*****
Dere Toole sheb
It iz reely goode now I are being a senertar fer ther guvunmint. Ets harde too bee cownting numbas orl ther time butt I em getting betta. I wil ponch thatt bigg warly Bobb Bruwn ef he owperns hez fatt trap agen.
Julliane McGorran, Senarter bloke fer Victerier
The man who put the word swill in the phrase "unrepresentative swill" has been at it again.
While most coalition senators were pleased to celebrate achieving powers unseen since Sparta conquered Athens by having a good old fashioned stoush out the back of the lunch shed, Julian decided to share his newfound power with the opposition benches.
Control of both houses of Parliament for many means that long held ideological scores can now be settled in policy areas such as industrial relations, health, education, indigenous affairs and welfare. For Julian it means he can stick his finger up at the opposition.
He showed us this last week when he showed the opposition why the English won at Agincourt, giving the representatives of the unwashed the digit by way of communicating his newfound sense of superiority.
And boy, didn't he enjoy it.
The last time he looked that pleased was when he emerged from the milking shed doing up his pants.
It was an understandable reaction as Julian had been under a bit of stress.
Showing their sense of humour, the Nationals decided to elect Julian as their Whip. Julian thought this was a good idea as he'd always been a dab hand at rounding up the cows on the family's Gippsland farm, especially that cute Fresian that was always giving him the eye.
Then, to his horror, Julian found out counting was part of this job, not just giving the old persuader a crack when bringing in the Honourable member for Goldstein in for milking.
So when the new senate went to one of its first divisions it came as no surprise to anyone else who'd spent two minutes with our Tool Of the Week that tallying up votes could take some time. Poor old Julian had to use both hands and all eleven toes.
Those that knew him well were impressed he managed to get to one.
Julian was so relieved when he found out that the government side had 33 numbers to the bad guys 31 numbers he decided to show the full range of his powers of intellectual expression, and he gave the opposition the finger. In true McGauran style he stuffed that up, using the wrong finger.
But, given he is guy who can't walk and chew gum at the same time, we can't be surprised.
Poor old Julian was forced to mumble an apology.
This would never had of happened if he was back in the McGauran family's fiefdom of the central Gippsland, where Julian engages in his hobbies of releasing personal information from coronial inquests of the identities of women who have had to endure a mid-term abortion.
Unlike the building industry legislation he supports, abortion is unfortunately unavailable retrospectively for our Tool Of The Week.
Judge Peter McCusker found Bakers Delight paid teenagers �grossly less� than award rates and said he was �troubled� that federal government's Office of the Employment Advocate had okayed the rip-off.
The South Australian Industrial Relations Commission found at least 50 OEA-approved contracts had undercut the relevant award.
The finding was made after the court heard the case of a 15-year-old Deanna Renella who was paid 25 per cent less than the award minimum.
Under current legislation, AWAs must not put employees at a disadvantage compared to their "overall' award entitlements. But unions have argued that the OEA has a "cavalier" approach to that safeguard.
Changes flagged by the federal government, will do away with that requirement and see secret individual contracts judged against five minimum conditions.
They will also see responsibility for judging the acceptability of AWAs and agreements, shifted from the independent AIRC to the Howard Government's OEA.
The South Australian Court heard that not only was the Renella underpaid, but she also had also been denied annual leave and sick leave entitlements.
The court rejected a Baker's Delight's appeal and upheld an original ruling that it must back pay Renella.
Judge McCusker said young people were at a "manifest disadvantage" negotiating with experienced business people over awards.
ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said the case proved the Government should scrap AWAs, especially for young workers.
"This is one of the most disgusting and graphic examples of how the Government's AWAs are already used to exploit workers, particularly young people," Combet said.
CPSU members at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations secured an in-principle deal, last week, that will maintain their access to the AIRC and deliver average 16 percent wage increases, over three years.
The agreement came eight months after their last EBA expired and followed a campaign of sporadic industrial action.
CPSU spokesperson, Stephen Jones, said the agreement was "very pleasing" and hailed the role of delegates and activists in rolling back the department's politically-motivated campaign.
"It's clear public sector workers are going to have to fight for their rights at work. If we are strategic and determined we can win."
During the 12-month stand-off, the CPSU accused DEWR or running its Minister Kevin Andrews' anti-union agenda.
The department initially rejected a union agreement but workers responded by overwhelmingly voting down its non-union alternative.
DEWR made AWAs compulsory for new starters, despite Prime Ministerial assurances that workers would be able to choose between collective agreements and government-favoured secret, individual contracts.
The final sticking point was its refusal to allow staff to put workplace disputes before the Industrial Relations Commission for resolution.
DEWR folded on that position, last week.
Workers Online understands the three-year wage settlement, built on a 12 percent floor, gives people under the collective agreement parity with those on AWAs.
The CFMEU accused Hadgkiss of �victimisation� after his Taskforce filed prosecutions against job delegate, Peter Levy, and a crane drive in the Western Australian Industrial Magistrates Court.
The counts were laid after the pair testified against the Taskforce in proceedings it brought against the CFMEU.
They have been charged with engaging in unlawful industrial action and breaching disputes resolution procedures, following stoppages that won improved redundancy provisions for workmates on a Barclay Mowlem job.
"The Taskforce singled these guys out because they stood up for their union," CFMEU WA official, Joe McDonald said. "It has a clear agenda of trying to drive a wedge between workers and their union.
"This vindictive use of their powers should remind everyone in the industry what these people are going to do."
McDonald said the Taskforce had singled out the Perth pair from 110 workers who had been involved in disputed action.
This week, Hadgkiss again linked union activity with organised crime and told the ABC he was on the trail of Perth workers, he said, were taking organised sickies.
McDonald said the campaign was ridiculous.
"I'm not a doctor but if blokes are crook they should stay home," he said.
"A public school near where I live closed down three classrooms because of a flu epedimic. I hope he's not going to use his powers to start chasing five-year-olds."
CFMEU assistant national secretary, Dave Noonan, said the Taskforce boss was playing politics.
Noonan said "nonsense' about organised crime, and building workers living in fear, were insults to thousands of hard-working Australians.
"It is purely political. It has nothing to do with law enforcement," Noonan said. "He's been in the job now for three years and he hasn't been able to bring a single criminal charge against this union or any of its members.
"He's talking up a non-existent threat to justify his own existence and the extraordinary powers he has always wanted."
Besides, bringing civil actions against the CFMEU and its members, Hadgkiss has spoken out against state Labor Governments around Australia.
He has initiated legal action against the Victorian Government for refusing to grant a contract to a demolition contractor who, unions say, dusted rural Yallourn with asbestos.
Hadgkiss' powers have been significantly increased by controversial legislation rammed through parliament during the first week of federal government's control of the Senate.
The Building and Construction Industry Improvement Bill restricts the right of union representatives to enter workplaces, makes almost every form of industrial action, including meetings, illegal, substantially increases fines, and introduces prison sentences for workers and their representatives.
It replaces the existing Taskforce with a permanent Building Industry Commission. Hadgkiss is expected to head its investigative and prosecutorial arm.
He has been given the power to force workers to attend interrogation sessions where they must answer questions and produce documents. He can also order them not to reveal anything that went on during interrogation to anyone, bar their lawyers.
Failure to comply with any of those provisions will render building workers liable to imprisonment.
Imperial Mushrooms locked their workers out when it learned of the protest by supporters of Carmen Walacz Vel Walewska, sacked after questioning the terms of an AWA that cut her take-home pay.
Instead, it lined up Employers First head-kicker Garry Brack to front breakfast TV to accuse Carmen of poor performance - claims that have been refuted by Carmen's workmates.
More than 100 supporters attended the picket outside the Londonderry mushroom farm, calling for a consumer boycott of Imperial Mushrooms until she is reinstated.
Channel Nine's 'Today show carried a live cross, where Carmen was attacked live on air by Brack, who claimed she had received a complaint by another staff member.
Australian Workers Union organiser Nick Allan says that worker has now contacted the union, claiming there was no problem with Carmen's performance.
And more details are emerging about poor treatment of staff at Imperial Mushrooms with one woman contacting the AWU claiming the employer had refused her request to reduce her shifts on the grounds she was pregnant,
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Imperial Mushroom AWAs have never been formally registered, meaning they can be challenged in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson sasy the whole saga shows how AWAs can turn workplaces ionto a 'dog's breakfast'."Noone can seriously argue that these AWAs were offered in a spirit of cooperation - they were imposed on a take it or leave it basis. And the employer did not even bother to register them."
As for Carmen, all she wants is to clear her name and get her job back. "I just want to walk in the door and show my fellow workers that it's OK to stand up for your rights at work.
Genevieve Thyer letterboxed her Erina neighbours about how contracts threatened job security.
"I am very concerned about how AWAs threaten not only health care but education," Thyer said.
She was moved to alert neighbours to her concerns after her employer, an aged care home, tried to get her to put staff on short term contracts to make it easier to sack them.
Twenty out of 29 staff have since resigned from the Maxine Louise Aged Care facility at Erina over management style at the home.
Thyer will tell a rally of over 1100 health care workers at Gosford Hospital on Tuesday how management wanted her to put staff on short term contracts in order to sack them.
"As well as insecurity of jobs it affects the resident care of the elderly," says Thyer. "They are in a setting where they need the safety and security of strong relationships with staff."
Staff at the aged care facility are refusing to return until its Director of Care is removed.
Thyer will be joined at Tuesday afternoon's rally at Gosford Hospital by asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton, who has thrown his support behind community concerns about the Federal Government's Industrial Relations changes.
The Republican-dominated board endorsed the legality of a national security firm�s rule, that workers must not �fraternise, on duty or off duty, date or become overly friendly with client�s employees or with co-employees�.
The decision quashed a bid by Guardsmark employees to overturn company rules they said blocked them from "forming, joining or assisting" a trade union.
US federal labour law already allows employers to ban co-workers from associating during working hours.
Stunned labour rights activists called the decision a "clear attack" on the individual's right to freedom of association, speech and privacy.
The Guardsmark ruling was latest NLRB decision to restrict freedoms to form unions. Last November, in a 3-2 vote, it effectively eliminated the right of temporary agency workers to form unions.
In July, 2004, the board held that graduate assistants were students, not employees, and thus were not entitled to the protections contained in federal labour law.
As outgoing CEO David Murray defended his treatment of workers on the basis of the staff satisfaction surveys, independent research painted a different picture, with half saying they would not recommend the bank as a good place to work.
The McNair Ingenuity research nails the difference in impression: 22 per cent of staff say senior management encourage them to answer positively; and another 53 per cent said they felt under pressure to be falsely positive.
FSU national assistant secretary Sharron Caddie says the research shows that people should take management spin on CBA culture with a grain of salt.
"What this shows is that staff are feeling the pinch from 13 years under David Murray, a culture where there has been constant cuts to staff and services in the name of short term profit.
Murray announced his final profit result this week; a whopping $3.99 billion; prompting workers to release their own evaluation of Murray's 13-year reign.
- 20,000 jobs lost including 3,700 in the 'Which new Bank' cultural change program
- 602 branches closed down
- 125 branches downgraded to agencies or service centres
- 1 in 3 staff living in fear of losing their jobs and the majority saying they would not recommend the Commonwealth Bank as a good place to work
- 1 in 3 staff placed on Australian Workplace Agreements
- third-rate individual contracts through subsidiaries like CommSec being imposed on staff; and
- a refusal by the bank to renegotiate collective enterprise agreements for 20,000+ staff despite repeated requests from the majority of staff to do so.
"The CBA's refusal to renegotiate employees' collective enterprise agreements means legally enforceable pay rates would lag 8% behind rates being paid to EBA staff, Caddie says.
"Market analysts are now starting to say what staff have been telling the bank for years - while cost-cutting and restructuring can lead to short term profits, the long term agenda must be about investing in people and services.
"Mr Murray's departure provides an opportunity for a new direction where workers are treated with respect and their choices are respected - particularly when it comes to bargaining collectively."
The AMWU national secretary made the proposal while backing farmers' demands for clear food labeling at a rally in Sydney.
"The AMWU is calling on the federal government to fund a $20 million campaign to promote Australian grown food, over three years," Cameron said.
"The government is spending $20 million in six months trying to brainwash Australians about industrial relations changes that will cost conditions and wages. Why can't they spend that much helping keep Australian farmers and workers in good, honest-paying jobs?"
Cameron congratulated farmers on their Fair Dinkum Food campaign - designed to force supermarket giants to accurately label products on their shelves.
Farmers are objecting to the companies importing product, and materials for generic brands, and hiding the fact behind incomplete labeling.
The Australian food industry supports over 600,000 jobs and boasts a $10 billion trade surplus.
That situation is under threat, however, with McDonalds sourcing chips from overseas and supermarkets agitating for watered-down labeling requirements.
Cameron told farmers their industries were under threat because politicians had capitulated to the "madness" of free trade.
He said they had picked a "David and Goliath" fight in which they would have to confront corporate giants like McDonalds, Coles and Woolworths.
"These companies are greedy, arrogant and uncaring," Cameron said.
"Woolworths profit is in at just over $440 million, and that's just for half the year. It's CEO, Roger Corbett, makes more than $4 million a year.
"Coles profit is $576.5 million and it pays CEO John Fletcher $4.7 million.
"How much profit is enough for these people?"
Cameron called for an enquiry into the Coles-Woolworths supermarket duopoly, and a code of conduct for Australian food companies that would protect farmers and workers.
The code, he said, should include ...
- a requirement that "home brands" be 100 percent Australian
- that "cost downs" on suppliers must be fair and not at the expense of jobs
- a fair allocation of supermarket shelf space for Australian products
- a labour standards test for suppliers
- clear country of origin labeling to allow Australian consumers to make informed choices
The Prime Minister waded into the 10 week lockout in Parliament, this week, backing Boeing's "right" to force 31 Williamstown workers onto individual contracts that pay around $12,000 a year less than union-negotiated agreements at similar operations.
Howard told Parliament Boeing was within its rights to reject the demand of technicians who service Australia's fighter jets for a collective agreement.
"They are, on my advice, entitled to return to work at any time," Howard said.
A spokesman for Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, said Mr Howard's endorsement of Boeing's refusal to negotiate a collective agreement was "not inconsistent" with government promise to "preserve the right of workers to have a union negotiate a collective agreement if they wish".
AWU secretary, Bill Shorten, said the Prime Minister's stance undermined all the assurances his government was giving about its radical IR agenda.
"Our members have clearly demonstrated they want the right to a collective agreement, rather than being forced to stay on unfair and discriminatory individual contracts," Shorten said.
Howard's stance also leant weight to union accusations he was actively supporting Boeing in the dispute.
Last week, the AWU, said the government had waived significant financial penalties Boeing was liable to for failing to deliver under the terms of its contract.
Boeing's individual contracts contain a 43-hour week, no allowances, and no overtime rates with the effect, the AWU says, of technicians being at least $12,000 a year worse off than those on union-negotiated agreements.
Individual contracts, that undermine collective wages and conditions, are at the heart of sweeping workplace changes planned by the Howard Government.
Hundreds of employees of BDS Recruit, Telstra's largest labour hire supplier, are considering industrial action in an effort to stave off massive cash grabs.
Last week, the company revealed plans to cut earnings by between $3.30 and $9 an hour.
BDS Recruit supplies labour to Telstra for work on its phone network infrastructure, mobile phone tower and broadband service.
Telstra was an early and enthusiastic user of Howard Government laws that attacked wages and job security.
It introduced thousands of AWAs, sacked tens of thousands of workers, and contracted out thousands more positions to ready itself for John Howard's promised privatisation.
While its labour hire provider was moving to slash wages, Telstra announced a $4.4 billion profit and confirmed its new American CEO, Sol Trujillo, would trouser more than $11 million a year.
ETU Queensland secretary, Dick Williams, said it was a foretaste of what would we tried on once the Howard Government titled laws further in employers' favour.
"It just defies belief that, in the face of irrefutable evidence, the Prime Minister and his supporters continue to say their proposed changes are about higher wages and greater prosperity for working people," Williams said.
BDS employees were holding meetings, or telephone hook-ups, around Australia, last week.
In what could be the last AIRC family test case ruling, women now have the right to ask for part-time work until their child reaches school age.
It has also granted workers the right to request an extension of unpaid parental leave from 12 to 24 months.
But the gains could be lost within months, with Howard refusing to commit to the rights when it overhauls industrial relations laws.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said not only was the future of the newly won rights uncertain, but the Government had its sites set on disarming the Commission which won them.
"The Federal Government's workplace reforms will lead to reduced rights for more than 1.5 million award workers and mean this is the last award test case of its kind."
In the Coalition's planned workplace reforms, it plans to replace the AIRC with a "Fair Pay Commission" of Government-appointees.
Meanwhile, Family First Senator Steven Fielding has distanced himself from the Government's reform agenda.
Fielding said demolishing traditional social structures had enslaved people to the forces of the market.
"Where once the labour market respected the fact that workers had family responsibilities, today workers struggle to balance their paid work and family life," he said.
There were large turnouts at peaceful assemblies at rail depots from Perth to Port Kembla workers at Pacific National - a joint venture between Corrigan's Patrick Corp and road transport giant Toll Holdings.
"This is something we have to do," said the Rail Tram and Bus Union's Greg Harvey from the gates of the Sydney Freight terminal at Chullora. "And we are prepared to do it again if we have to."
Truck drivers for TOLL and other independent operators refused to enter freight terminals where peaceful assemblies had been established. Members of the Transport Workers Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, who fought off attempts by Patrick to de-unionise their stevedoring operation on 1998, joined RTBU members at the peaceful assemblies.
In the lead up to the stoppage Pacific National had told employees the protected action was illegal, a move the RTBU says was designed to put fear into the workforce.
The management strategy backfired with 70 rail workers joining the union in the week leading up to Friday's action.
RTBU national secretary Bob Hayden described the turn out as "fantastic".
"RTBU members showed their solidarity with each other and their desire for a single union collective agreement.
"Workers have delivered productivity and profits under the current collective agreement. But the return for their loyalty and dedication must not be job insecurity, erosion of conditions and wages and the contracting out of current collective agreement jobs,
"The decision has not been taken lightly, members are giving up a day's pay because they care about their job security."
The RTBU members have been negotiating with Pacific National for five months in an effort to secure a collective agreement.
Pacific National recently announced a nine-month net after tax profit of $78 million, a 39 per cent increase from the previous nine months.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry blames the skills crisis on the difficulty employers face in sacking apprentices once they come out of their time.
The ACCI is demanding that the government strip apprentices of the right to claim unfair dismissal.
The call is part of a "barriers to training" report written for the Department of Education, Science and Training and follows a number of successful unfair dismissal claims by sacked apprentices.
But AMWU National President Julius Roe says the proposal would advantage unscrupulous bosses who use apprentices for cheap labour and to benefit from government incentives.
"Unfortunately there are some employers abusing subsidies for training apprentices without making any commitments to further employment," Roe said.
Roe says the proposal would actually drive people away from apprenticeships.
"The proposal that ACCI has been pursuing vigorously will undermine the quality of apprenticeships and their attractiveness to young people," Roe said.
"It would make the skill shortage worse. Why would someone sign up to something for a long period on low pay with no reasonable prospects for long term employment?"
The Federal Government will spend more than $500 million this year on "incentives", including cash-handouts to employers, under its New Apprentice scheme.
Roe says the Government should be considering more certainty for apprentices if they want to attract people to trades.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
As part of the Make Poverty History campaign, award-winning Indian journalist and leading agricultural economist Devinder Sharma will be in Sydney for an Oxfam Australia Campaign Caf�.
Well known for his views on food and trade policy, Devinder Sharma is at the forefront of the global debates on genetic engineering, globalisation and free trade. He will offer his perspective on global trade issues at our Campaign Caf� on 22nd August.
When : Monday 22nd August @ 6 for 6.30pm
Where: Australian Council for the Arts, 372 Elizabeth Street (cnr Elizabeth and Cooper Sts)
RSVP: [email protected] / 02 8204 3900
WHY THE STATE IR SYSTEMS MATTER
In response to the Howard government's proposed dismantling of the State industrial relations systems, the Business and Labour History Group at the University of Sydney is organizing a one-day symposium on the industrial, social and economic significance of the State systems since their foundation over a century ago. The symposium, entitled The State Systems of Industrial Relations: Past, Present and Future, is to be held on Friday 26 August at the Women's College, University of Sydney. Speakers include Justices Wright and Walton from the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW, as well as a number of academic researchers and labour lawyers. Full program details, as well as an on-line registration facility, are available at http://blhg.econ.usyd.edu.au.
Mountain Talk
A community forum on the Federal Government's proposed changes to industrial relation laws, has been organised for Saturday 27th August between 2pm and 4pm at Springwood Civic Centre.
The forum will hear from church and community representatives. It has been organised by Blue Mountains for a Fairer Australia, a community group concerned that the proposal to reduce the number of award conditions from 16 to just 5 will profoundly affect the way we live and work. Dr Nerida Burton, one of the meeting organisers, said, 'I am very concerned about what is going to happen to families as a result of this legislation'.
The group has invited the Federal member for Macquarie, Kerry Bartlett, to attend the meeting to address his constituents' concerns and explain the implications of the Government's proposals. He has thus far declined the invitation.
Dr Burton says 'This is not a party-political forum, yet we can't get any member of the Government to attend. Mr Bartlett's electoral office is just 20 metres away from the venue, but he prefers to address his constituents via a $20 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign.'
Addressing the meeting will be Rev Dr. Anne Wansbrough, Social Policy Director at Uniting Care, Dr John Falzon National Researcher/Advocate Saint Vincent de Paul Society , Amber Jacobus President of the UWS Student Union, and John Robertson, the Secretary of Unions NSW. John Robertson said, 'These proposals should be of concern to all workers and their families. They strike at the Australian way of life. Annual leave, penalty rates and control of working hours will all be up for grabs under these changes. It's important people understand what these changes are about and join the campaign against them.'
All are welcome, including children, and afternoon tea will be available. For information contact Kathie Herbert for Blue Mountains For A Fairer Australia on 4782 3384.
NOT JUST ANOTHER CONFERENCE
It's just under three weeks to go until the fourth Sydney Social Forum.
Unlike any other conference, the Sydney Social Forum is a do-it-yourself event. The SSF is not a series of "workshops" where panels of "experts" lecture to you. The SSF is an open space where maximum participation is encouraged. It's the participants who decide the content of the sessions, how they are run, and the issues that are discussed.
So what do you want to talk about? What are the issues that concern you?
Already, there have been a number of sessions registered covering a variety of topics, but there's still time for you to get involved and have a say.
You can register your session prior to the weekend, but you can also simply turn up on the day and be able to host one.
Below you can find out the hows and whys of getting you or your organization involved and sharing your experiences and ideas in what will be a fantastic weekend for the social movements in our city.
A NEW SYDNEY
4th Sydney Social Forum
27-29 August 2005
Petersham West TAFE
Petersham Town Hall
The Sydney Mint
http://www.sydneysocialforum.org
The weekend two days of the SSF are to discuss
"where we're at" and "we're we want to be" in terms of community and workplace activism - to educate ourselves, share experiences, and try to arrive as possible outcomes, solutions, and strategies to make it happen.
The SSF organising team is encouraging participants to think about the type of workshop you wish to hold, and how you might maximise the time-slot.
For instance, you are encouraged to work out if you're going to hold an educational style workshop, or an activist style workshop.
An "educational" workshop may be held lecture style, and is designed to allow those who may be new to an issue or new to activism to get a broader understanding.
An "activist" workshop should be more dynamic, aimed at a particular constituency who may be more or less up to date with the area of concern. The aim should be maximum participation from those present. You might consider
having a 5-10 minute intro followed by 20 minutes of discussion, 5 minutes from the front and further discussion etc. Try to think of how you can make the workshop "dynamic" and give yourself and participants the best chance of arriving at "outcomes".
You are also encouraged to think beyond your particular issue or campaign area and consider how you could share the platform with other groups or speakers who may be able to contribute more broadly to a common area of interest.
Remember, the SSF is not simply a "talk-fest", but an opportunity to network and broaden links among our social movements.
1) GET REGISTERED
You will need to be registered as an individual or an organisation to be able to hold a workshop.
2) WORK OUT YOUR TOPIC
Think about the style of session you might hold in light of the suggestions above.
Get in touch with other groups and maybe arrange a working group to identify the main issues in a particular area.
For example, a number of environmental activists from different areas and organisations have formed a working group to discuss the most important issues regarding the environment and the best way to present and discuss them.
3) GET IN TOUCH WITH THE SSF ORGANISING TEAM
We will take your workshop details and publicise them at the SSF website.
Details required are:
* workshop title
* brief description about the aim of the workshop
* who's speaking
* proposed day/time
* your contact details.
We may also be able to put you in touch with others who may be considering a similar workshop, as well at let you know about any broad issue-based working groups which may be up and running.
If there are particular time constraints (such as speaker availability), please indicate a possible time for your workshop.
4) PUBLICISE YOUR SESSION
The SSF Organising Team does general publicity for the overall forum, but it's up to you to make sure that people know about your session. It's not safe to assume a "readymade audience"
Get your friends and contacts to register for the weekend.
Call and email all your contacts and anyone else who you want to attend your workshop and the SSF in general. Give them a leaflet or direct them to check out this website.
Following the final workshop deadline, a full publicity kit with PDF leaflets, posters, and rego forms will be available from the website. Just download, photocopy and start dishing them out!
If you have any questions or if you want to get hold of leaflets and posters etc, please contact the organising team.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: Melanie 0403 051 606 or Vince 0438 800 244
CUP OF TEA?
a new black comedy about politicians, sex, murder, sex, big business, the media... and sex. It opens August 8 at the Newtown Theatre and is a witty, cynical look at modern political life, written and directed by (Dr) Patricia Petersen - who is probably the most photogenic 'human headline' writing for the stage in Australia
Patricia:
* ran against Tony Abbott in the last federal election;
* has taught politics and political philosophy in various Australian universities;
* has written a number of plays, produced and directed several others and acted in many more;
* recently starred in and directed The Vagina Monologues at the Seymour Centre and NIDA;
She lives and writes in Sydney.
Doin' it for the Kids
Young people and politics: Engagement and participation
Tuesday September 6
5.30 for 6pm
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney
Cost $25, (Evatt members and concession card $15)
Entry cost includes wine and cheese refreshments
RSVP is essential:
Evatt Foundation
Phone: 9385 7137
Email: [email protected]
I am writing in reference to the Howard Government and it's promise of $1 Billion for Farmers affected by drought.
The Howard Government and the failed Minister for Agriculture, Warren Truss have been all spin and no substance on delivering policies for regional and rural communities, in total only $131 million has been allocated for our nations farmers, with millions being returned to Treasury.
Two years ago Mr Howard and his former Minister of Agriculture, Warren Truss (Elmer Fudd of the Coalition) claimed that $120 Million was being spent in NSW, it has now been revealed this money was never allocated, Mr Howard was quick to implement interest rate subsidies but provided no financial assistance to our nations battling farmers, the Australian Labor Party has been the best friend that farmers ever had.
Sean Ambrose
Stevedore, Port Botany
Interesting article by George Williams about the probably unconstitutional aspects of the Commonwealth's attempted usurpation of power of industrial relations.
I hope that when the High Court considers the matter, they take the will of their masters, the people, into account.
In 1973 the people rejected, by a two-thirds majority, a proposal to allow the Commonwealth to make laws concerning wages. This was the most overwhelming NO vote in any referendum since Federation. The people had also in 1913 rejected a proposal to allow the Commonwealth to make laws concerning industrial disputes.
Peter Kennedy
NSW
During the past two elections I have run a webpage on industrial relations policy.
Since February this year, I have developed a comprehensive resource of online material organised into accessible pages for the use of anyone interested in the issues of industrial relations "reform".
Pages are organised according a daily compendium of media reports (organised into monthly collections), government statements, ALP and other political party contributions, reform advocates, critical resources, the role of the churches in the debate, what employer groups say, ACTU, state labour councils, and unions. The site also contains my own editorial comments on various aspects of the Howard government campaign to individualise the industrial relations system.
You can access this service at its current, temporary location at http://www.hotkey.net.au/~jimmcd/recon.htm.
Jim McDonald
Qld
The article 'Andrews provokes showdown' reveals the tactics of the government very clearly. Stall, deny, and wait for the big guns of the taxpayer funded ad campaign to come to the rescue of a government caught with its rhetorical pants down! However the labour movement needs to do more than simply point out that the government are liars. People know this and don't expect anything more from this government.
We need to shake up the debate in this country at the most basic levels. Just what is it about Howard/Costello's 'golden economy' that requires real wages to be cut? If the economy is so good, why are they banking on workers working longer hours as a way to increase productivity?
How do we know that increased productivity (if it occurs which it won't from these changes) won't be trousered by CEOs and shareholders, the way productivity increases have been trousered over the last decade? There are many more questions and points to be made about the federal government's jihad against working families, and if the labour movement doesn't raise them, no one else will. I think people are ready for an honest debate about the state of the economy, and are ready to hear different voices arguing for different options than the ones we have been listening to for so long.
So far the labour movement has the ear of people. People are listening because they know the government are liars and they are worried about the future. But we have to do more than simply spell out how bad this will be for working families. We need to start spelling out alternative pathways to a better, more secure, more sustainable economic and social future for every-body.
Linda Carruthers
NSW
Mr Howard has been very successful at reading the pulse of public opinion over the years, but it seems that he is in danger of crossing a very thin line with his ideologically-driven IR agenda.
What he has failed to do, in my opinion, is to really listen and understand people's concerns. The danger for him and his Government is that 'reality will bite'.
The Howard Government seem puzzled by all the fuss about their agenda, which is sad, because it should be obvious why there is so much opposition.
Psychologist Abraham Malsow said it best:
"Everybody seems to be aware at some level of consciousness of the fact that authoritarianism outrages the dignity of workers. They fight back in order to restore their dignity and self-esteem...These reactions are puzzling to the dominator, but on a whole they are easily understood, and they make real psychological sense, if they are understood as attempts to maintain one's dignity under conditions of domination and disrespect.
"How can any human being help but be insulted by being treated as an interchangable part, as simply a cog in a machine? There is no other human, reasonable, intelligible way to respond to this profound cutting off of one's growth possibilities than by getting angry or resentful or struggling to get out of the situation."
Believe me, I know this feeling from experience.
John McPhilbin
NSW
Which bank gave it's staff who were "under contract" a less than 2% increase? They do not get to negotiate or sign a new contract. They just get a notification of their new salary - merit or worth is irrelevant. Non-contracted staff got 4% in July. Most of the staff under a contract are still members of their union.
Josheph Parry
NSW
Please make Kevin Andrews Tool of the Week
This poorly disguised fascist has set new heights in the pursuit of hypocrisy. Hiding behind a mild exterior, one need not look far (his own department) to find the reality of his Industrial Relations agenda is merely a return to the laissez faire policy of uncontrolled capitalism that enslaved working Australians to a substandard existence. By forcing his department's staff onto individual contracts with reduced awards and less security he has shown the Australian public the cruel inequitable reality of his legislation that is set to destroy all fairness in the system that our workers have spent over 100 years fighting to be established. His argument, that Australia needs to innovate to compete with the international market, ridicules the statistics that show unemployment at a 28-year low, record job opportunities and sustained economic growth. Is he talking about the same country? Although his proposals have come under sustained attack from academics nationwide and every other political party (including Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce who, lets hope, takes a moral stand for rural Australia and its workers), Kevin continues to service the lower back region of the prime minister's person in his merciless destruction of job security and the family unit. He has tried to come across as a good 'Christian', however this has severely backfired since every major church in Australia has openly condemned the IR proposals as flawed. His only supporters are the very businesses that hope to exploit and undermine the 85 per cent plus of Australians that will be affected.
Sadly however this absolute tool has only been able to progress his neo-fascist ideology because of the widespread political apathy and ignorance of the Australian electorate that elected this neo-conservative regime. Next time, hopefully, those of us that have a soul will realise that all that the (extremely UN)liberal party brings to this country is injustice, inequality and immorality. Please make this tool a TOOL OF THE WEEK (if you have already do it again, you know you want to)!
Daniel Sharp
NSW
The article "Patient Bashes Nurse", on page 14 of the Daily Telegraph (August 10) must raise concerns not only of those employed in the health industry, but those citizens who must through illness be in attendance at such health care institutions. Their circumstances, whether it be as a visitor or a patient being much more vulnerable to serious injury from attacks such as this!
While this incident was in the Mental Health Facility "Caritas" it is clearly indicative of lax admission procedures, and an unacceptable exposure of staff to risk of violence, this exposure being in breach of the Occupational Health & Safety Act 2000.
In fact work cover has an excellent publication "Prevention and Management of Workplace Aggression�: Guidelines and Case Studies from the NSW Health Industry" Prepared by Jim Delaney on behalf of Central Sydney Area Health Service December 2001 WorkCover NSW Injury Prevention, Education and Research Grants Scheme Grant No 97/0050, with the foreword by Dr Diana G. Horvath AO Chief Executive Officer Central Sydney Area Health Service, and can be found online at -
My own experience at SV&MHS, was overwhelmingly a safety conscious workplace, unfortunately there are always those who let down the side, or are not team orientated but driven entirely by egocentric machinations, and while I did experience this outrageous spite and egotism, it was in an area ancillary to the one in which I was actually employed, and so was not exposed to any danger, it was my opinion that safety was by divine guidance rather that good design.
In relation to these hazards, I make mention of obvious carbon monoxide pollution in delivery areas such as the Xavier Store, the deafening noise the staff were subjected to during the recent installation of a waste compactor, the arbitrary use of PPE in the store, with supervisory staff wandering around without safety footwear, yet creating disputation over whether a high visibility vest should be Green, Yellow or Red and or rubbish piled up around the area creating numerous hazards around a busy work area which had no obvious traffic management plan.
What arises from this unfortunate incident is that, policies and procedures are not written for the sole purpose of filling book shelves, or for the employment of illiterate scribes, but are to be applied in the workplace, and of course more security for our overworked healthcare professionals is must, and I am currently available, and on call.
Tom Collins
NSW
For the Howard Government, there is now absolute power and a determination not to waste this once in a generation opportunity. After nine years in power, the PMs challenge is not how to get laws through a hostile Senate, but what policy he will steam roll into law.
It is sign of the obsessions and self-focus of the Howard Government that the three priority areas are: selling off what's left of Telstra ; wiping out student unionism and destroying workers rights.
The common theme of these three 'priorities' are that they are based on ideological fixations; they are deeply unpopular with the people and they were hardly mentioned at the last federal election.
There's another common theme that emerged in the first week of the new Parliament - the federal government has not done it's homework - it is giving every impression of having sat back since last year's election waiting to just waltz in and do to the Australian people what Julian McGaurin so eloquently did to the Senate this week.
On Telstra, they are arguing about how big a slush fund to give the bush to sell off the Nats; on VSU they are arguing about how big a slush fund to give the bush universities to sell off the Nats and on IR., they are just arguing and hoping the $20 million slush fund will be enough to convince Australians that taking away their work rights will make their life better. As Andrew Robb betrayed this week, deep down some are beginning to wonder whether this is possible.
As for the Nationals, the attention has focused on the fighting words of Barnaby Joyce; and the charming welcome his 'friends ' in the Liberal Party have given him. Who knows, he may be bought off or turn to water in the long run; but right now he is giving every indication of a politician who takes his responsibilities to his electorate seriously. A rare creature on either side of the House.
But the deeper concern for the Nats is that in these three issues the party may well be sowing the seeds of its own demise. Without the cross-bench Senators to save them the embarrassment, Nation al senators are being asked to act against the interests, values and express wishes of the people who have put them in power. Question is, can any amount of money save them from what they are about to do?
(As an aside; am I mad or does there currently appear to be more in common between Labor and the Nationals than the Liberals and the Nationals? Could this agenda actually create the first cracks in a seismic shift in the Australian polity?)
Then we have the new Family First senator; who has already dispelled any notion that the Howard Government will be able to take his vote for granted. How's this for a line from a Maiden Speech: "Where once the labour market respected the fact that workers had family responsibilities, today workers struggle to balance their paid work and family life."
We'll skip over the Greens and Democrats, who are only there to make up the numbers; although the play between the rising Greens and the ailing Dems could have a long-term impact on the political agenda.
Which brings us to Labor; finally in genuine Opposition after nine years as a government in exile. Will they use this new environment to free themselves of minutae and run with the people? Will they make use of the momentum being provided by the successful union campaign? Or will they get bogged down in the technical details and let another chance go by?
Sadly, the initial signs aren't good. Their determination to finesse a position on AWAs rather than oppose them outright, needlessly takes the sting out of their attack. Develop modern workplace policies by all means, but get the principles right.
So all the players enter this new arena with opportunities as well as threats; and I suspect that how these are addressed will have an impact, not just on the next election but the next 10 to 15 years.
How all these dynamics play out over the coming two years will have an enduring impact on the Australian way of life. And that's no game.
Peter Lewis
Editor
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