*****
You gotta hand it to the latest carpetbagger to stroll in from headquarters with dollar signs in his eyes.
Sol Trujillo isn't your average Johnny come lately set to take advantage of the Howard Government's Not Nailed Down policy.
No, Sol and his happy band of Amigos, are just the sort of fun loving guys with an instinctive empathy for the needs of a disparate national infrastructure imposed on a nation the size of the continental United States, with about 8% of the population.
Now most people would think that, given the dynamics of the infrastructure are so different, radically different approaches would be needed to ensure an adequate level of service was maintained across the network.
Unfortunately this assumes two things:
Firstly, that Telstra is about service delivery for customers. Secondly, that Telstra is a telecommunications network.
It is best understood by familiarising oneself with the following three principles when discussing the appropriate ownership of Telstra or telecommunications infrastructure with anyone within a treasurer' handshake's distance from our humble Telstra CEO.
1. Telstra is a bloody great pile of cash for a desperate pork-barrelling government.
2. Telstra is a bloody great pile of cash for a desperate pork-barrelling government.
3. Telstra is a bloody great pile of cash for a desperate pork-barrelling government.
Afterwards, check you still have your wallet and watch.
No wonder they had to find a used phone salesman from Amarillo to execute this detailed policy.
In order to understand the mind of a man who looks suspiciously familiar, we need to understand that Sol knows a lot about milking dosh out of Telcos, and bugger all about the Realpolitik of telephone services in this country.
The man is either barking mad, or just nuts, to suggest that Telstra, who have shown all the corporate responsibility of a category five cyclone, should be less regulated than it is.
What does he want next? For Telstra to be freed from its shackles and be allowed to enter people's homes armed with nothing but a shotgun and a sports bag.
You wouldn't trust the senior management of Telstra with a baby's rattle, and it is into this milieu that Sol fits nicely.
Sol, who is never seen in the same place at the same time as Saddam Hussain, is now charged with the organised theft that is privatisation.
It's a bit harder this time round, as some people got a good identikit of the guy wearing the balaclava during the T2 sale, and he looked remarkably like Peter Costello, so jovial Sol was ushered in as the new front of house guy for selling the Australian public the ideological equivalent of a steaming pile of rotten fish guts.
The buffoon's buffoon took to his task with an alacrity not seen since Gerald Ford tripped down the steps of the White House on Inauguration Day.
This is the genius that has worked out that it is imperative that the half-public carrier spends $100 million in order to sack 1,000 workers.
This, at a time when there is apparently no money in the till to get a standard broadband service a few kilometres from the GPO of any capital city you'd care to mention.
Then, while rifling through some old lady's purse, Sol declares that this is all about focussing on the customer.
The absurdity of the situation was highlighted when a hapless Trujillo started to throw his weight around only to get king hit by some likely lad from western Queensland called Barnaby.
Since then Barnaby has done the triple backflip with pike, taken the cloth and joined Sol at the great altar of the free market, and now we will all now live happily ever after just so long as we don't need a dialtone.
In years to come when people ask how did Australia end up with a third world infrastructure, the beaming face of the thinking person's Cheech Marin, Sol Trujillo, will come flooding back to haunt us.
Thea Birch Fitch and Jasmin Smith have joined academics and even the Employment Advocate in telling a Senate Inquiry that women are the big losers from individual contracts.
The two made personal submissions to the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee Inquiry into Workplace Agreements.
They said were pressured to sign individual contracts that left them thousands of dollars out pocket.
The pressure was so great that Fitch was left in a manager's office in tears, while the AWA left Jasmin Smith working a 16.5 hour shift at a flat rate $10.85 an hour.
"My mother approached the Manager to request more time for me to seek further advice,' says Smith, who was 18 at the time. "He refused this request and made it clear that I was expected to return the signed Agreement by the deadline and that no extensions or exceptions would be made."
"This goes to the very issue of what sort of workplace do we want for our kids," says Gerard Dwyer from the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).
"It's simply unfair to set a kid straight out of school up against a global fast food chain."
The SDA had recently uncovered numerous instances of AWAs leaving retail workers who were already on modest incomes over $70 a week worse off.
Even the Office of the Employer Advocate has conceded women on individual contracts in the retail industry are earning half the wages of men.
In its submission to a the inquiry the OEA patted itself on the back with five year old "customer satisfaction" figures and five year old statistics.
The OEA's senate submission is based in part on research undertaken for the OEA by Paul Gollan from the London School of Economics.
This research was criticised by internationally recognised workplace economist David Peetz who pointed out that it flew in the face of over half a dozen other studies into AWAs.
"One clear factor is the failure to distinguish between managerial/professional and "ordinary" employees,' says Peetz.
"For ordinary employees pay is less satisfactory, hours are likely to increase, and the work-family balance is more difficult for AWA employees than for other employees."
The OEA submission to the Senate Inquiry also stated that:
- 56% of AWAs abolish penalty rates
- 15% limit on hours worked
- 38% let employers direct employees to carry out any type of work, regardless of what they were hired for
- 5% ensured annual leave must be taken
- 1% provided for religious leave and 3% for study leave
- 46% of women on AWAs have access to sick leave
- 53% of people on AWAs found work harder
"The OEA's own submission to the senate inquiry show women in retail are earning 50% of their male counterparts,' says Dwyer. "Sixty eight per cent of AWAs do not prescribe any future pay rises.
Click here to read all the submissions:
Workers Online will print full details of Howard's workers' �best friend� furphy on Monday.
Amidst rumours of tensions and confusion within the federal Attorney General�s Department, corporate law firms have seconded offices to provide the briefing instructions to the government.
Firms that have been called in include Freehills, Phillips Fox, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Minter Ellison, Blake Dawson Waldron and Clayton Utz - the firms that service Australia's biggest companies, who through the BCA have been leading the push for wholesale deregulation.
They have been called in at a time where the government bureaucracy is struggling to give affect to the Prime Minister's sweeping changes.
Workers Online understands the government is so paranoid about details of the legislation being leaked, that different teams of lawyers are drawing up different versions of the new Act.
There are also serious concerns about the constitutionality of the changes, with a growing body of legal opinion that the changes will be vulnerable to a High Court challenge.
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson says that shipping in corporate lawyers to write IR laws is "a bit like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank".
"The fact that no law firms that represent workers have been asked to contribute to the process shows where the priorities of this government really lie."
Mr Robertson also questioned how firms that had wrote the Act would not have an advantage in cases over the laws' application.
Police Force Will Lack Bite
As the Howard Government struggles to hold back growing concerns that the laws will attack workers rights, it was this week revealed the government will beef up its Office of Workplace Services, to protect workers from being bullied into signing AWAs.
But an analysis of the work done by the agency currently charged with protecting workers rights, the Office of the Employment Advocate, gives little grounds for confidence that workers will be protected.
"The OEA's record shows that they do not take an even-handed approach between employers and unions," Robertson says.
"There has been a single, solitary prosecution against an employer for sacking an employee on AWAs since 1999."
"If this is the model of a worker-friendly government body, then very few workers will be reassured."
The laws, based on the discredited $60 million Cole Royal Commission leave workers exposed to fines and even jailing over industrial and political protests.
Union legal advisers fear that under the new regime actions to support the community against developments will just be too risky to undertake.
CFMEU construction secretary John Sutton said the laws are the most extreme anti-worker laws ever considered by an Australian parliament.
The Building Industry Improvement Act:
- makes almost all forms of industrial action illegal, including safety and political campaigns, for instance for Green Bans;
- imposes huge fines on individual workers and unions, including unlimited compensation for damages, to stop industrial actions
- gives government officials the power to interrogate workers about industrial meetings
- suspends workers' right to silence, meaning they can be jailed if they refuse to answer questions.
"These laws represent a significant reduction in the rights of Australian workers, Sutton says.
"And the government has already signalled that it intends applying these laws beyond the building industry.
Another Case Falls Over
Meanwhile, the courts have thrown out yet another vexatious prosecution brought by the Howard Government's Building Industry taskforce.
The Taskforce failed in a bid to revoke the right of entry permit of CFMEU organiser Tom Mitchell, over a visit to a Harbord building site in June 2004.
CFMEU NSW secretary Andrew Ferguson says it was the latest in a series of unfounded claims aimed at "drowning the union in paperwork and preventing the full investigation of safety breaches on a building site".
"Tom Mitchell was going about his duty to the workers, he was investigating serious safety concerns, and he was meeting with workers to inform them of the risks," Ferguson says.
"The Taskforce's claims were unfounded, they lacked merit and they have wasted tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money as part of the government's extreme ideological agenda to attack the work of trade unions in defending the rights and safety of Australian workers."
In his findings Deputy Registrar McCarroll refused the Taskforce's request to revoke Mitchell's right of entry and said legitimate safety concerns were being investigated.
The stalling tactic has put the future claims of victims, including workers and members of a North Coast Aboriginal community in limbo, and raised fears the company will walk away from last year�s $1.9 billion settlement.
|
Announcing a massive quarterly profit of $74.1 million, James Hardies CEO Louis Gries admitted the company was holding off making payments to victims while seeking a ruling from the Australian Tax Office that the compensation be tax deductible.
Those comments prompted protest action outside the James Hardies shareholders meeting, with victims putting formal questions to the Hardies CEO about his intentions.
AMWU state secretary Paul Bastian says victims are calling on Meredith Hellicar to reject the position of ex CEO Peter McDonald and accept full moral responsibility.
"We want an unequivocal statement from James Hardie that they will not cut and run," Bastian says..
"
We want a statement from the CEO and the Chair of the Board that James Hardie is committed to full compensation of asbestos victims
"We also want them to withdraw support for increased compensation to directors until all victims have been compensated.
The AMWU and other victims have taken heart from statements from new Premier Morris Iemma, that he wilkl maintaing pressure on the company.
"This is absolutely immoral that they would enrich their profits while they fail to give a commitment to the NSW Government, the NSW people and victims of asbestos.
"We need to remind them that the NSW Trade Union movement is fully behind this and that our resolve is rock solid.
"The last time we campaigned on this their share price plummeted and their reputation was destroyed, they need to be reminded that this can be turned on if they don't give justice to the victims."
Speaking at the opening of a landmark pay equity case, LHMU state president Jim Lloyd said the 96 per cent female workforce had been subject to a historical undervaluation.
"There is no way a group of men that exercised that level of responsibility and skill would cop the type of wages that childcare workers get," Lloyd told Workforce.
The LHMU is seeking minimum increase of $180 per week in the first private sector test of the NSW Gender Pay Equity principle.
Lloyd says the award has never been subject to a proper work value examination, and this was a "great opportunity" to rectify that.
Employers First claims the pay rises are "unsustainable" and launched its own offensive on child care workers; attempting to increase the span of 'ordinary' hours and block a flow-on of the $17 State Wage Case increase.
The case will be heard by a full bench of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission through August and September.
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson says it is a significant case that would not be able to be run under the federal system proposed by the Howard government.
Alby Shultz will extend his policy of abstaining from contentious issues, when he fails to join members of the Goulburn community to discuss the changes on Thursday.
|
The bright orange 'Rights at work' bus will set off from Sydney on Monday for the start of a six week odyssey which will see it take in dozens of regional meetings as it makes it way around the state.
From the beaches of the 'Gong to the highlands of Cooma, the bus will stir up public debate about the Federal Government's proposed workplace changes.
The first leg is the South Coast, taking in Wollongong, Nowra, Ulladulla, Bateman's Bay, Moruya, Bega and Merimbula before coming up through Cooma, Queanbeyan and Goulburn.
Unions NSW Secretary John Robertson will address meetings and workers in the towns will share their experiences with AWAs and their concerns about John Howard's workplace changes.
Coalition Members of Parliament have been sent invitations to face the people their legislation will affect - although to date none of agreed to front up. Robertson says there will be chair on stage for them should any change their mind.
"I'd like to think that local representatives will turn up to hear the community's concern and relay that sentiment back to the Prime Minister," Robertson says.
"My sense is that there are several Coalition MPs who are less than enthusiastic about the changes; but are not prepared to challenge the Prime Minister as he pursues his ideological obsession.
The South Coast is the first leg of the Your Rights at Work bus tour, which will visit the rest of NSW through September.
Robertson said the tour would aim to promote debate about the government's changes, as well as hear the concerns of workers.
It builds on the momentum created at the July 1 Sky Channel meeting, where massive turnouts were reported at regional venues around the state.
"There is strong campaign momentum across the state and we want to set up the structures in regional areas to make sure we can sustain the energy for the long term," Robertson says,
As many as 2500 jobs could be cut or moved offshore as Qantas plans to slash costs by a further $1.5 billion by mid-2008 to counter rising fuel costs. It will start talks with staff on Monday.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's Tim Ayres says job cuts aren't necessary to protect the record $763.6 million profit.
"The maintenance operation has underpinned Qantas's strong profit result. The traveling public's come to expect a high level of excellence and quality in Australian maintenance and we think Qantas should be investing in the future of Australian maintenance of its fleet."
Unions are also concerned Qantas may shift administration and IT jobs to India, following the decision to axe senior managers last week.
Linda White of the Australian Services Union says Qantas workers are sick of threats to their job security as profits continue to rise.
"Every year they say exactly the same thing - that the staff have got to tighten their belts, the productivity's got to get up - and yet we see them year after year increase their profit beyond anyone's expectation.
"I guess from the staff's point of view, they're a bit sick and tired of the lack of recognition."
The revelation came as the NSW Government released local content guidelines that tag assembled imported rolling stock as locally made.
"We continue to be dismayed by a lack of commitment to coherent manufacturing policy," says Paul Bastian from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. "Now the state government has released local content guidelines that will see an entire fleet of trains manufactured overseas.
"It's an absolute joke and a farce."
"They came up with a 20% local content figure which they just plucked out of the air. It's not rocket science. One side wanted 40% local content, the other side wanted zero, so they come up with this 20% figure in the middle.
Ambiguity in the new content guidelines means goods manufactured overseas but assembled in Australia are considered Australian made.
Imported Chinese wagons are undergoing rectification work to bring them up to standard for operation on Australian rail.
The latest round of tenders for rolling stock to be purchased by the NSW government would allow for all components to be imported under Public Private Partnership arrangements.
"We remain committed to maintaining Australia's skills base, ensuring Australian content and jobs in the Hunter," says Bastian.
Bastian said that AMWU members in the Hunter would not forget who cost their jobs.
The revelation came a day after Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo announced that "everything" centred on the customer.
"How can he say that when he is slashing the very jobs that provide that customer service?" says CPSU National Organiser Paul Girdler. "If you want customer service, you need customer service officers.
"How Telstra plans to improve its services in the bush with less staff is a mystery."
The CPSU recently wrote to Sol Trujillo requesting a meeting to discuss his views about the future of Telstra and in particular the future of Telstra services and staffing. Mr. Trujillo has so far failed to respond.
CPSU has also notified a dispute to force Telstra management to meet and come clean about their plan for job cuts.
The Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Bill, which is set to be passed by the Coalition-controlled Senate, allows the employer to control the election of safety representatives.
Currently all employees elect their health and safety representatives in a union-run ballot.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow says the new legislation flew in the face of research which showed union involvement led to safer workplaces.
"Surveys have shown that unionised workplaces are three times as likely to have a health and safety committee, and twice as likely to have undertaken a health and safety audit in the last 12 months," she said.
Under the current act, the Commonwealth has a better safety record compared to all states and territories.
The Commonwealth OHS law has seen almost 30 per cent fewer injuries that result in a week or more compensation compared to NSW, according to a Workplace Relations & Management Consultants survey.
Burrow says there was no need to change the system. "The motivation for these changes is clearly ideological."
The deal, presented to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, protects salaries, pension funds and medical allowances threatened by privatisation moves.
Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto ordered the company's management to honour the rights of employees and pensioners.
"PT KAI employees deserve pay, pension funds and health allowances equalling those received by civil servants," Sugiharto told a press conference at the presidential office.
The government will also reshuffle the company's management. The employees had demanded management be dismissed for disappointing performance and alleged corruption.
The government had prepared buses and trucks to anticipate the train strike, which was set for Aug. 8 through Aug. 10.
State electricity company PT PLN had warned of blackouts across Java and Bali as a result of the strike because the supply of coal and petroleum to several power plants on the dense islands is dependent on PT KAI.
The dispute caused concern within the International Transportation Federation, whose secretary-general, David Cockroft, wrote to President Susilo early this week to ask that the latter address the issue accordingly.
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
AUSIRAQ union solidarity Jazz night.
Money raised to go through Union Aid Abroad (APHEDA) to unions in Iraq.
Entry donation: $39 dinner & live jazz. $19 jazz only
CFMEU auditorium, 12 Railway St, Lidcombe
Tuesday 6 September
From 6:30pm to 10pm.
Children & unwaged 1/2 price. Drinks available
AUSIRAQ union solidarity Jazz night fundraiser
Money raised to go through the ACTU's Union Aid Abroad (APHEDA) to unions in Iraq. Best to book ahead for the meal so AUSIRAQ knows how many to cater for.
Contact Lynn Smith: 0439640118
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]
Tribute to HT Lee
Photojournalist - Independent film maker
Trade unionist
Activist for East Timor
07.08.1946 - 27.07.2005
Saturday 8th October
2-6pm
Gaelic Club
64 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills (upstairs)
Speakers include;
� Andrew Refshauge (former Deputy Premier)
� Andrew Ferguson, State Secretary, CFMEU
� Katherine Thomson (Playwright)
� Kim Gago (East Timor Community)
� Neil McLean
� Peter Chandran
� Carmela Baranowski
Other speakers to be confirmed
Performances by Enda Kenny and a choir
Entry by donation
Money raised will go to the HT Lee Memorial Political Film-makers Fund to assist people going to East Timor to work on film documentaries
Jointly organised by Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union
(Construction & General Division) and
the Australia-East Timor Association (NSW)
www.cfmeu-construction-nsw.com
Being ex-military and considering the very real threat of terrorist activity in Australia, I cannot help but think that the Howard Government's insatiable drive towards privatisation and a free market philosophy may have unintended consequences which could compromise national security?
In an age where terrorism threatens, airport operations and telecommunications are two areas, in my opinion, that should not be compromised purely by market considerations - or put more simply, THE PROFIT MOTIVE.
Mr Dixon said "our employees have nothing to complain about - I beg to differ - After posting such a significant profit, his sights have turned automatically to expectations of shareholders - yes his decision, just like the decision for the Howard Government to sell Telstra, is market driven."
The quote by chief financial officer Peter Greg "shareholders have an expectation as well, says it all."
Well known financier George Soros said it best:
"The capacity of the state to perform the functions that the citizens have come to expect of it has been impaired. This would not be a cause for concern if free markets could be counted on to take care of all our needs, but that is manifestly not the case.
"Capitalism is very successful in creating wealth, but we cannot rely on it to assure freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Business is motivated by profit; it is not designed to safeguard universal principles. Most business people are upright citizens; but that does not change the fact that business is conducted for private gain and not for public benefit. The primary responsibility of management is to the owners of the business, not to the nebulous entity called the public interest - although enterprises often try, or at least pretend, to be acting in a public spirited way because that is good for business. If we care about universal principles such as freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, we cannot leave them to the care of market forces.
"The global capitalist system has produced a very uneven playing field. The gap between rich and poor is getting wider."
In short, we should not allow business interests to dominate social and economic policy - because they can't be trusted.
John McPhilbin
NSW
I am totally against AWA's. If this Government states that unemployment and productivity has been better under a Coalition Government, why rock the boat now?
What about the next generation coming into the work force, they may as well quit all education now and go back 100 years ago because that's where this government is going with the so-called industrial reforms. We need a stronger Labour party who will stand up and be counted on this issue. I suggest that all Australian workers demand that politicians have their superannuation cut to 9 per cent and that they be placed on AWAs based on their performance. Let them live on our wages and see if they survive. I think not!!
Keep on protesting, we can't let them win!
Terri Baker
NSW
Because I feel so strongly about the negative effect of the governments proposed changes to IR legislation on Australian workers I am organising a Forum on this topic at my local community centre.
Speakers including our federal member of parliament, union organisers, IR researchers and representatives from church and community organisations will explain the implications of the changes and their effects on every Australian worker and their family.
I will speak from the perspective of Job Watch, a community legal centre which has providing advice to workers about their employment problems for almost 25 years and has a large collection of case studies which show the problems that can arise when an employee tries to negotiate individually with their employer over wages and conditions.
The Forum will be held at the Jika Jika Community Centre, corner of Plant and Union Streets in Northcote on Wednesday 31st August commencing at 7.30.
Everyone interested in discussing the issues and finding out what they can do to fight the government's proposals is welcome. Entrance is free.
Anne Learmonth
Victoria
The sale of Telstra threatens the Australian egalitarian way of life, measured not materially but in terms of equal opportunities. There are three tier-levels of basics, without which, there cannot be equal opportunity, no matter your residence on the continent.
1. Clothing, food, shelter
2. Education and health
3. Telecommunications and transportation
Efficient infrastructure providing transportation and communications in turn provides efficiencies in education and health. Take (public or private) investment away from communication technologies/infrastructure and education and health will fall into rapid decline. Moreover, regional industries, very dependant on continuous new investment in new telecommunication technologies and infrastructure to remain cost competitive, will also decline in regional investment causing regional unemployment. Consequently, the family institution will not be able to provide the first of the tier-level of basics (food, clothing and shelter).
There is no economic return on communications infrastructure to about 80 per cent of the Australian continent because of its dispersed population. With information technology currently experiencing almost a 100 per cent turnover every seven years, what of its infrastructure investment for over 80 per cent of the continent in fourteen years time? Or twenty-one years time? Where is that money going to come from? That investment is a public good. It preserves all three tier-level basics that preserve the Australian egalitarian way of life.
Congratulations Mr. Howard for delivering a welfare state to over 80 per cent of the continent. This is a betrayal of trust!
Keith Cartwright
South Australia
He stands there at mealtimes, he's bent with old age.
The lines of a lifetime mark this wise old sage.
He thinks about eating, its feasting this time.
At his age of eighty, good food is sublime.
He ponders a moment, good fortune and luck.
In this day and age most don't give a damn,
About others, and brothers, and those of like kind.
There's to many people of such a like mind.
But enough of this drivel and back to my tale,
It's time I think that I lifted this veil.
There's chips and some meat, some vegies too.
some apple, some soft drink, a feast for the few.
Where will I start he thinks, scratching his chin.
Then a voice yells behind him "GET OUT OF THAT BIN."
John Mc Shane.
NSW
John Howard's "power of one" relies on every Liberal and National Party senator agreeing to support the party line and to turn their backs on electorate concerns. I urge your readers not to "give up" the fight. Personalised emails to individual senators who already have a conflict of interest can achieve a great deal as we are witnessing with Barnaby Joyce and the sale of Telstra.
I agree with your editorial about the government's intention to silence workers and students. However, I would add one more very important piece of legislation to your "hit" list - that is the proposed "enhanced" anti-terrorism legislation. This legislation will expand the powers of ASIO and state police to arrest and detain anyone they "suspect" could be "supporting" the "terrorists". Terrorism itself is quite loosely defined and could be applied to collective workers' actions if the government deems that action to be "in conflict" with western values.
Of course the Howard Government wants to disempower workers and students. History has shown how these two groups can effectively blockade fascism. In fact the last government to introduce similar legislation that gave a secret police force powers outside the judicial system was the German Nazi Party under Hitler's leadership.
Workers and students, stand your ground. You are defending our future generations' freedoms.
Wanda Fish
http://www.eftel.com/~cleverfish
I am writing in reference to Flag of Convenience shipping, a system that allows government's like the Howard Government and the corporate sector to prostitute their national flag in order to harbour tax cheats, drug runners and terrorists in the interest of profit and greed, recently the Australian Wheat board chartered a vessel the (Flecha) where it was found the water was unfit for drinking, where crew were forced to work excessive hours, fed rice and noodles and owed $65,000 US in wages that either the AWB were not going to pay or were stolen by the shipping line (source MUA journal, April/May)
These are conditions of employment supported by the Howard Government and the business sector that are no different from Australian Workplace Agreements or Individual Contracts.
The Howard Government issues approximately 1000 single voyage permits per year to vessels identified as FOC's, the single voyage permit (SVP) and the shipping lines that utilise rust-buckets, held together by paint have undermined Australian shipping and the companies who were proud enough to fly an Australian flag aboard a sea-worthy vessel that is registered in Australia and that complies with Australian Labour, Maritime and Environmental standards.
In many instances sea-farers and their lack of skills on board these vessels are purchased like a commodity and paid below the International Transport Workers Federation, the former Minister for Transport, John Anderson had failed to acknowledge the exploitation within this industry and that FOC's inflict upon our nation and importance of maintaining a national fleet stating that "Australia is not a shipping nation, rather we are a nation of shippers� the new Minister for Transport, Warren Truss (the failed Minister for Agriculture) is still not convinced, rather holding the belief that national Cabotage is some type of introduced exotic vegetable that does not require Country of Origin Labelling."
Sean Ambrose
NSW
Don Watson calls them 'weasel words'. As he points out vividly in his book 'Death Sentence', the public language has morphed into a strange parallel universe, with terms like 'enhanced productivity', 'efficient and flexible processes', and 'performance indicators'.
This public language is not just destructive of the soul and the mind, it has also become a tool for controlling the political debate.
This is what is happening in the realm of industrial relations, a world where the language of conciliation and arbitration may have never been elegant, but at least it was clearly understood.
Already we have seen legislation that attacks workers' rights being named 'the Better Pay More Jobs' Act and legislation that destroys building unions being called the 'Building Industry Improvement Act'. Meanwhile the 'Employment Advocate' is set up to 'free' workers from their right to bargain collectively.
We saw it when unions become characterised as 'third parties' encroaching on employees' 'freedom' to 'choose' to 'negotiate directly with their employer'.
Now stand by for the linguistic version of operation 'shock and awe' as $20 million of our money is spent convincing us that we should lie back and think of the nation as our work rights are stripped from under us.
We have already seen the Howard Government's opening salvo: 'More Jobs, Higher Wages, A Stronger Economy'. It's all about 'productivity', 'flexibility', 'efficiency' and 'competitiveness'; self-evident goods that are essential for our ongoing economic well-being.
The arguments gather steam until we reach the absurd position where standing up for workers' rights and basic values, like family time, becomes downright unpatriotic.
So here is the Workers Online glossary of IR weasel words:
- 'Productivity' means 'working longer and harder for less'
- 'Flexibility' means 'losing working rights'
- 'More jobs' mean 'more casual jobs'
- 'Choice' means 'sign here'
- 'Competitive' means 'competing for wages with China and India'
- 'IR reform' means 'destroying unions'
There's one other weasel word that we keep hearing being bandied about, namely 'national interest', and it is the ultimate justification for this attack on workers' rights.
One need look no further than the recent behaviour of three of our formerly state-owned businesses to get an idea of the true meaning of this term.
The Commonwealth Bank makes a $4 billion profit off the back of 20,000 job cuts and the outgoing CEO pats himself on the back. Qantas announces a record profit and in the same breadth says jobs must be cut. And Telstra racks up $4 billion for the year and then starts preparing for redundancies.
These are the companies driving the 'national interest', 'delivering sustained prosperity' and 'enhanced productivity'. They are also the companies driving the Federal Government's IR agenda through the big business union, the Business Council of Australia.
So we have a new 'truth' - that our record profits can not deliver job security for workers and instead just set a higher bar for the next year; meaning the better a company goes, the less secure their workers are.
And it's all in the 'national interest' with no room for debate and if you disagree you are a dinosaur or, worse, 'economically illiterate'.
Today's challenge is to find a language that diffuses this claptrap; a language that is connected to the bullshit detector; a language of verbs and adjectives that puts people and emotions back into the equation.
In this sense the battle around IR goes far beyond the workplace. It is a cultural war where the imperative is to build a clear, concise language that moves people to, not just switch off when they are fed these weasel words, but to rise up in anger and demand something better.
If we can succeed in this, will have won much more than a political battle.
Perter Lewis
Editor
Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue |
© 1999-2002 Workers Online |
|