
Issue No 28		27 August 1999

News

Reith Building Blitz Hits Bum Note

The Howard Government's planned assault on the building industry has been dismissed as misguided by a major new report conducted by the University of Newcastle.

The report "Constructing the Future" by the Newcastle Employment Studies Centre, confirms that performance levels in major building construction and now close to world's Best Practise.

And it criticises the recent Productivity Commission report being used by Peter Reith to caste unions as impediments to change for following an ideological agenda.

"Rather than relying on anecdotal evidence as used by the Commission to link union presence with claimed inflexible work arrangements, our quantitative data shows that productivity and performance has improved substantially in major commercial construction and is now close to world best practise levels," the report's co-author Roy Green says.

"In fact, the Commission preference for excluding trade unions and devolving industrial relations and pay arrangements to sub-contractors is a recipe not for improving productivity but reducing it."

Green says the real key to reform is to increase inadequate skill levels, victims of the rush by investors to grab immediate profits rather than plan for the industry's long-term future.

CFMEU national secretary John Sutton says the report is a nail in the coffin for the Reith agenda.

"Peter Reith and the Productivity Commission want more self-employed sub-contractors, casuals and labour hire workers in construction," Sutton says. ""They want to drive down wages by using piece-work rates and all-in payments.

"But that's not going to improve productivity in the industry. The University of Newcastle research shows that strategy will lead the industry down a less, rather than more productive path."

The Stats Have It

The CFMEU also released a series of statistics to back up its argument:

* Labour productivity in the Australian construction industry ranks near the top of OECD nations, with Access Economics putting only the UK in front.

* A recent international comparison by quantity surveyors Page Kirkland, found the base cost of construction in Australia was less expensive than Germany, the US and the UK.

* Australia has the lowest construction output prices of any country.

* Australia construction workers work very long hours - ranking second only to American workers.

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  Issue 28 contents

Interview: Talking Turkey
A full transcript of an important interview with the Minister for Workplace Relations, the Hon Peter Reith.

Politics: What Reith told the ILO
Workers Online has recevied a transcript of roving statesman Peter Reith's talk to the ILO in Geneva. This one's not satire.

Unions: What the Workers Said
Actor Di Smith was one of nine ordinary workers who addressed this week's rally. Here's what she had to say.

International: Cancelling the Debt
Sign this Jubilee 2000 email petition now and tell the world's most powerful leaders to cancel the unpayable debts of the world's poorest countries by the year 2000.

Environment: Greens, CFMEU call for Action on Ceiling Dust
Residents and workers, associated with houses damaged in the freak hail storm that hit Sydney earlier this year, may have been exposed to harmful levels of toxic materials found in the ceiling dust of the damaged buildings

History: Eveleigh Railway Workshops celebration
Former workers and their families from the historic Eveleigh Railway Workshops in inner-Sydney are holding a picnic reunion and folk music festival on the site this Sunday.

Republic: Does the Republic Need a President?
It seems inevitable that Australia will eventually become a republic but do we need a president?

Satire: Liberals May Need to Sell of More of Telstra
'We're running low in key marginals,ďż˝ says Alston

Review: A Kind of Violence
Extracts from Yosi Berger's new book, telling the real stories behind workpalce safety.

» Shock New Stats! Readers Desert Newspapers

» Surfing the Wave

» Vizard Smokescreen Clouds Computer Deal

» Youth Wages: Is Bevis a Butthead?

» Which Bank Harasses Sick Workers?

» SOCOG Eyes Wide Shut on Games Gear

» Scully Uses Reith First Wave Against Rail Workers

» Reith Building Blitz Hits Bum Note

» Entitlements Focus Shifts Back to Woodlawn

» Fresh South Coast Ballot Called

» "Big Drum Up" For East Timor

» Eric Lee Public Forum

» Guest Report

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Piers Watch

» Vizard: Net Content Is Vital

» No, No, No to MSN Model

» The Vizard deal. Is it another great deal for you!!!!???

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