
Issue No 26		13 August 1999

News

Pay Equity Inquiry Sidelined

A report into gender pay equity funded by NSW taxpayers could be left to gather dust, if the IRC rules that it will not accept its findings that women's work is underpaid.

The Labor Council's push to reignite its pay equity agenda through he creation of a new principle reached in the words of NSW Industrial relations Commission president Justice Wright a "low point" in the Commission this week.

It what can only be described as a "verbal exchange", Labor Council advocate Chris Christodoulou and the president locked horns over how the Commission might determine the status of its own report not pay equity

Unions are arguing the Commission should accept the findings of the two-volume , 12-month, taxpayer funded Ministerial Inquiry into Gender Pay Equity as the basis for establishing new equal remuneration principles.

But employer groups say the Commission and should not and can not led any weight to Justice Glynn's ... -page report, meaning unions would be expected to re-run arguments accepted during the inquiry that women's work is undervalued.

In this week's hearing, Labor Council argued that it may have to "review its position with respect to the application" if it was not clear as to how the report might be used in the proceedings.

Following a full bench hearing, the Labor Council has committed itself to taking its application forward even though the status of the report is still up in the air.

It seems the question of whether the Commission will take notice of its own report will not be determined until the hearings on the equal remuneration principal, which will take place in February of next year.

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Issue 26 contents

Republic: Looking Forward
With the Republic referendum threatening to run off the rails, supporters of an Australian Head of State need to reclaim the debate from the lawyers.

Interview: Chatting With Kate
Workers Onlineďż˝s first ever Net night was held in the Yap chatroom this week. Labor IT spokeswoman Kate Lundy stepped up to the plate to talk Politics in a Wired World.

Unions: Simply the Best!
A major international study has ranked Australian seafarers the world's best.

Technology: Unions Log In to Online Yap
A Conference on Unions and Information Technology for the Australasian Region will be held in Melbourne: November 15-17.

History: Edmund Who?
John Passant lifts the veil on Our first Prime Minister, a bloke called Barton.

International: Turkish Miners' Leader Murdered
Semsi Denizer, President of the Turkish miners' union Genel Maden-Is, was shot dead outside his home last Friday evening.

Labour Review: What's New at the Organising Centre
Read the latest issue of Labour Review, Labor Council's resource for students and activists.

Review: Working Class Boys
silverchair might have a new sound, but theyďż˝re part of a rich Australian music tradition.

» Workers to Star in Second Wave Rally

» Oakdale Injustice: Six Weeks Is All It Takes

» Chook War Widens - Woman Who Walked Wants Job Back

» Rural Council Workers Push to Quit ALP

» Push for Action on Millennium Leave Bug

» Pay Equity Inquiry Sidelined

» NRMA Candidates Address Union Concerns

» Ceiling Dust a Deadly Cocktail

» Sex Discrimination Head Warns Against Complacency

» DIR Launches Indigenous Employment Unit

» "Big Drum Up" For East Timor

» Eric Lee Public Forum

» STOP PRESS: Fire Bans Lifted But Dispute Not Over