by Peter Lewis
The protocol covering electronic access rights for workers in the public service recognises mail to and from a worker relating to union activities as a valid usage.
It also accepts that union delegates should have the right to access internal computer infrastructure to assist in organising activities.
The deal comes on the eve of a major international trade union conference in Sydney which has InterNet access rights as a key agenda item.
The International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET) holds their world conference in Sydney from March 14; under the banner "People First -- FIET in the Global Economy". Workers Online will provide a comprehensive coverage of the conference.
Unions worldwide have been pushing to establish usage rights on employer computer networks for some time, arguing that the InterNet is a public asset which workers should have access for personal usage.
The deal with the NSW Labor government is believed to be one of the first of its type anywhere in the world.
Labor Council secretary Michael Costa said the protocol established a principle which will become increasingly important with the move to the Information Economy
"As workplaces become more atomised, it is important that unions have the ability to reach workers who may be working in increasingly isolated circumstances," Mr Costa said.
"Having established the principle in the public sector it is now our task to spread it into the private sector by raising the issue when we negotiate agreements."
In addition to the union rights, the protocol outlines a series of responsibilities workers with InterNet access undertake including:
- not using the equipment to transmit, communicate or access pornography or other offensive material
- no transmission of offensive messages
- principle use for business purposes; general usage most be appropriate -- "lawful, efficient, proper and ethical".
The Policy and Guidelines for the use by Staff of Employer Communication Devices may now be found on the Premier's Department site
by Peter Lewis
Endorsing a ground breaking report into gender wage equity conducted by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, Attorney General Jeff Shaw this week promised to open a test case for equal remuneration if he is re-elected on March 27.
Mr Shaw said the government would ask the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to develop a new equal pay principle which would then be applied to all relevant awards.
This would provide the mechanism for unions representing workers in female-dominated industries to argue for base increase in wages.
These principles would give greater emphasis to interpersonal skills compared to the traditional male-oriented skills such as the handling of machinery.
Labor Council secretary Michael Costa said the new principle would give unions the opportunity to argue for pay rises for women workers on a case by case basis. Importantly, it would also allow unions to campaign and organise around these issues.
"If accepted, the recommendations in this report will begin the process for ending indirect discrimination in women's work, discrimination that still leaves women paid up to 30 per cent less than men in comparable industries," Mr Costa said.
"By asking what things we vale when we set wage levels, the Carr Government is placing itself at the forefront of gender pay equity internationally."
Mr Costa said the onus was now on the State Opposition to endorse the Pay Equity report, in light of calls by the Employer Federation to ignore it.
Launching the Government's response at a hairdressing college, Mr Shaw said the Carr government had implemented a range of policies to improve the plight of women workers, including:
- outlawing discrimination against carers on the basis of family responsibility
- reviewing maternity and parental leave entitlements
- introducing maternity leave for long-term casual workers
- and promoting family-friendly work practises.
Minister for Women Faye Lo Po described the policy as an "historic milestone for thousands of women working in jobs that have been underpaid for too long.
"This is about achieving respect and fairness for women who have been underpaid," she said.
by Peter Lewis
ACTU assistant secretary Greg Combet told Workers Online that a striking aspect of this week's hearings in the AIRC in Melbourne has been that all parties are now using the language of the 'Living Wage' in arguing their cases.
"This is the third time we have run a case under the banner of the Living Wage.
"In a little over two and we have at lest been able to penetrate the employers' and government's philosophy to the extent that they talk about the Living Wage rather than National Wage Case," Combet said.
"I think this shows we've been quite successful in changing the basis on which the Commission reviews safety net wage increases."
Under the weight of witness testimony on the human impact of low wage levels, there has been a shift in emphasis from raw economic statistics to the social impact of minimum wage rates.
Again, this week the ACTU have called a series of low income workers to tell their stories in support of the claim for a minimum wage of $400 per week.
"In the public debate at the moment, Howard, Reith and the Business Council are all talking about the fact you've got to freeze minimum wages or cut them to boost employment," Combet said.
"What we're trying to say is: let's look at the human dimension of this -- it's not market economics, it's real people and on $320 a week take-home pay for full-time work, you simply can't pay the bills and put the food on the table.
"We're trying to give the case a human dimension and ensure that when the Commission looks at the safety net at award minimum wages it actually takes account of the social issues.
"It can't just be some dry. sterile market-based debate."
The hearing continues next week.
by Mikael Kjaerbye, LHMU Media Officer
Many have already rejected a management proposal which would cut important conditions in return for a $2 per week wage rise and will rally outside the chain's Novotel at Darling Harbour this Monday (March 8) .
Building workers from nearby sites will join the rally, to create a united front against the French multinational.
Management is using a two-pronged strategy.
At existing hotels, workers are being pressured to vote for non-union enterprise agreements. At new sites, workers are being forced to sign individual contracts - AWAs - which also cut wages.
This is despite the massive profits being made by ACCOR - estimated at over $20 million from Sydney hotels alone in the last year.
NSW Union Vice-President Jeff Roser said hotel workers need to join the Union and get active.
'ACCOR has hired an expensive firm of solicitors to tell them how to cut wages,' Roser said. 'But they will fail if the employees stay united.'
Workers at the Ibis, Novotel and Mercure Hotels in Sydney's Darling Harbour have rejected management's non-union agreement.
'The vote was a resounding victory for the employees. Only 29% of workers at the three hotels voted for management's proposal.'
The non-union agreement included a wage rise of just $2 per week in the first year. A second rise of $12 per week was offered after one year, with $8 after two years.
'This was a very poor offer. Management was going to take away 47 different working conditions in return,' Roser said.
The key to stopping ACCOR's attempts to cut conditions is high levels of Union membership in hotels.
'Workers are always going to lose unless the Union is involved in negotiating agreements,' Jeff said.
Union membership at Melbourne's Sofitel Hotel rose dramatically after workers heard of management's plan to cut wages and conditions.
Victorian LHMU Vice-President Stuart Coutts said more than 100 workers at the ACCOR-owned hotel had appointed the Union as their bargaining agent. 'People knew they have to get organised,' Coutts said.
'The pay rises being offered are less than employees are likely to get from Living Wage increases over the next three years.'
Workers at many ACCOR hotels in Victoria, Queensland and NSW are now working with the Union to negotiate a much fairer agreement.
by Peter Lewis
For more than a century have been organising picnic days, often dedicating the proceeds to worthy causes. For many children of working class families the picnic day was a highlight of the year, because they had access to venues they would otherwise be unable to afford.
But amidst concerns that more workers are using the day for personal recreation rather than participating in the actual picnic, unions will ask state government agencies to require proof of attendance before paying workers fro the day.
NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa said the payment for no picnic issue was a classic example of non-members freeloading on the gains that unions have fought hard for.
Building unions have raised the issue amidst concerns that some state government departments are not requiring proof of attendance at the picnic days before
"Picnic days have traditionally been a day for workers and their families to socialise together and build important ties for these days," Mr Costa said.
"They should not become just another public holiday."
"People that take the day off and don't buy a picnic ticket are bludging on their workmates who continue to support these important trade union traditions," he said.
by Zoe Reynolds
Meet Trevor Charles, the modern day Robin Hood of the Asia Pacific. Trevor and his merry men play a lead role in the tales of heroism unfolding, each week on the Australian waterfront - taking money from the rich and greedy ship owners and giving it to the poor and exploited seafarers on board the growing fleet of rogue ships plying Australian shores.
Trevor leads a team of Australian wharfies, tuggies and linesmen to whom countless seafarers in the Asia/Pacific region owe their life and livelihood.
He is the Australian co-ordinator of the International Transport Workers' Federation in its campaign against Flag of Convenience- ships that flag out to tax havens like Liberia and Panama to avoid regulations that ensure ship safety, conditions and wages meet world standards. Their crew are mainly exploited outworkers - third world labour who are underpaid, underfed and overworked.
If crew call for help over wages or conditions, maritime workers hold up the vessel until justice is done. Australia's reputation worldwide is second to none, netting more than US$2 million in backpay for visiting crew each year.
But the work of Trevor and the ITF is now threatened by the Federal Government. Like the wicked Prince John of old and his Sheriff of Nottingham, PM John Howard and Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith are helping the rich rob the poor.
They have outlawed solidarity under new anti-boycott laws. They have put a price on the heads of Trevor Charles, the ITF and the MUA. If caught they could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But so far the wily Trevor and his merry men have outwitted the Government. Keeping well within the law and out of the forest the ITF has put thousands of dollars into fighting shipowners in the courts.
Latest Adventure Of Robin Hood
Brisbane, March 3: Robin Hood hands out US$110,000 in back wages owing to 18 overjoyed Burmese, Croatian and Polish seafarers on board the flag of convenience ship Blue Crest.
But getting the money was not easy, with Robin have to track the culprits through the usual maze of tax, wages and safety avoidence schemes devised by the modern day pirates of the sea. The Blue Crest was owned in Germany, managed in Cyprus, flagged in Kayman Island and crewed by mainly Burmese with a German captain in command.
Robin was tipped off by one of his merry men in Townsville that the seafarers were being cheated of their full pay. ITF Queensland inspector Graham Bragg uncovered they were only getting US$500/month or 1/5 of the wages due under an ITF agreement signed up with the ship in the French port of Dunkirk on the ITF day of action, December 10, 1998. So Graham sent word to Robin that the vessel's next port of call was Brisbane.
And Robin was there to welcome it. The ship managers in Cyprus claimed they were protecting the Burmese from persecution from the military junta in Rangoon by not paying the full wages.
"I let them know that I knew only too well they were only interested in protecting the shipowners' profits," said Robin.
"I personally gave the money to the seafarers who were grinning ear to ear. They said they were very happy to take the cash and would be sending it on to their families."
But Robin said it was obvious the company had no intention of honouring the ITF wage agreement and the crew would be lucky to get their full pay next month - unless the ship went on to a strong ITF port where inspectors could act on behalf of the crew. Meanwhile Robin has made sure word has got around to keep an eye on the ship.
The ITF is a federation of the world's transport unions, representing more than 5 million workers in 120 nations. All Australian seafareing, stevedoring, railway, road and civil aviation unions are affiliated - including the Maritime Union of Australia.
For more Adventures of Robin Hood: http://mua.tcp.net.au/Pages/rhood.html
by Tony Sheldon, TWU State Secretary
The TWU, through our President Jim Bray, negotiated the permanency arrangement, which was voted on by members at Minchinbury, Yennora and Moorebank.
Casual workers are an important and growing force within the transport industry. There would be few transport yards that do not employ casuals, either directly or through an employment agency.
It is vital the Union provides casual transport workers with support and services. However, what most casuals want is security. The best way to secure that is through permanancy. Where possible we must fight to have employees made permanent and employed directly by the transport company.
One of the worst trends I have seen across the spectrum of the transport industry is the move by some companies to place their entire workforce into an employment agency, thereby avoiding all the responsibility of being an employer.
One company in Sydney recently attempted to sack all their drivers and make them sign individual contracts with a New Zealand owned employment agency if they wanted their jobs back. Quick action by the TWU stopped them.
Employment agencies have their place but not as de facto transport companies.
All workers deserve the right to permanent employement if it is available. The spirit and unity shown by members at Linfox in supporting their fellow casual workers proves that even if some employers do not know the value of their workforce, TWU members do.
by Deirdre Mahoney, NSW Labor Council special projects officer
Looking much less glamorous than our nearest neighbours in the parade (40 Shirley Basseys, numerous Dannii Minogues, the Get Smart team - aka Anti-Discrimination Board - and a smart "LAPD" force), the red-banner wavers nevertheless made up for it with enthusiasm.
Joined by a number of children (including one on rollerblades) and a few tourists who jumped on the union bandwagon (and an unmissable opportunity) at the last moment, the unionists chanted slogans, and carried placards lobbying for same-sex rights.
A committed group had been meeting for weeks beforehand to prepare the flags, placards and glitter hard-hats (they won't be seen on another construction site - more's the pity!), and Robyn Fortescue should be congratulated for her co-ordinating efforts.
The Meatworkers Patricia Fernandez made her mark on the parade, leading the Dykes on Bikes contingent with a trade union flag.
A highlight was joining up with unionists from as far afield as Queensland and Victoria, including a contingent from the ASU's (Services) southern branch carrying their new "GLAM" (Gay & Lesbian ASU Members) rainbow banner.
The ASU's slogan, "Job Security never goes out of style" was spread via red helium balloons handed out to the crowd, as well as stickers publicising the ACTU's "Work Overload - Say No" campaign.
The parade wrapped up several months of hard work for Labor Council and its affiliates. Earlier this year, Labor Council submitted an application urging the NSW Government to consider giving same sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples (find it on our website), and at the Mardi Gras Fair Day, held in Victoria Park, Glebe, on Valentine's Day, we collected 2200 signatures on a petition on the same matter, which will be presented to the Government after the election. Congratulations to all who have supported our efforts - we have been overwhelmed by the response.
Has the Sydney Trade Union Choir made a CD. Does anyone know where I can buy the above.
In the current climate a couple of good tunes might be appreciated by many people.
Annette Davies
If anyone is interested in a video of the MUA dispute from the Brisbane pickets..and the meetings/EBA that followed..write to me at below email..they are $30..77 minutes long
thanks
Trish Nacey
I enjoy reading your new website, I have been a boilermaker for over 30 years, the last 20 being in B.C. Canada and I am a member of International Boilermakers Local 359 Vancouver.
I very much understand what is going on within the labour movement,it seems to me that the Australia Govenment is trying to bring a Right to Work legistation which is Law in certian U.S. States. As a matter of fact the US is going the other way.
Kenneth Porritt
I despair when I see my fellow workers commuting, or during tea break,Daily Telegraph in hand.
To think that a goodly portion of that daily dollar outlay is going back to Murdoch to fund more of the same.
Murdoch despises us. so why do we buy his products? So we can continue to read his insults? What does that say about us? I don't buy the Telegraph. Or the Australian. Do you?
Or your friends?
As john would say, you know what I mean!
Ray Osborn
by Peter Lewis
Tell us about your job
I'm employed by the ACTU, I get seconded to two unions per year to assist in organising campaigns in areas the union has determined as strategic to them.
What are organising campaigns?
Organising work is what you would have traditionally called a recruitment campaign, but we're very much concerned about building the delegates network, training activists to be largely self-sufficient.
That's tied up in a broader philosophy, could you explain this philosophy?
The organising philosophy in a nutshell is going back to what unions grew out of. That is the members, the workers are really the ones who are responsible for what happens. It's a move away from top-down unionism back to: let's see what the members want, let's get them to won their campaigns and do the work and that's the best way to get more people involved in unionism.
How does that translate into concrete differences in the way you are working?
It's a definite move away from the services unions offer, a move away from a union official going out to a site and saying "we offer this cheap insurance" or "we can offer you these cheap home loans, or holiday units, or whatever." It's a move from that to a lot of off-site organising, building up relationships with members and hopefully making a much longer term, more solid connection with the membership than just an insurance broker.
So it's a move from the union solving problems to actually helping workers solve their own ...
Absolutely. It's a definite move away from the union official as hero, martyr or saviour and a move to thinking: let's get the members to see how best they can solve their own problems because that ultimately will lead them to be better organised, more self-sufficient and bring other people in as well.
What industries are you concentrating on at the moment?
I'm based out at the Transport Workers Union and we're concentrating on private bus and coach drivers. They did some work in this area last year and now they want to consolidate their members and their activists.
How do you put these organising principles into practise with the bus drivers.
First, we identify activists or individuals who have shown an interest in union organising or improving the conditions for bus drivers and coach drivers. We visit years, but not to have a formal union visit; instead we go out and chat to whoever we can talk to, see if we can get contact names and then go for contacting people outside of work; we go an meet them t the pub, a cafe or even their homes and try and build the connection that way and then get them to the work for themselves; maybe get a meeting of four or five other people and then to keep building on those contacts.
And how has that gone down in that particular industry?
It's actually going quite well. We have managed to get these groups of three or four in a number of the companies, which is a good start. The thing about this strategy is that its really quite time-consuming. In the first three months all you would expect is to get some activists, you wouldn't expect to be signing members up, you'd expect to have your contact people and maybe to have your meetings off site; you're not aiming at site meetings and you're certainly not meeting with management at this point. That's a stark contrast to how unions have been run; where you go into a site, you meet the members, you meet the management, you put in your claim. In contrast, this is a really, really long term, quite painstaking way to do it. But its about getting the activist base happening, and we believe that is what will bring the members in.
How important is it for you to have the support of progressive union officials before you go in and do these different types of things?
A progressive union leadership helps; and in fact our organising unit has to be invited into a union, so that in itself requires a relatively progressive union leadership. You need a will to change and an acceptance that maybe the way we've been doing things for the last 20 years is not necessarily going to work into the future.
What are some of the other industries you've worked with through this program?
Last year we ran two campaigns in NSW. One was with the Australian Services Union (Services Branch) in charities; and the other was with the media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance with film technicians;. The process was much the same. With the film technicians we had a really long lead-up until we could actually get some good organising happening -- about eight months when we were feeling out the industry, trying to get activists, looking for people who would run with it. It was quite frustrating until we had a breakthrough and got about 40 activists who went out and spread the word , organised meetings and then pulled in members for us. We ended up with about 300 new members from the process, which we thought was fairly successful, given that this was a tripling of the existing membership.
You're a young woman in the union movement; what are your impressions coming into a movement that has been in decline for some time?
I think the move towards to this style of organising is a really positive thing; I don't known if its just with young workers either; it's a much more personal way to do it, it's much more built on relationships, sustaining relationships and building up loyalty. In the experiences I've had this is a far better way to do things than the old top-down structures.
Does it make it more fun to be involved in unions?
Yeah, definitely. For the young workers I've come across, they're shocked that the organiser is a 24-year-old young woman. That's not your traditional union official!
How have you been received by the bus drivers as a young women?
What I've found with a lot of blue collar workers is that initially there may be an attitude of: who is this young person? but at the end of the day, as long ads the organising gets done and as long as the issues are addressed, as long as the members feel they are taking control, they don't care who the union rep is. As long as its happening the way that they think it should and they feel like they are actually doing something, they don't care if you're male or female, old or young, it doesn't matter.
What's the most stressful situation you've been confronted with?
I actually find the most stressful situations are when you get workers who don't want you on site. that's worse than confronting management, because you realise you have that much more work to do before they'll get organised. I can think of a few times when I've been escorted off site by workers and that's more confronting than anything.
Thinking of the structure of the new workplaces; we are moving away from large shops to smaller organisations with outsourcing and contracting out. What challenges do these new structures hold and how does your organising model translate?
I'm loathe to use the term "organising model"; but I think this type of organising is the only way to organise in the new workforce. If you look at the campaign we ran with film technicians; they are extremely casualised; six-week to three-month contract workers who we managed to get together in their own association. And that was strictly through building up the activist networks, getting them to hold meetings and really running it from the grass-roots. So I think this is the only way we're going to get them; we're not able to run around to 100 sites when formally we may have only visited one. We're going to need the workers to talk to their mates who they see. The idea is that we create the activists who are little organisers themselves.
Outsourcing union organising?
Absolutely (laughs)
Finally, how do you rate your job out of ten.
Ten out of ten. I love my job. There couldn't be anything more satisfying than the progression you see. You might have a workplace which is totally anti-union and to see that move, even if its just one person willing to talk to you, the buzz you can get from getting the phone number of one person, you just can't compare it to anything else.
Footnote: The night after Sarah was interviewed by Workers Online her team signed up 17 new members at a western Sydney depot. "That's the buzz I was talking about," she says.
by John Graham
Incoming head of the National Australia Bank, Frank Cicutto this week declared the NAB would continue its high profile efforts to merge with another Australian bank.
His comments echoed those of new Westpac CEO, David Morgan only two weeks ago, calling for an end to the Government's policy prohibiting mergers.
These statements mark a continuation of the relentless campaign led by outgoing NAB CEO Don Argus, and supported by other major banks. Pressure from industry sources on the government has been intense, but fears of massive job loss, and the customer and community reaction have to date meant no green light for the banks.
Despite the public claims of the banks, reductions in service and increases in fees are likely to result from big bank mergers. Canadian Finance Minister, Paul Martin made that assessment late last year when he blocked the planned merger of two of Canada's largest four banks, the Bank of Montreal and the Royal Bank.
Despite an expensive PR campaign by the companies, pledging to reduce charges and increase access to services, the Canadian Government's independent evaluation of the plan spelt out the social costs of big bank mergers - and they weren't worth paying.
Finance Minister Martin, in blocking the plan, said:
"The mergers would lead to an unacceptable concentration of economic power in the hands of fewer, very large banks."
"...To give just one example, in the area of bank branching - the core of personal and small business banking in Canada... in the case of both mergers, there would be a negative impact on hundreds of communities, urban and rural."
In the Australian situation, that would speed up a process that is already well under way. The number of bank branches in NSW has collapsed over the course of this decade. From mid-1990 to mid-1998 the number of branches has decreased by 18%, with the biggest change being a 9% decline last year.
Research by the Finance Sector Union into the phenomenon shows that there is very real community concern over the impact of these changes. In a survey completed in mid-1998 they found that:
� 74% of people do not believe that branch closures are necessary for keeping costs down for customers
� over 80% believe electronic baking should not replace people's jobs
� 90% believe that the Federal Government should make Banks maintain current banking service levels.
Allowing mergers would cut a swathe through employment in the industry. Current estimates are based on the presumption that two of the four banks merging would force the others to do likewise, resulting in a consequent job loss of 35 000 people, often in regional areas.
"Job loss on this scale would be the equivalent of BHP closing down its Newcastle operation more than ten times over. It represents a catastrophe for secure employment, and more bad news for customers." says Geoff Derrick, Secretary of the NSW/ACT branch of the Finance Sector Union.
Those who stand to gain most from such mergers are the executives controlling these corporations. While they are already in receipt of multi-million dollar packages - recently departed Westpac chief Bob Joss was receiving $2.4 million last financial year - the bulk of their income comes from share options they are able to exercise, earning literally millions of dollars at a time.
Each has some powerful short-term reasons for advocating big bank mergers. The impact on the value of those share options would be substantial, and executives stand to gain from similar increases just from speculation about mergers.
Despite the pressure, the Government's response has been negative so far. Even Michael Kroger, Liberal Party powerbroker and friend of Peter Costello has been unable to persuade the Government to change its mind. Kroger had been on the payroll of the most predatory of the four banks - the NAB - as it sought a change in policy. Perhaps tellingly, Kroger announced this week that he was moving away from involvement in the political lobbying game.
While the campaign will continue without him, at the moment the Government seems to assess the costs of big bank mergers as being too high.
Secretary, Geoff Derrick says:
"Our research shows that he banks are expected own up to their responsibilities to the community. The FSU has called on both the State and Federal governments to examine the proven ways of enforcing community obligations already in place, such as the Community Re-Investment Act in the United States. "
The US Act rates each bank on its community service in lending, deposits and transaction business. The rating is taken into account when banks have dealings with the government. Statutory deposits are used to fill the gap where services are not present, to ensure access to financial services for all.
As the bank executives' comments signal that the high stakes tussle will continue, many forces, especially technology, are shaping the future of financial services. The outcome of this decision will be critical to deciding whose interests are served - corporate shareholders, or the Australian community.
by Rosemary Webb
Edna was born Edna Nelson in Sydney in 1904, the tenth of twelve children, her feminism and her socialism shaped by the working experiences of her older sisters, by her mother who had been left to support and bring up the family herself and by the events of her formative years, notably the October Revolution and the NSW General Strike of 1917.
Her book, Two Thirds of a Man covers the first four arbitration cases involving women, building anecdotally on the experience of her mother and of her older sisters. In interview she recalled that her mother, who worked as a cleaner, would pass her sisters on Pyrmont Bridge on her return home from work in the early morning, as they were leaving home to go to work.
It is no wonder she became passionate about conditions and pay equity for working women. She spoke with Joyce Stevens about her own experiences in 'Taking the Revolution Home' (1987) and with Lucy Taksa on 19 October 1987 as part of the NSW Bicentennial Oral History Project.
Her political activism began well before she joined the Communist Party (CPA) in 1927 , with the anti-conscription campaigns, the Great Strike in 1917, friendship with the IWW - one of her sisters married an IWW member. Immediately on joining the CPA at the age of 23 she became Secretary of the Sydney District Group and was involved in organising lectures and in giving them herself. And although she moved away from the Party after the 1929 Split, she never departed from her left political convictions. (Her husband Jack Ryan, as a non-recanting member of the Executive, had been one of those expelled). Eventually she joined the ALP.
She continued to work tirelessly for women by fighting conservative forces during the Depression, organising meetings and lecturing. Child endowment, introduced by Lang in 1927 was welcomed by women in the party whilst opposed by the men, who failed to comprehend its practical benefit given that women did not benefit from the family wage. (The failure to understand the immediate pragmatic urgency for a family wage for women as well as for men was one difficulty she had later with Muriel Heagney, in the latter's single-minded fight for equal pay).
Her concerns were for women, class, and a multifaceted and socially just society. For many her achievements culminated the founding of the Women's Electoral Lobby in 1971, in the Equal Pay decisions of 1969 and 1972, and in the 1974 National Wage Case in which she was WEL advocate in the Arbitration Commission hearings.
Edna 's commitment to labour history was made clear in her letters and her books which explored and analysed historical issues crucial to women's industrial identity. She was working and writing to the end - the quest was to find time for the writing she still needed to do, aside from the time she so generously gave to campaigners, to researchers, and to her friends. In the 1930s Bertha McNamara was eulogised as 'the mother of the labour movement'.
Edna Ryan similarly was a pivotal friend and mentor to the labour movement and more, a force for feminists and working women. The spontaneous procession of informal tributes since her death have been to a woman who never stopped working, a person of strength and courage, an extraordinary friend and mentor to so many people who themselves have become critical to Australian society, and a woman possessed of a no-nonsense quirky sense of humour. The women's movement, the labour movement and the country at large are the richer for her generous legacy of activism, mentoring and example.
Eileen Powell was born in Sydney on 3 August 1913, and lived until she married in the late forties in Petersham in Sydney's Inner West. Eileen's place in Australian labour history is secure and remarkable. She described herself as a child of Trades Hall and possessed an almost unparalleled curriculum vitae in the labour movement. After her parents separated in 1918, Eileen's mother, Margaret Powell, joined the ALP.
Her political training began at the age of eight when she started going to Labor Party meetings with Margaret, to Branch meetings in Petersham and to general meetings in Trades Hall. She formally joined the Labor Party when she was fifteen, trained at Party speakers' classes in Balmain, and was Assistant Secretary of the Stanmore Branch when she was 16 After a brief employment in Grace Brothers store on Broadway she started work in Trades Hall at sixteen with secretarial duties for the Labor Daily. Her employment in the building continued through to1937 to 1944 with the Australian Railways Union and even after that. When Eileen resigned from the ARU in 1944 to care for her mother , she continued in Trades Hall by taking up radio announcing with Radio 2KY. She was listed as employee number 199 (later 200) in Labor Council financial records for 1949.
Her involvement with the union movement and Labor Party continued throughout her life. Her role within the ALP was never quiescent - she was for example one of those bitterly opposed to Party failure to actively support the Republic at the commencement of the Spanish Civil War. The range of her activities in the labour movement included organising in the ALP Younger Set in the late twenties, trade union organisng, ALP broadcasting and platform speaking, editing and writing in the union journal, advocacy for the ARU and on women's pay, standing as an ALP Parliamentary cnadidate and officiating on the Labor Women's Central Organising Committee.
She was also actively involved in documenting aspects of the labour movement (though sadly otherwise only sparsely her own part in it) through her role as one of the project committee for the ARU's official history Working Lives (1990) written by Mark Hearn.
Eileen Powell was a force for change in the conditions of women workers in New South Wales. Industrially she is possibly most often remembered for achieving an award for Railway Refreshment Room workers, through a campaign with the workers and through her advocacy in the Industrial Commission. These workers, mostly women, were not officially Department employees, were not covered by other awards, were scattered through the railway towns by the nature of their employment and were previously largely unorganised industrially. The difficulties of developing an industrial award to cover unorganised workers with little industrial clout and an initially low union membership must have been profound. Yet Eileen took on the challenge through active field work, travelling to the rural railway stations to meet the women and to work with them on the award. She appeared as the union's advocate in the Full Bench Case which brought down the award.
She was actively engaged in Pay Equity work from the mid 1930's with the Council of Action for Equal Pay (CAEP) and worked with Muriel Heagney and other central pay equity campaigners. She gave evidence in the 1935 Female Wage Case in the Industrial Commission - at the age of twenty-two - appeared with Evatt in the 1942 Female Wage Case, was for 12 years to the mid 1950s Australian correspondent for the ILO Committee of Experts on Women's Work and appeared in the 1969 National Wage Case which adopted the principle of equal pay for equal work. She joined the United Associations of Women in the late 1940s whilst maintaining her ALP membership and activism. Her work for pay equity during her union employment had the support of the ARU although, as with male unionism at the time, such support is largely acknowledged to have been primarily motivated to ensure that employers would not be tempted by low female wages to take on women workers in preference to men.
In 1948 Eileen married Fred Coleman -Browne, whom she first met when she joined the Labor Daily and Fred was a young industrial roundsman with the Sydney Morning Herald. (The very small quantity of Eileen's papers as seem to be extant are filed with her husband's records and under his name in the Mitchell Library ). She retained the name of Powell after marriage. When she stood (successfully) for ALP pre-selection in the State seat of North Sydney in 1951, male opponents in the Branch tried to use this 'irregularity' to reverse the pre-selection by claiming she had not validly nominated. She retained pre-selection but, sadly for North Sydney voters, was not elected.
Eileen Powell worked intensively all her life with dedication, humour and immense ability for the labour movement and for women's working conditions. This list of her achievements merely skims the surface of her work. We were fortunate to have her, and those of us who met her even briefly were immensely privileged. Like Edna Ryan, she passed away in 1997.
Rosemary Webb is currently producing a PhD on women's industrial and political networks between the wars and can be contacted on [email protected]
by David Chin, Jones Staff & Co
The Commission has signaled its intention to take a more active role in preventing and eliminating discrimination against women in the workplace.
Newly appointed Vice-President of the Commission, Justice Michael Walton, recently reminded parties to an award application that the Commission must make sure that any new award provides equal remuneration and other conditions of employment for men and women doing work of equal or comparable value. The Industrial Relations Act says so. There are no exceptions to this rule, even where all the parties consent to an award application.
The Local Government Union was forced to amend its application for a new Riverina Water County Council Enterprise Award by removing gender specific classification systems after concerns were raised by Justice Walton in the midst of a consent hearing. In his decision delivered on 15 February 1999, the Judge recognised and emphasised the "wide ranging obligation" on the Commission to pursue the goal of pay equity by "preventing the inclusion in and expunging from the system of awards in this State provisions which fail to meet this requirement".
Justice Walton has emerged as the "Mayor Giulianni" of pay inequity in New South Wales.
This decision follows on from the Commission's Ministerial Reference Pay Equity Inquiry which delivered its report to the Minister for Industrial Relations, Jeff Shaw QC, in December last year. Justice Walton acted as Counsel Assisting the Commission in that Inquiry before his appointment as Vice President.
In the Pay Equity Inquiry Report the Commission confirmed that women's work was undervalued in many female dominated industries. One of the causes of this undervaluation, the Commission found, is the failure of awards and industrial agreements to adequately recognise and reward skill in work performed by women.
One of the remedies recommended by the Commission in the Pay Equity Report is the development of an "equal remuneration principle" to be used and applied by the Commission in making awards and approving agreements. It was specifically pointed out in the Report that the principle should apply even where unions and employers come to the Commission in complete agreement on a matter.
In the Report the Commission favoured working to achieve pay equity through the existing industrial relations system in New South Wales.
Unions and employers should therefore expect a greater focus on gender discrimination issues in the course of their customary dealings involving the Commission, ranging from industrial disputes to enterprise agreement processes and, of course, award reviews and applications for new awards.
It appears that the pay equity reform process is to proceed on a case by case basis, rather than with a big bang approach. General across-the-board salary increases for all female dominated occupations so feared by employers were specifically ruled out by the Commission.
Instead, long awaited industrial justice for women in terms of fair valuation will be achieved one step at a time, with the Commission taking a more active and less tolerant policing role in course of its general functions.
by Megan Elliott, MEAA Independent Performers Organiser
For over thirty years Federal Legislation has given us an effective, no-cost system that keeps Australian faces and Australian stories on our television screens.
It's the local content quota system and it ensures that a certain percentage of our TV has to be made in Australia.
Now there's a problem. In 1998 the High Court ruled that television programmes made in New Zealand qualify for the local content quota.
There'll be more tempatation for our networks to buy cheap, heavily subsidised New Zealand television programmes to satisfy their quota reguirements.
First to go will be our locally made children's programmes, then many of our documentaries. And don't underestimate Kiwi drama and comedy. Nobody's suggesting that the networks are going to drop their high-rating Autralian dramas overnight.
But what happens when they need to be replaced? Will the networks spend the time and money to nurture new Australian programmes when they can fill their quota with ready-made NZ imports at a fraction of the cost?
We Australians make television that competes internationally but what we do best is make television about us - what it means to live and grow in this country. And if we don't make these programs, who will?
By giving in to this pressure from New Zealand, we haven't just risked giving away a small part of our power as a nation to define and express our culture through television, we now risk losing it entirely.
Who'll be next in line? Under this ruling, any country that has a close trade relationship with Australia can apply for the the same preferred status that's been given to New Zealand. What chance do we have against Hollywood? We need a little help.
Following pressure from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (the union for performers, tv, film & live performance technicians, journalists, professional sports people, arts workers, symphony orchestra musicians) and other industry bodies, the Federal Government called a Senate Inquiry to see whether the section of the Broadcasting Services Act (s 160d) which has caused all the trouble should be deleted or not.
Now, deleting this bit of the act would not ultimately fix all the problems. However, adopting the report handed down by the Senate Inquiry would go a lot further in addressing them, and ensuring that we as Australians will still be represented on Australian television.
Given Australia's size, a strong television production sector is essential if a vibrant music, film and theatre industry is to survive.
If you want to continue to see Australia on Australian TV then let your voice be heard. Call on the Government adopt the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee Report on the Australian Content Standard for Television and Paragraph 160(d) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
Write or email or fax your Federal Member NOW.
Make sure the Cabinet Members know your views when they consider the Senat Committee Report. Write to them at Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 or fax them or send an email:
The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister
Fax: 02 6273 4100
The Hon Tim Fisher, MP
Deputy Prime Minister
fax: 02 6273 4128
The Hon Peter Costello, MP
Treasurer
fax: 02 6273 3420
Senator the Hon Richard Alston
Minister for Communications, Arts & Information Technology
fax: 02 6273 4154
email: [email protected]
The Hon Peter Reith MP
Minster for Workplace Relations
fax: 02 6273 4115
The Hon Alexander Downer, MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
fax: 02 6273 4112
email: [email protected]
The Hon Peter McGauran
Minister for Arts
fax: 02 6273 4134
by Peter Lewis
The TV advertisements have begun in earnest, bringing the key campaign themes out into the open for the first time.
As Bob Carr cuts a Chandler-esque figure in adverts focussing on the Government's achievements in making the State safer, the Libs are throwing the mud with personal attacks on Police Minister Paul Whelan and plans to put a cop on every corner.
The Government will concentrate on their achievements and the virtue of stability, tapping into its belief that there is no real mood for change out in the electorate.
The Opposition is playing a more difficult game. On the one hand, they are trying to up the ante on law and order by creating the impression that the streets are unsafe.
But at the same time they are offering the electorate a fistful of dollars -- both directly through cash hand outs and indirectly through lavish spending promises, everything to free dentures.
The money comes from the privatisation of the electricity industry, an issue that has generated (no pun intended) widespread hostility throughout the community.
The problem for the Coalition is that the feeling of insecurity which their law and order theme is attempting to tap, is the same emotion that is fuelling the resistance to privatisation of a key sector.
As Labor has already discovered, the debate about electricity privatisation is not an intellectual or even an ideological one. It is a debate about change and whether people want to embrace what they perceive as a further step down the road to economic rationalism.
Coupled with an increasingly hardline industrial relations policy (see Workers Online Issue #1), which this week extended to a promise to cut unfair dismissal rights, the Coalition are now the Party offering the radical change.
Their problem is that radical change requires a climate of stability and confidence, the very themes the law and order spin is undermining.
Moreover, Labor is buidling on the theme with their own campaign highlighting their not insignificant achievements on law and order, like the nation's toughest knife laws.
On one level the Coalition's increasingly whacky campaign platform is an admission that the Carr Government has captured the centre ground during its first term.
It is also the natural result of the ascendancy of the Coalition dries over the wets which was personified in Chikarovski's open-Christmas coup over the more moderate Peter Collins.
The difficulty this presents for Chikarovski is that it is she who must articulate the case for change; and to do so she must dominate the news cycles, particularly the nightly TV news.
While Chikka's performances are said to be improving, the press gallery is still placing bets on when she'll break down in a media conference. They say she is tense, often trembling, and struggles to deal with left-field questions.
As long as she holds it together, this is manageable, the nightly grabs are so short that a lack of polish can be papered over. But if this nervousness crosses the threshold and becomes an official 'gaffe', then her campaign will hit trouble.
Remember TV news is all about images: big announcements, good pictures, gaffes and scandals. They are the images that provide the context for the all-important marginal seat campaigns.
For a Party advocating radical change, this requires a constant stream of credible images and persuasive messages, that engender faith in the aspirant leader's ability to deliver change without pain. Without them they will flounder.
We must be absolutely realistic about how effective the net has been so far.
We must be wildly "unrealistic" -- that is to say, visionary -- about what we will be able to do.
Let's look at some recent struggles.
Despite wonderful work done on the web by Chris Bailey and Labournet on behalf of the Liverpool dockers, they eventually lost their struggle. And following their defeat, they pointed to the lack of support as the reason why they gave up. (And building such support was the one thing the web was supposed to be good for.)
In the US, the UPS strikers won a great victory, but even though they used the web and email, absolutely no one attributes that victory to the new communications technology.
The Detroit newspaper strikers produced an excellent online newspaper, but it too did not seem to make the difference.
Despite the very high level of use of the net by Korean trade unionists and their supporters, the intensification of repression of trade unionists in that country under Kim Dae Jung has not been answered by any pressure being brought to bear through the net. No online campaign has been mounted, for example, to free imprisoned Korean labour leaders.
Despite years of effort, there has been no noticeable democratization as a result of greatly expanded use of the net.
The net has not made union affairs open and transparent to members. (I need only mention the example of scandal-ridden District Council 37 of AFSCME in New York City.)
The Internet has not empowered the new, reforming, democratic wing of the trade unions, levelling the playing field between reformers and the Old Guard. (See, for example, the election of James Hoffa Jr. in the Teamsters.)
Above all, increased use of the net has not made a noticeable contribution to the much-needed globalization of the unions. (For example, no one mounted any significant online protest at the arrest, trial and sentencing of Zhang Shuangang, an independent Chinese labour activist.)
The utopian idea that all websites are created equal, that every netizen can individually challenge corporate power, has been refuted by the reality of a commercialized, corporate-dominated web.
Our unions' members come online by their millions, but they do not do so to visit our sites.
If we go back and read, for example, Howard Rheingold's The Virtual Community, or the papers presented in 1992 and 1993 at the Manchester conferences on labour telematics, or even my own book, written in 1995, and
if we are completely honest with ourselves -- we must admit that what we had hoped would happen (the emergence of a much more powerful, robust, militant, democratic, internationalist labour movement) has not happened.
One hundred and fifty million people are now online (87 million of them in the US and Canada), there are more than 1,500 labour websites, hundreds of mailing lists, chat rooms, web forums -- and the labour movement still largely looks like and acts the same as it always did.
And yet -- everything we wrote and said from the first conferences at the beginning of this decade until today is true and valid.
The new technology is empowering.
- It does level the playing field between unions and corporations.
- It does allow the creation of new, alternative international media.
- In the end, the vision of a new International will emerge.
So what is holding things up?
In my view, consciousness lags behind reality.
In our own heads, we have not caught up with the reality of a globalized, digitized capitalism. (But the corporations have.)
Peter Waterman writes of the need for a "global solidarity culture".
I have written about the birth of a new International.
I believe that we are both talking about the same thing.
We cannot think in the old ways anymore. And the new thinking must reflect the new reality of a global capitalism that knows no borders. (We can now correct Marx and point out that the capitalists are the ones who have no country.)
Because I am convinced that consciousness ultimately follows reality, and because I see the first buds of spring in the work being done by the people at this conference, I believe that we are on the brink of a great transformation of the labour movement.
The new labour movement will be global, democratic, militant -- and it will be wired.
by Peter Lewis
The image of overpaid wideboys smearing excrement on country hotel rooms is an almost poetic metaphor for the carnage reaped on this once-great game over the past five years.
Abused as a pawn in the pay-TV war, League has lost its working class charm with its unrealised pretensions at world domination, something that had never been necessary as the Bears battled the Bluebags for the wooden spoon through the 70s.
It has lost its innocence with the millions of dollars lavished on the young men who had once represented their district, but now represented only themselves; young men paid so much that they didn't need a job, yet left to themselves with too much time and money.
The only surprise is that the hedonism, arrogance and downright debauchery that this has fuelled should surprise anyone.
As the players begin to resemble extras on the set of Caligula, the game's administrators fight with the same self-interest to maintain their own feifdoms.
As season 1999 commences it is the Sydney-based clubs who are surviving and the expansion teams in WA and SA who have bitten the dust, perhaps the final proof that News Ltd's expansionist strategy has totally failed.
I would argue the problem is that the News Ltd investors got it wrong. This was not a product to launch on a world stage.
The game was rooted in a particular culture which has proved unsuitable for transfer outside its own small circle. What sustained Sydney's working class blue-collar support base was a no nonsense, grinding game which largely reflected their working lives.
In attempting this switch onto a broader stage it lost many of these baseline supporters, who could not embrace the glamour and the big money being lavished on anyone with a stake in the game.
Until we are stuck with today's sorry sight of a game which has become too garish for its traditional supporters and too drab for the rest of the world; a game which is contracting yet still throwing money around as if its conquering the world.
And in the years since the civil war began other sports have moved into the market: Aussie Rules and soccer, in particular, have gained a foothold by doing the simple things well.
No amount of Tom Kenneally poetry or similar gimmicks can reverse this slide. The damage has been done and it is irrevocable.
And even if they can fill the Olympic Stadium for one big game, those sky-blue empty seats will provide the backdrop for most of the club games this year (except in Brisbane where they've made the seats different colours to give the impression of a full crowd).
So you have overpaid, over-hyped players performing to empty houses, torn between the rock star lifestyle and the grim reality of their dying game.
And is it any surprise that in the emptiness of this existence, they turn to drugs and worse?
The ultimate irony is that the unsavoury rural incidents are the only things the dying game is providing to the News Ltd papers, the key agents of the game's demise.
The papers are the only one's who don't lose. The heroes they have created become villains and the headlines become even more salacious.
And desperate ploys like this week's open letter on the back page of the Telegraph from Souths President George Piggins to ignore the dirt and support the players won't wash because the faith has already been lost.
Dying empires are never pretty sights. And as the walls of Phillip Street continue to crumble, we should brace ourselves for more ugliness.
A child of the mid 80's, they are in the mid 90's, on the threshold of becoming the major players in the superannuation industry.
There are now some 117 industry funds in existence. They have some 5.4 million accounts and approximately $23 billion in assets. The size of the funds vary significantly. The two largest funds have over $2 billion each in assets, the smallest has $4 million.
In terms of membership, the largest fund had around 800,000 members whilst the smallest had 200. The ten largest industry funds account for some two thirds of assets in the sector.
Over the last fifteen years, industry funds through the vehicle of award superannuation, have been successful in giving working people the opportunity to provide for their retirement.
Prior to the introduction of industry funds, the only employees who had access to superannuation were those employed in the public sector or in large organisations.
Those employed in larger organisations did not necessarily have automatic coverage rather, superannuation was a privilege extended to them after a particular period of service with the company.
Individuals who did not fall into one of the above categories could seek personal superannuation coverage through an insurance company, but generally at a high cost. Industry funds provided a low cost, accessible alternative.
The issue of costs has been one of the industry funds great success stories. All funds charge an administration fee of $1 or less per week. The funds have also bargained hard to drive down other costs in the industry such as fund managers fees.
In more recent times industry funds have begun to expand the services they offer to members. Many funds now offer members services such as: investment choice, home loans, expanded insurance cover and allocated pensions. In many of these areas, industry funds have been the pacesetters.
The end of the 90's sees industry funds facing its greatest challenge - choice of funds. Presently the fund that employers pay contributions into is regulated by the relevant award. The Federal Government is seeking to change this arrangement by obligating employers to offer a choice of funds to employee's.
Whether the Federal Governments legislation is successful or not the reality is that choice is here already. Many State jurisdictions including NSW, offer choice of fund to employee's.
Industry funds have recognised the trend toward choice and have put in place strategies to meet it. Around thirteen funds are now public offer which means they can take members from a broader market. Four of the larger funds have embarked on a television marketing campaign (who could have missed the Bernie Fraser advertisement), still others have used radio or direct mail.
As well as the challenge there are opportunities for industry funds. Many companies within their own in-house funds have questioned whether they should remain in that business. They are consequently seeking to outsource this particular function, industry funds are a natural alternative.
Many of the above issues I'm hoping to expanding upon in future columns and I trust they're of interest.
Mark Lennon will be donning the cape and silly undies to write a regular column on superannuation.
by Madame Bouffant
Or, as he decribes the gay and lesbian community, that 'tiny but powerful section of the community that opportunistically vilifies other sections of the community including clerics and nuns in the name of anti-discrimination.'
Que? Can someone please explain what this man is talking about.?
I assume he is referring to those tireless purveyors of good deeds the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I have never ever heard a vilifying word escape the good sisters lips. They are the epitome of grace and distinction and they do not stoop to crass criticisms and expressions to get their point across.
Every year Piers seems obsessed with the length (oops sorry) size of the crowd watching the parade. In the Daily Telegraph he states: "As numerous mathematicians have calculated the length of the route and the depth of the crowd mandate that the most generous figure would probably be in the order of 150,000."
Have Piers and "numerous mathematicians" been getting together to mull over the average space taken up by a parade watcher multiplied by the length of Liverpool, Oxford and Crown Street multiplied by five for the depth of the crowd with a further 20 per cent added for all the people hanging off balconies, in shops, houses, awning and roofs?
In the Daily Telegraph column he accuses the police of being manipulated by the "lavender mafia" in the calculation of figures.
When challenging the police media unit on the figures he states they are a: "curious result given that careful calculations by smarter people could produce no more than one-third this number."
A word of warning Piers. Not a good idea to accuse the police of being less than smart particularly when it comes to counting. If he's not careful people will start to think he's obsessed with how many there are out there who are happy to line the streets for hours cheering on men and women who are brazenly flaunting their sexuality.
Why is this issue occupying so much of Piers valuable thinking time when there are so many other issues that we the reading public need his deep insight into?
Perhaps he will begin applying the saem analytical skills to the over-estimation of Rugby league crowds now that his employers have gutted the game.
From now on turnstiles should be set up at every street entrance, intersection, park entrance, doorway and every other possible point of entry to the parade route.
Police will be on stand-by at each point to check that there is no cheating so once and for all we can know who many people watch the parade. After all they have nothing better to do.
This will keep them off the streets harassing the drug addicts, dole-bludgers, drag-queens and want members of minority groups who a upstanding citizens would agree, should be kept in the closet.
Because Piers and I, and all the other 45 Sydneysiders who didn't watch the parade, just don't want to look at them.
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