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Issue No. 265 | 27 May 2005 |
Hit and Myth
Interview: Fortress NSW Unions: Fashions Afield Industrial: Pay Dirt Politics: Infrastructure Blues History: Big Day Out International: Making History Economics: The Fear Factor Review: The Robots Revolt Poetry: The Corporation's Power
Victims Champ Joins Resistance Usual Suspects Lead Cheer Squad TAFE Teaches A Lesson On Winning
The Soapbox The Locker Room Parliament
One Hell Of A Job US Fan Mail
Labor Council of NSW |
News Bunbury Families Win Payouts
The welders, sea fastening a barge for Global Labour Hire, were being paid flat rates of $24 an hour, at least $8 below going tradesmen's rates. "Now the guys are getting close to $34 an hour, all purpose, with travel, overtime and site allowances on top," AMWU state secretary, Jock Ferguson, said. "We insist on equal pay for equal work but the money wasn't the big issue. Safety-wise, the place was sub-standard. There had been no site inductions and there were no emergency procedures." Ferguson said the workers sat in the shed for half a day until the employer came across on safety issues, and the back pay was a bonus. The welders had been doing 84 hour weeks, preparing a barge for a trip to Africa. Global has work on another four or five barges before the contract ends. The company agreed to safety inductions, tool box meetings, a safety action plan and emergency procedures. Workers elected three health and safety representatives. "They're hard case some of these employers," Ferguson said. "They spend half their time complaining about a skills shortage and the other half exploiting trades people." He said John Howard's workplace law changes would have made this week's settlement near impossible. "It would have been hard to have held a meeting in the first place," he explained. "Howard is trying to keep unions off jobs because he doesn't even want people to learn what they are entitled to."
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