the powers of his building industry taskforce.
But, buoyed by the unexpected scale of the Coalition's success, urgers and tuggers from the Hard Right are backing Howard to go on with the job and eliminate collectivism from Australian workplaces.
Leading the chorus have been Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry head, Peter Hendy, and Institute for Private Enterprise director, Des Moore.
Moore, a confidante of leading Liberals including fellow HR Nicholls Society member Peter Costello, summed-up the wish-list in one paragraph this week.
"Union privileges - such as entry rights, picketing and the right to inspect books - should be abolished, as should the unfair dismissals regime, across the board, and the right to strike should be repealed," Moore told the Age newspaper.
Sydney University's John Buchanan, warns eight years of Howard leadership have already pushed Australia to the far right of the industrial spectrum - out beyond New Zealand and, even, the US.
"Employers can essentially pick and choose whether they negotiate with a union or not," Buchanan said. "There is no other country in the western world where that happens so, even before this election, Australia was a bit of a freak on the world stage.
"If we break down the remaining edifice, we will become a real social laboratory for quite extreme free market ideas, I think."
But Robertson says a renewal process, built around stronger community ties, has been strengthening unions and expanding their support base.
"It's not all doom and gloom. When we are confronted with these challenges, the union movement is at its best," he said. "We are in a better position than we were four or five years ago.
"We have another 10 months before the new Senate is even in place so we won't be panicked into any rash responses."
Robertson says unions will assess the final make-up of the Senate and enter into dialogue with key members. If that be Family First, he says, unions have a persuasive argument to put to them.'
Robertson says the renewal process of recent years has seen unions emerge as champions of family friendly policies, and highlighted the threat to families posed by greater insecurity and reduced entitlements.
He has already held discussions with Premier, Bob Carr, about the practicality of NSW becoming a "safe haven" for organisations prepared to walk away from the federal IR system.
"We have our differences in NSW but, together, we have built a system based on co-operation rather than confrontation. And it works," Robertson said.
"This is not a time for panic. We need to work together, strategically, to defend our members and their families. It will be a difficult period for Australian workers but we have time and experience on our side.
"The labour movement has been around for 100 years and seen governments of all persuasions come and go. While this one may be one of the most difficult, I'm confident we will see it off as well.
Robertson said the real threat to worker organisation could be internal. A return to demarcation arguments and one-out adventurism, he warned, would leave "us dead in the water".
Far from being a rubber stamp for the Howard Government, a quick look at the party�s website shows that, if it sticks to its election platform, it will have significant differences with the Coalition�s expected all-out attack on trade unions.
Importantly, Family First says it recognises the role of unions and awards and will aggressively pursue family-friendly policies.
"Family First recognises that a unique industrial relations system of law that has a legitimate place for trade unions has arisen and developed n Australia over a substantial part of our history," its IR policy states.
Among the Family First polices are commitments to:
- increased protection for casuals and outworkers
- sick leave, annual leave and family leave for all employees
- paid maternity leave
- work-based child care, particularly to allow longer periods of breast-feeing
- provisions allowing "re-entry to the workforce at an equivalent status after a time focussed on parenting at home."
Labor Council secretary John Robertson says it would be a mistake to simply dismiss Family First as a vote for the Howard Government.
"This is a party that s hares some objectives with the union movement - particularly in improving the balance between work and family.
"Our objective must be to open a dialogue with the Party too ensure it understands the impact of any industrial relations legislation they are called up to support."
Workers Online has received internal bank documentation threatening cheque processors with the sack if they don�t further increase productivity.
Banks are upping the ante to get their hands on punters cash quicker with a move to restructure cheque clearance that will further slash jobs without delivering faster cheque clearance times for customers.
Cheque processors start at 4pm and can work until anything from 11.30pm to 4am manually entering amounts into computers.
"ANZ recently noticed that there was an increase in productivity of 9%," says James Woodcock, an organiser for the Financial Sector Union. "Instead of congratulating staff they upped targets by 9%."
Woodcock pointed to lamentable occupational health and safety standards at the Unisys operated cheque clearance centre in Sydney where the workloads creating risks from overuse injuries were compounded by the stress of job insecurity.
A worker at the Unisys centre, Sandra Nikolic, had been raising concerns for over a year.
"We had a situation where cords were running down walkways and over desks, 'unslippable mats' slipping and Unisys didn't do anything about it," says Woodcock. "Magically when the FSU was mentioned things started happening overnight."
Through the actions of Nikolic and other workers ten of eleven outstanding safety issues have been able to be addressed.
Cheque clearance workers are anxiously waiting to hear of further developments on restructuring within Australian clearance centres that could see their jobs disappear.
Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, said the Coalition would not resile from regulations that would compel people to give evidence or produce documents to Nigel Hadgkiss� Building Industry Taskforce, under threat of imprisonment.
He was speaking after Justice Marshall the Taskforce did not have the right to access the personal bank accounts of CFMEU members on Melbourne's Concept Blue site.
Marshall was critical of the Taskforce's failure to disclose the purpose of its investigation when it ordered Multiplex employees to produce the documentation.
"Such notices are foreign to the workplace relations of civilised societies, as distinct from undemocratic and authoritarian states," Justice Marshall ruled.
He challenged the Taskforce's approach after it admitted in court that it "might not have suspicion of anything".
Current penalties for breach of Taskforce monitored building industry laws, rushed through after the Cole Royal Commission, include five-figure fines for unions and fines of up to $2000, and possible imprisonment, for individual members.
The Concept Blue case arose out of a Taskforce investigation of a safety audit, following the death of a Melbourne building worker in August, 2003.
Andrews is expected to refloat elements of the Building Industry Improvement Bill, knocked back after an exhaustive inquiry by the outgoing Senate.
The Bill seeks to further bolster Taskforce powers, including giving it the nod to investigate union activities with a view to facilitating potentially crippling damages claims on behalf of third parties. It would also remove the right to silence, during Taskforce interviews.
CFMEU Victorian secretary, Martin Kingham, called on the Howard Government to heed Justice Marshall's warning "and not journey down the path to an authoritarian state".
"This kind of intrusive behaviour into workers private lives should have no place in Australian society. Workers should not be subjected to this intrusion purely because they want to make sure their work environment is safe," he said.
Kingham said the decision reflected the union's contention that Hadgkiss' organisation was doing a "political job".
He said Taskforce officers gave no indication of interest in unsafe conditions that threatened workers lives or underpayments or contractual breaches by employers.
Last Tuesday, infrastructure specialists remaining from the privatisation of Pacific Power, were given six hours to pack their belongings and vacate offices. By Wednesday afternoon, dozens of northern Sydney homes had lost power as the system failed to handle 38 degree temperatures.
Treasurer Michael Egan announced the forced redundancies of workers who had repeatedly turned their backs on more generous severance offers.
Axed USU member, Mark Gill, said workmates hadn't wanted golden handshakes, they simply wanted to work but attempts to relocate to other State Owner Enterprises had been thwarted by an apparent blacklist.
Gill said the state's power system faced problems because "short sighted, market-driven" policies had driven skilled workers out of the industry.
He described his personal situation as ironic. Last Saturday, he was handing out How to Votes for federal Labor but by Tuesday its state counterpart had terminated his 30-year commitment to the power industry.
The PSA's Steve Turner said Egan had loaded electricity generators with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt that would eventually be paid by consumers but had refused rejected attempts to relocate the workers.
"On Tuesday they sacked people with energy qualifications and the ability to power stations and, on Wednesday, we had blackouts because generators didn't have enough power to deal with a hot day," Turner said.
"This government claims we have excess generating capacity but that's certainly not the case when temperatures climb."
Turner warned that NSW could find itself replicating the Auckland situation where the privatised system collapsed, after maintenance was neglected, causing businesses to lose millions of dollars.
Both the PSA and USU are accusing state government of breaking an agreement not to impose forced redundancies on public sector workers.
Over 50 of Margaret Takis� workmates at Sydney�s International Terminal have already signed a petition expressing outrage at the treatment of the 57-year-old, who is only a few years off retirement.
Takis, who has served Qantas for 30 years and speaks five languages, injured herself pushing a wheelchair at the airport earlier this year, and was forced to take time off.
Takis' doctor says she is ready to return to work but Qantas labels her a "risk" and says, if she can't find an alternative position, she will be dumped.
Takis accuses Qantas of "disloyalty" and abandoning injured staff.
"I have given 30 years of my life to Qantas, doing shift work with 4am starts and sacrificed Christmas's, Easters, weekends, and holidays," she says.
"I've been married longer to Qantas than my husband."
The ASU has taken Takis' case to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, claiming the company is discriminating against her based on physical impairment.
The argument has moved north to Queensland Nickel Industries, at Yabulu, where 120 tradesmen are resisting attempts to impose drug and alcohol testing, they say is irrelevant to workplace safety.
"We don't care how many jars you pee into, none of them will tell whether you are fatigued or tired," AMWU organiser, Darren Trask says.
"This form of testing has nothing to do with workplace safety and everything to with disciplinary procedures and imposing a set or moral values.
"Let's be clear, our members are totally opposed to working alongside impaired colleagues. It's their lives at stake. But a form of workplace lotto is not the answer.
"Under this system, if you'd been out with your mate Keith Richard two weeks ago, you would face a disciplinary procedure and possibly lose your job. But if the teetotaller next to you was totally stressed and fatigued, nobody would ever know.
"Fatigue and stress are major safety issues, especially up here when it gets hot."
The AMWU is promoting its CSR agreement as the way forward for workers facing impairment testing.
Earlier this year, it knocked back a CSR attempt to impose alcohol and drug testing in favour of a joint approach that settled on a machine that tests eye movement and pupil dilation to record impairment.
If workers fail the test, for whatever reason, they are stood down.
"We want safe workplaces not another excuse for people to be disciplined," Trask says.
Transfield has rejected the CSR blueprint but workers suspect it is being driven by QNI whose own employees are subject to invasive, random testing.
The AMWU was successful in resisting the demand during EBA negotiations but the contractor has come back for a second bite.
The parties were locked in mediation, last week, and are understood to be preparing cases for a Federal IRC hearing.
Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC) workers were threatened with the use of security guards if they held their meeting at their offices in Sydney and were forced to relocate to Belmore Park to hear a report back from Australian Services Union (ASU) organisers about progress of their current enterprise bargaining agreement.
"The members were furious," says ASU organiser Karen Isles. "They were ready for blood.
"Management's heavy handed tactics have totally backfired and galvanised more support for the EBA campaign."
After pressure by union members and members of the public RailCorp issued an apology for its actions, which is "an admission of guilt" in the eyes of staff according to Isles.
"We want RailCorp management not to interfere with the rights of union members to take democratic action."
"This is typical of RailCorp's jackboot-style management, says ASU president Barry Rule. "In all my 40 years in the rail industry I have never known a lunchtime meeting to be blocked by management."
Rule predicts that management will see "massive" industrial action as a result of their actions.
"Ordinary rail workers are totally incensed," says Rule. "Even workers who are not militant are saying that if they're going to be next their going to take action."
RailCorp members will be meeting this Tuesday, October 19 to consider what industrial action they will take. It is expected that rail services will be disrupted as a result of RailCorp management's refusal to offer realistic conditions for employees across the industry.
"Every meeting we have had so far we are seeing practically unanimous calls for us to proceed to industrial action."
The LHMU's Tim Ferrari said his union was disappointed by exemptions to laws that will be effective from July, 2007.
"We are opposed to exemptions in high roller rooms, it should be a total ban to protect the health of all our members."
NSW Labor Council Secretary John Robertson welcomed the general initiative, describing it as a win for the trade union movement.
"All the scientific evidence points to a significant health risk for workers
exposed to cigarette smoke while working in the hospitality industry," Robertson says.
"The pub and club lobby ran a prolonged fear campaign against this
initiative.
"It is a tribute to the tenacity and advocacy of the trade union movement
that we have got such a great result for NSW workers."
"A phased reduction in this exposure will protect these workers while
ensuring pubs and clubs and their patrons can adapt to the new regime."
"Evidence from the ACT and elsewhere suggests that pubs and clubs will remain viable businesses during and after a phased ban on smoking, so we see this initiative as a great result for hospitality workers and for public health."
Robertson paid tribute to the Labor Council affiliated unions who had pushed the Government on this issue.
The Australian Workers' Union is putting in a bid to improve corporate governance at the company fighting collective bargaining agreements while dishing out 30% pay rises to executives on seven figure paypackets in the last year alone.
AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten said the changes would prevent executive remuneration abuses and ensure improved company practices in the long term.
"This is a company built on the blood, sweat and tears of steelworkers since 1912," says Shorten. "The AWU represents thousands of BlueScope steelworkers around Australia, and most of them are also shareholders in the company. They have a double interest in ensuring the long-term future of BlueScope and deserve to have a voice in the company's decision making processes
The AWU has proposed five changes to the BlueScope Constitution to be voted on at the company's Annual General Meeting in Sydney on October 19.
"The AWU aims to involve BlueScope employee shareholders in legitimate debate about corporate governance. We are encouraging BlueScope workers who hold shares to attend the AGM or vote on good corporate governance."
The AWU proposals will limit non-executive directors' terms to 10 years; cap "golden parachute" payouts to departing executives, prevents directors holding more than four public company directorships or two chairmanships; and require shareholder approval of executive salaries in excess of 20 times average employee earnings.
"Limiting directors' duties to four public company directorships or two chairmanships is needed to make sure they have the time and energy to properly protect the companies' and shareholders' interests. Capping directors' terms at 10 years is a modest requirement for encouraging real independence among non-executive directors," says Shorten, who predicted that unions in other industries would follow suit in using shareholder activism to advance the interests of employees.
The national broadcaster is demanding that radio division employees supply the information in annual performance reviews. Workers Online understands the process began at the time of Senator's Richard Alston's allegations of political bias.
CPSU ABC section secretary, Graeme "Grumpy" Thomson, has written to managing director, Russell Balding, demanding that the organisation "cease and desist".
"The initiative is, in the yes of the CPSU na�ve, ill-considered and intrusive," Thomson wrote.
"If the corporation has reason to believe an employee is acting improperly because they are allowing personal belifs to interfere with their work, then that failure should be measured against the editorial policies. If their programs demonstrate bias, then they should be busted for improper conduct."
Thomson said the union had moved on the basis of strong membership reaction against the demand for political information.
"I am advising our people to write NOYB in that section of the disclosure form," he said.
"Whether or not you are a member of a political party is not the issue," Thomson said. "The issue, for an broadcaster, ABC or commercial, is does it affect your work?"
Kid's Classic Reborn
Meanwhile, ABC staff are welcoming the return of iconic children's current affairs program, Behind the News.
ABC employees were joined by teachers, principals, parents and school children in a concerted demand for the return of a program, axed last year for "budget reasons".
South Australian shop floor representative, Martin Goodwin, thanked the community for rallying behind the program.
"Without that groundswell of support BTN would not have got back on air. I hope ABC management will learn not to be so dismissive of their audiences," Goodwin said.
"It is hard to think of another program on the ABC, for this age group, that would better fit the description of core charter programming. It was a poor decision to pull the program and, even sillier, to resists public demands for it to be put back on air."
The ABC, announced last week, that Behind the News would again be produced from its Adelaide studios.
Melbourne pump manufacturer KSB Ajax withdrew warning letters when 50 AMWU members contacted German and international unions about their plight, then walked off the job in protest.
KSB Ajax provoked the showdown when it refused workers permission to attend last month's rally calling on governments to make James Hardie compensate asbestos disease sufferers.
The Melbourne rally was one of a number timed to coincide with the company's Sydney shareholder information meeting at which executives were expected to again argue their case for having spirited billions of dollars away from the reach of dying Australians and their families.
The magnitude of James Hardie's duplicity was laid out in the report of a special commission of inquiry released the week after the capital city rallies.
That report recommended consideration of prosecutions against James Hardie chief executive officer Peter Macdonald, chief financial officer Peter Shafron, and the company itself.
AMWU members at KSB Ajax felt so strongly about James Hardie's behaviour they defied the company's instruction not to attend the rally.
When they returned to work they were threatened with legal action and issued with individual warning letters.
AMWU national president, Julius Roe, said both his union's German counterpart, IG Metal, and the IMF agreed to bring pressure on KSB Ajax in its homeland.
"It transpired there had been an asbestos scare at KSB in Melbourne and the company had refused to supply protective clothing," Roe said. "This made people doubly keen to participate in the James Hardie rally.
"Immediately after our people walked out and international unions agreed to act, KSB entered negotiations and agreed to withdraw all the warning letters."
Joel Exner's family, along with many of his school friends and over 400 construction workers, attended the unveiling of a memorial in his honour at Wallgrove in Sydney last Friday.
Workers at Exner's former employer, Australand, walked off the job for 24 hours as a mark of respect; they were joined by workers from the nearby M7 project.
The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) called for industrial manslaughter laws to be introduced in NSW to help prevent tragedies such as Joel Exner's death.
"No family in Australia should have to suffer the pain that Joel's family has gone through," says CFMEU NSW Secretary Andrew Ferguson. "The CFMEU refuses to stand by and watch as workers continue to die, and families continue to be torn apart, all for the sake of corporate profits."
"One year on, we still haven't received justice for Joel, and the government still hasn't learnt anything from our pain and suffering," says Joel Exner's mother Sue Baxter. "If a driver is negligent and kills someone, that's a crime, but for some reason they are still refusing to create industrial manslaughter laws so that bosses who are negligent, and kill innocent workers like my son, can be jailed for it."
The memorial features a plaque of Joel and a resting-place for passers by, which is expected to become an important place to the family and friends who live close by.
Rev Set For Unsafety Award
Meanwhile Kev "the Rev" Andrews has inspired safety activists to launch the annual Kevs in conjunction with Workers Online and Labor Council of NSW workplace safety website UnionSafe.
The Kevs will feature documented instances of unsafe practices found in Australian workplaces.
Safety activists, workers and trade unions are encouraged to send their photos of instances of flagrant disregard for safety and common sense to [email protected] and the five most interesting examples being featured on UnionSafe and Workers Online with the winner announced in December.
"Despite the safety positive message unions are promoting in workplaces we still come across some amazing examples of safety being disregarded,' says NSW Labor Council OHS Officer Mary Yaager. "In many instances they are so ridiculous as to be laughable.
"The Kevs are about highlighting the lack of thought given to safety by some organisations.
"Receiving a Kev will be a sign that they need to not only stop putting their workers at risk, but also that they should stop making fools of themselves."
The graphic designer was offered an AWA as a cadet, worth half that earned by her colleagues.
The staff member, who has nine years experience in the job, was offered the lower rates of pay given to cadets and no access to training, study time or professional development.
Cadets are paid less under the newspaper's collective agreement because they recieve10 hours of training weekly.
In addition, the AWA offered the reporter $1800 to compensate for loss of entitlements such as shift penalties, overtime, annual leave, loading and allowances.
These entitlements are estimated to be worth $9000 to other workers.
The Mercury was also forced to roll over when a copy kid who was offered a cadetship insisted on going onto a collective agreement.
Andrew Muthy from the MEAA says The Mercury has been getting staff off collective agreements and onto common law contracts since even before the Howard Government era of AWA's.
"The Mercury has been pushing AWA's for some time, they've become aggressive about it and really sneaky about it as well - they push them when people approach them for a job or an upgrade," Muthy says.
"If people stand up to this company they back down."
The MEAA recently took The Mercury to the Anti-Discrimination Board alleging a sub-editor at the paper who had not been given a merit based increase in earnings for 15 years was being targeting because "he was the face of the union" at the Murdoch owned newspaper.
The testing sites, spread across the city, measure toxic air borne pollutants such as freons, heavy metals, and xylenes that cause respiratory illnesses and other health problems.
John Cahill, secretary of the PSA, believes the cuts show the Government has no regard for the health of Sydneysiders.
Cahill points to the closure of a testing site at Earlwood, a suburb that has been adversely affected by recently constructed ventilation stacks for the M5 tunnel.
"The Blacktown and Westmead air monitoring stations have been closed," he said.
"This is despite western Sydney being a known 'hot spot' for photochemical smog (ozone) events and massive urban growth proposals expected to be finalised by the Government in the near future."
"Over $1 million worth of scientific equipment now lies idle as there are neither staff to operate it nor money to pay day to day operating costs."
The Australian Services Union used the country's first video surveillance legislation to halt efforts by one company to begin posting images of children and staff on the web "to assist parents".
The ASU was concerned the plan to distribute images of children at play, using toilets, in meal rooms and at sleep didn't have enough controls to restrict access.
Greg McLean, the union's federal assistant secretary, said the campaign was vindicated by last week's round-up of child porn suspects. One of those arrested owned two private sector childcare centres.
"Not only did our campaign protect workers in these centres form harassment and exploitation but also the young children under their care," McLean said.
Anare Pty Ltd was ordered to pay back pay Matthew Marchetta and Jason Piccinnin after the IRC upheld the Chief Industrial Magistrate's ruling that it had no grounds for paying them youth rates.
The pair had been employed for about 12 months, operating amusement parlours, at the Mount Prichard Community Club and Marconi Club, both in western Sydney.
Anare revealed that it employed about 12 junior workers every year on youth rates but Turner Freeman solicitor, Megan Cameron, said the implications could impact on all the firm's employees.
Anare had claimed the workers should have been covered by the Theatrical Employees Award, rather than the Clubs Award which does not provide for the payment of youth rates.
But, Cameron said, the Clubs Award provided generally higher rates, across the board.
"Employees and former employees would be entitled to claim wages and monetary conditions for the past six years," she said. "These guys are quite keen to pass the word among their friends and former workmates."
Anare might have seen problems coming when its bid to register an agreement, using the Theatrical Award for non-disadvantage test purposes, was rejected by the IRC last year.
Workers Online understands the company employs workers in amusement parlours in pubs and clubs around the state, including Penrith Panthers, Balmain Leagues, Bathurst Leagues, Bondi Icebergs, South Sydney Leagues, the Epping RSL and the Eastwood and Coogee Bay Hotels.
Workers at all those operations are entitled to representation by the LHMU.
The union was told by the IRC full bench it would have a "strong and legitimate" interest in any future applications involving Anare.
Boycott and Picket the Safari Restaurant
SUPPORT UNPAID SUBCONTRACT BUILDING COMPANIES IN THEIR CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE How can you help? Boycott the Safari Restaurant, Sign our Supporters Petition, Make a donation to the campaign and Picket nightly from 6.15pm - 28 King Street, Newtown.
Features of Blown Youth
by Raimondo Cortese
A new play at the New Theatre
It's the inner city; a student, a stripper, a struggling writer, a cynical idealist and a wannabe tough guy are living in a shared house. Enter a na�ve skinhead, an ambitious prostitute and their very dangerous landlord and everyone's world implodes. A raw, violent and ultimately provocative Australian drama.
This darkly humorous and gritty play is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was first performed in Melbourne in 1997.
Strictly limited season 7 - 23 October 2004
Thurs - Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 5.30pm
All tickets: $15 Bookings: 9519 8958
Dream on!
National competition for students - term 3 The Australian Council of Trade Unions' Worksite for Schools website is currently running a national competition for school, TAFE and RTO students - Your Dream Job. To enter, students must write about the job of their dreams. There is $100 for the student winner, $50 for 2 runners-up, and $25 for the winner of the special effort category.
The competition closes Friday 22nd October 2004. More information and an entry form can be obtained from the Worksite website
Please call 1800 659 511 (toll free) or email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Saharawi benefit night
Celebrate the Saharawi�s love of dancing and the rhythms of Africa with the Caf� of the Gate of Salvation, Mohamed Bangoura (African drum and dance) plus special guest performers. All proceeds go to the Saharawi refugees in Algeria.
People of North Africa who have been waiting for 30 years to return to their homeland of Western Sahara. While Morocco occupies their country, they have survived in refugee camps in the harsh Algerian desert, one of the most inhospitable places on earth. It's the East Timor of Africa.
27 October 2004 $25/$15conc, The Basement- Sydney. 02. 9251-2797
ACTU And Labor Council of NSW Drug, Alcohol and Fatigue Seminar
The ACTU and the NSW Labor Council will be hosting a Drug, Alcohol and Fatigue Seminar at the Sydney Masonic Centre on Wednesday 10 November 2004.
Increasingly employers are insisting that employees and potential employees submit to various forms of testing to ensure they are drug free.
Employees and their unions have opposed many forms of testing as they are intrusive, open to abuse and all too often used to create fear and culture change in the workplace. A number of major employers are currently attempting to force through policies and government and industry safety regulators are attempting to impose standards.
Unions do agree that drugs, alcohol and fatigue don't mix with work and that an impaired worker is a danger to themselves, their fellow workers and others. Unions also seek a holistic response that deals with all causes of impairment, including fatigue and one that recognises the privacy and other rights of employees. There has been a variety of positions put by different unions and union bodies.
The ACTU in association with the State and Territory Labour Councils believes it is time to develop a single view on this important issue. To this end a Drug, Alcohol and Fatigue Seminar will be held at Sydney's Masonic Centre on Wednesday 10 November 2004.
The seminar will have a practical focus and it is hoped it will produce a draft policy on the issue for consideration by the union movement as a whole. Numbers are strictly limited and a $50 fee will apply to cover overheads. Book early to avoid disappointment.
On payment of $50 (GST Inclusive) each participant will receive a booking confirmation by email and details for web access to conference materials.
Forward cheques to ACTU level 2, 393 Swanston Street Melbourne VIC 3000.
Email registration to [email protected]. Participants will receive written material, including an updated program in advance of the seminar in electronic form.
The price quoted is inclusive of GST. Upon acceptance of this registration the form becomes a Tax Invoice. ABN 81 849 815 200
Cancellations: You may make substitutions at any time; please notify us as soon as possible. Cancellations must be in writing. Registered delegates who do not attend or who cancel less than two weeks prior to the conference are liable for the entire fee.
Films, Politics and Learning Conference
Organization: OVAL Research, Faculty of Education, University of Technology 6 & 7 Dec These nights aim:
- To bring together radical film-makers, radical film buffs, and radical educators.
- To inspire educators about ways they can use film in their work.
- To inspire film-makers about ways they might facilitate learning about politics.
- To foster discussion and advocacy about this field of practice.
We are seeking videos and films under 2 categories:
1. Agitprop: protest, guerrilla, activist, political, subversive short films /videos.
2. Participatory film-making: community films/videos as social intervention. The only format accepted is DVD.
Send copies with entry form to Celina McEwen, The Centre for Popular Education, UTS, PO Box 123, BROADWAY NSW 2007 AUSTRALIA. Deadline for entries is September 30, 2004. Entry forms can be downloaded from www.cpe.uts.edu.au/pdfs/FPLentry.pdf
For further information email Celina on (02) 9514 3847 or [email protected]
poetry and building workers: I'd like to see that
Out of all the appalling events surrounding the recent election, perhaps the most disgusting was the spectacle of Tasmanian CFMEU Forestry Division members cheering the lying rodent to the rafters when he announced a forest policy crafted to give their bosses everything they wanted. Unionists should know better.
For a unionist, voting Liberal should be like crossing a picket line. It's something you don't do - ever. No matter how attractive it looks on the basis of the issues presented at the time, it's an act of utter stupidity that will rebound to your disadvantage in the end.
Howard is no friend of workers, timber or otherwise, and no mug either. If the Coalition has sufficient numbers & influence in the Senate to get its industrial relations agenda through, it will be in no small part because Tasmanian timber workers & others like them interstate voted on the basis of what Howard was saying rather than an understanding of what he would do.
Tasmanian timber workers get maybe a few more jobs for a few more years in an unsustainable industry, instead of a managed transition to a sustainable industry, while all workers, including themselves, suffer from the lower wages, poorer working conditions, more hazardous jobs & less secure employment that the Liberals ALWAYS want to foist on us and to which Howard is unswervingly committed.
Workers never get anything from the Liberals that they couldn't get themselves through their own efforts. By asking the Liberals to do it for them, they only give their worst enemies more power to do them harm. As Mephistopheles said, people don't sell their souls to the Devil - they give them away.
In Solidarity,
Greg Platt
Dear Editor
I am seriously considering writing a book on the merits of investing in
companies that truely respect and invest in their people - I could call it
'101 Reasons Why You Should Invest In People Friendly Companies'.
So impressed was I that I purchased the rights to utilise the attached
report (THE HIGH PRICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY. It cost me $95.00, but it
was well worth the investment.
I also suspect that the increases in psychological injuries may even
correlate to what you refered to in your original article..."it is all about
the management of personal relationships - whether it is the worker bullied
by unreasonable workloads or the apprentice bullied in the initiation
ceremony, bullying speaks to a breakdown of dignity at work"
WorkCover have already stated that "In 2001 the Qld Bullying Taskforce
estimated the annual cost of bullying to the Australian economy is between
$6 and $13 billion. Could it actually be that this breakdown of dignity at
work, will eventually catch up with us all, and who will have to foot the
bill?
CCH Australia - THE HIGH PRICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURIES
Key Points
� Workers compensation claims for psychological injury are increasing.
� One recent case= $500,000 damages.
� Employers required by law to provide safe workplaces, free from
prolonged work-related stress.
� Failure to have safe system of work is enough for employer to be
prosecuted.
Workers compensation claims for workplace-related psychological injury have
jumped in recent years and there is no sign they are on the decline.
Moreover, the cost of these claims is high when compared with other types of
injury, with one employee in a recent case awarded almost $500,000 in
damages from his employer.
In 2002-2003, while stress claims made to the workers compensation insurer
for the Commonwealth Government, Comcare, accounted for only 6% of total
workers compensation claims, they accounted for nearly 21% of total claims
payouts. And according to other Comcare figures, psychological injuries cost
four times as much and take longer to resolve than other workers
compensation claims.
What is psychological injury?
Depression, anxiety and neuroses are among the most common psychological
workplace injuries. They may result from prolonged or excessive exposure to
demanding, stressful stimuli, such as work-related factors and/or critical
incidents. And most psychological injuries develop over a long period of
time.
When initially faced with stressful stimuli, the body releases hormones that
increase the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and muscle tension. These
create a state of mental and physical arousal in anticipation of a response
to the stimuli.
If stimuli are prolonged and excessive, the body attempts to adapt. If the
adaptation is over an extended period it can create exhaustion and provide
little opportunity for the body to recover from its stressed state. Over a
prolonged period, stress can make an individual susceptible to psychological
injury. Physical ailments can also occur, such as headaches, back and neck
strain, nausea and constipation.
Not all employees respond to stressful stimuli in the same way. Responses
vary depending on an individual's expectations and their capacity to deal
with demanding work-related factors. As a result, managers must avoid
relying on their own personal coping mechanisms as a guide to how much
stress employees can handle.
At the same time, not all stressful stimuli are negative. A certain level of
stimulus may motivate an employee to creatively and successfully complete
tasks.
However, while individual employee expectations and capacity to cope may
determine the extent of a response, it is work-related factors that trigger
the response. A combination of high job demand and low job control is one of
the most common work-related factors put forward to explain the work-stress
response. In particular, low job control is seen as a major source of
stress.
Employer liability
Under Australian occupational health and safety (OHS) statutory law and
common law, employers must provide safe workplaces. This includes taking
practical steps to identify, assess and control reasonably foreseeable
psychological risks.
Under OHS statutory law, a psychological injury does not have to occur for
an employer to be in breach of OHS law. Failure to have a safe system of
work is enough to be charged and prosecuted.
Under common law, an employee with a psychological injury may be able to sue
an employer for negligence and be awarded damages.
The State of NSW v Coffey [2002] NSWCA 361, 7 November 2002 (Meagher, Heydon
and Ipp JJA), is an example of how an employer's common law duty may play
out in Court. The Court of Appeal found employers have a responsibility to
ensure the psychological health and safety of their workers. A NSW Housing
Commission caretaker received threats and abuse from tenants and had
witnessed murders and suicides, which he reported to his employer. He also
asked his employer to erect a security screen at his office counter, but the
employer refused.
The caretaker resigned from his job after eight years of service with
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The Court of Appeal held the
risk of psychological injury was reasonably foreseeable, but the employer
had failed to act. The employer could have considered rotating the employee
into other positions, monitoring the employee's coping ability and ensuring
he received ongoing counselling.
Although the employer offered a counselling service, it was up to the
employee to seek it out. According to the court, this was not sufficient to
�absolve" the employer from its duty of care to provide a safe system of
work. The employee was awarded $459,478 in damages.
Workers compensation laws
Under Australian workers compensation laws, psychological injury can be
compensated if work contributes to the injury or aggravates an existing
injury. The workplace does not have to be the dominant or the only cause,
but it must be a substantial cause of the injury.
Depending on the injury, compensation may include benefits such as weekly
payments, medical treatment, rehabilitation and lump sum payments for
permanent impairment (as opposed to common law damages).
Employees who are awarded common law damages will have their access to
workers compensation benefits ceased or restricted.
Injuries resulting from reasonable managerial direction, such as
retrenchment or addressing an employee's wilful misconduct are not covered
by workers compensation. However, if retrenchment and other managerial
directions are handled in an unreasonable manner then there could be grounds
for a stress claim.
In Jaksic v WorkCover/Allianz Australia Workers Compensation (SA) Ltd
(Konica Australia Pty Ltd) [2004] SAWCT 17A, the SA Workers Compensation
Tribunal found the workplace contributed to an employee's anxiety and set
aside WorkCover SA's denial of the employee's claim.
WorkCover had argued it was a disciplinary interview that caused the
employee's anxiety; therefore the stress claim could be denied. However, the
judge found other action, not just the disciplinary action, contributed to
the employee's injury.
The employee's supervisor arrived at work one morning to find the warehouse
gate had been left open by the employee and decided to teach the employee a
lesson in securing the warehouse. The supervisor hid equipment from the
employee then asked the employee to find it. The employee could not. The
supervisor then revealed the equipment, indicating the workplace was not
secure. The employee became anxious and left work. The employee had a
history of not adhering to workplace policies and was in the process of
being counselled over this. The employee also had a history of anxiety. The
judge subsequently found that hiding the equipment had been unreasonable and
the employer should have foreseen it would cause the employee to become
anxious.
Disability discrimination laws
Employers must also understand their obligations under disability
discrimination laws. An employer cannot use a psychological injury as the
reason for dismissing an employee if the employee still can carry out the
basic job requirements.
In Power v Aboriginal Hostels Limited [2003] FCA 1475 the Federal Court set
aside an earlier Federal Magistrate's Court ruling, which found an
employer's decision to terminate an employee suffering from clinical
depression was reasonable. According to the Federal Court, the Federal
Magistrate failed to consider if the employee was unable to perform his
on-call duties.
Privacy laws
Employers should also have regard for privacy laws. Federal laws impose
certain obligations on the collection, use and storage of certain
information. Health information is considered sensitive under federal
privacy laws. Employers must ask permission before collecting such
information and do not have an unfettered right to use such information.
Preventing psychological injury
To ensure all workers are reasonably protected from psychological risks,
employers should address stressful work-related stimuli, not just employees'
stress responses.
Specific stressful stimuli may include, but not be limited to:
� controlling management style;
� poor consultation;
� blaming culture;
� unclear job description;
� inadequate training;
� poor recruitment techniques;
� unexplained constant change;
� intense, fast-paced work;
� repetitive and boring work;
� unsupportive work environment;
� interpersonal conflict;
� critical incidents;
� poor ergonomics;
� lack of flexibility, poor salaries and poor working conditions.
Employers should also be aware of the substantial indirect costs of
psychological injury. They can have a negative impact on a workforce's
productivity, morale, turnover, motivation, absenteeism and relationships.
Managers should take the lead and demonstrate the importance of preventing
workplace psychological injuries at both the organisational and the
individual level.
Kind regards
John McPhilbin
Yet again I suspect the right of the ALP has lead the party away from any real challenge to the ruling ideology, and left the public no other choice but to return a party they see as doing reasonably well.
The ALP has to understand that they are not losing the war of catchy slogans, or presenting well, or PR statements. You won most of these things in the election campaign, yet you have been trounced yet again.
You are losing the battle of ideology, you have lost the battle for the minds of people in this country, whilst all the while you are exerting most of your energy on trivial PR exercises. "Ease the squeeze" means nothing, it is useless to the person sitting at work debating who to vote for, even if they want to talk about Labor, you are giving them nothing to work with but a slogan that is more annoying than it is catchy or memorable. You need short succinct intelligent ideological statements, easily rememberable and encapsulating a philosophical proposition that differentiates you from your opponent. "Opportunity for all" is reasonable, but again too airy-fairy in itself, at least tack "Australians" on to the end so people can identify personally with it. Ideas should be grounded to things tangible "Keeping interest rates low", that is the sort of thing I am talking about.
Obviously you(i) would need more time to work on a better slogan but something like "Bringing the Australian Community Together" or even something simple like "No More Lies" which shows yourself as having integrity and gives people a simple message to work with around the water cooler and in the ballet box, that doesn't require the deeper intellectual understanding of facts and figures that
"Opportunity for all" does, but has some use beyond a catch phrase unlike
"Ease the Squeeze".
Election campaigns should be used for bringing out spending commitments, not for releasing untested policies that you have no chance of mitigating should they prove unpopular or have negative reactions a week or two before the election. Test your ideas in the marketplace before you commit to the final forms they will take.
As for your positive campaigns, you don't decide on your tactics based on wishful thinking. Yes we would all like to live in a world where people were positive, but the fact is that none of us are all the time, so trying to run a campaign that way is unlikely to succeed. Read the book "Going Negative" about stuides into US politics, it will show you how to be negative in an effective manner, so you can use as little as possible of it and also maintain a positive image to the smaller portions of the public which vote for that sort of thing. Not to have read this book is to court ignorance for a political leader.
OK, noone will probably read this so I will stop, but I will end by saying that you should spend some more time crunching the numbers about what is going on in our society, rather than following opinion polls. Lead debate instead of following it. Things aren't all rosy and wonderful, there are some deeply troubling trends, perhaps instead of Medicare Gold you could have pointed out to the elderley the 50% increase in most violent crime since this government that rambles on about making Australia safer came to power. Ratifying Kyoto would have given you the green vote (which you pretty much had anyway) in itself, you didn't need to waste energy any further during a campaign, increasing the MRET is much less politically sensitive than saving our beautiful trees, yet it would still hit home with
.
Help the Australian people to understand what is really going on in this country is the only way you will have a chance in the next election. You are too far behind to do it on your own, you need educated people out there in the Australian community helping you.
And lets face it you will have to do this yourself because the Murdoch and
Packer owned media sure isn't going to do it for you.
Cameron Green
Having a close relative crippled with severe osteoporosis, my doctor suggested that I have a bone density xray, to determine whether I had the affliction.
So with my referral in hand, I had the Bone Mineral Densitometry xray and paid the $80 fee.
Naturally, I thought that I would get a major part of the fee back from Medicare when I claimed.
But No Medicare has advised that the services are regarded as health screening and not claimable from Medicare.
The folks at the place where I had the xray advised me that if the Bone Density test determines that one does have osteoporosis, then most of the fee is returned by Medicare, hence the xray is claimable.
This seems totally wrong to me. Regardless whether the test reveals that the person has osteoporosis or they do not, the same amount should be claimable from Medicare.
If someone like myself who could be at risk of having Osteoporosis, as a close relative had the affliction, then the xray should be partially or totally covered by Medicare.
Any other comments from readers?
Carole Goldsmith
I write the night before the election result is known. I'm a rusted on Labor voter, ALP member and a (working) lifetime unionist. I read your latest editorial with some horror. I'm still hopeful that Labor will pick up enough seats to form a government. It does seem to me, however, that you've hit one nail on the head. The union movement does need to think seriously on whether it can allow the ALP to take its support for granted any longer. Most of the current problems facing the movement stem from the Hawke and Keating industrial reforms enthusiastically modified by Howard and Reith. The union leadership simply sat around and watched as they were emasculated.
Abandoning formal links with the ALP would allow the unions to seek the best deal they can extract from the major parties for their members on a range of social issues in return for their support. This would almost certainly not come from the Liberals but if the ALP wants the unions' suport at election time then they should be made to earn it. Perhaps this would also focus the minds of some union leaders on working harder for their membership rather than using their positions as stepping stone to a safe seat in a state or federal parliament.
Adrian Ryan
And it's true, although - with the admitted benefit of hindsight - I would argue that the lies are not all of Howard's making.
In fact the central issue that dictated Saturday's dire result: economic management and interest rates, was allowed to grow a life of its own because of a lie we have perpetuated over the last eight and a half years.
That lie is based on the failure of both the ALP and the union movement to own the tremendous economic achievements of the Hawke-Keating Accord years.
This was an era when the Australian economy opened up to the world - driven by a partnership between a social democrat party and organised labour, something that did not happen anywhere else in the world.
We avoided the social dislocation and break-down of the Reagan and Thatcher regimes. The change, while radical, included industry plans, massive investments in education and retraining, and a national savings strategy.
And it went further; the union movement took the principled decision to back labour market deregulation - even though they knew it would make their own job tougher - because it recognised that an economy based on productivity could only benefit its members.
At every stage of this process the government worked with the union movement, through seven rounds of Accord negotiations, a series of agreements that fundamentally recast the workforce.
Yes, there was pain in the transition, including high interest rates. But the outcome was a national economy that is today delivering prosperity to more people than ever before.
It was a remarkable achievement for a party of the Left, but one which we have failed to take the credit for.
The tide turned after 1996 when an electorate fatigued by a decade of economic change, still waiting for its benefits to be realised, threw Labor out of office.
In the post mortems that followed, the ALP determined it had got too far ahead of the electorate and reverted to a more economically conservative policy agenda.
Meanwhile unions entered a period of denial where they seemed to give up on the benefits of economic reform and mount a campaign to wind back the changes, even as the benefits began to flow. By recanting the Accord we nullified our achievements.
And so the lie was planted - that Labor and the unions were against reform, against change.
From this lie many others have followed: Labor can not manage the economy; unions are anti-reform; the only way to achieve improved productivity is to smash collective labour.
This was the fertile soil that, seeded with an energetic but new leader, Howard was able to cultivate as proof of Labor's incapacity to govern at this election. It worked a treat.
There will be much soul-searching in the weeks ahead; valid arguments about the direction of Labor, the policy settings, the campaign tactics.
But until Labor comes to terms with its recent history and constructs a story that allows them to own the reforms that are delivering the standard of living that Howard now claims as his legacy, it will struggle to make a case to lead.
For the union movement the challenge, even at a time when the Conservatives will be on the attack, is to reclaim our positive agenda based on the acceptance that change is inevitable and the best ideas come from the ground up.
Peter Lewis
Editor