
Issue No 32		24 September 1999

Labour Review

What's New at the Information Centre

By Neal Towart

The latest issue of Labour Review - a resource for officals and students.

Virtual Organizing

Laureen Lazarovici

Activists with the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech) a Communications Workers affiliate in Seattle, are using electronic mail and the World Wide Web to send out information that is unavailable elsewhere, such as Microsoft's (huge employer in Seattle) overtime regulations. This is one way union organizer's are using the internet to contact and mobilize workers. Interactive capabilities are also important, as well as the web's role as a research tool. Examples of US union strategies involving the net are included in this article. The National Labor College of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Maryland offers an "Internet for Union Activists" short course.

(America@work; vol. 4, no. 9, September 1999)

Casual Employment and Employer Strategy

Sally Weller, Jane Cussen and Michael Webber

The growth of casual employment in manufacturing has been boosted recently by recruitment practices developed to meet internal labour demands and in the context of the changing industrial laws in Australia.

(Labour and Industry; vol. 10, no. 1 August 1999)

Reinterpreting the 1989 Pilots' Dispute: the role of managerial control and labour productivity

Mark Bray and Nick Wailes

Most analysis of the 1989 pilots dispute have focused on describing the progress of the dispute and its relationship to the politics of the Accord and wages policy. The authors argue that the origins and the effects of the dispute were based in the more fundamental issues of managerial control and productivity. Control over the labour process was at the core, and the conditions forced on pilots after the strike were an indication of managements concern to assert their control.

(Labour and Industry; vol. 10, no. 1 August 1999)

Superannuation and Award Simplification

The AIRC has set out a framework for simplifying superannuation clauses in awards. The framework:

· Recognises the superannuation guarantee legislation

· Provides for awards to include a definition of ordinary time earnings, including where they are expressed as a flat dollar amount

· Provides for inclusion of choice of fund provisions in awards

(Australian Industrial Law News; newsletter 8/1999; 31 August 1999)

Maternity Leave Compo

An employer ignored an employee's statutory rights by confronting her with a demand for an immediate return to a full time position or a part time position with no rights to her original job. The maternity leave arrangement was an informal one and the employer claimed a right to dismiss because of the employees failure to advise on absences. The AIRC, however, found that the dismissal was unfair. Reinstatement was deemed inappropriate. The Commission developed a complex formula for determining compensation due which involved how much she would have earned, how much she had earned in another job. The amount awarded was influenced by the fact that important statutory benefits had been removed by the dismissal. (Vincent v Network Sets and Scenery Pty Ltd 1999 46 AILR 4-117)

(Australian Industrial Law News; newsletter 8/1999; 31 August 1999)

Ernies

The Gold Ernie for 1999 went to Anonymous Magistrate no. 1 who told a survey " Hallelujah. Women cause a lot of problems by nagging, bitching and emotionally hurting men. Men cannot bitch back, for hormonal reasons, and often have no recourse but violence".

Industrial Ernie went of course, to Steggles, for changing the rosters of young mothers to start at 6.30 am then fighting them in the NSW Industrial Commission.

Politics Ernie went to Michael Thompson for the remark in Labor Without Class " working mothers with children are the cause of many problems in society"

Media Ernie went to Thompson supporter Paddy McGuinness: "some of our best known feminists have slept their way to the top".

Elaine for the remark least helpful to the sisterhood went to Senator Jocelyn Newman, Minister Assisting the PM on the Status of Women: when asked about low-income earners and the cost of child care "if they can't afford it they have other options"

Gareth for men behaving better: George Trumbell (ex AMP CEO) who, when stating his job asked ten senior AMP women to list their ten most sexist colleagues

Clinton (repeat offenders) Workers Online star Piers Akerman and Alan Jones

(Discrimination Alert; issue 95, September 14 1999)

Putting People into Safe Jobs

Joe Catanzariti

An appeal by Drake Personnel against a conviction in the Chief Industrial Magistrate's Court for breaching s15 (1) of the NSW OHS Act was dismissed recently. The case illustrates the extent of the duty of employers to ensure a safe workplace.

A consultant for Drake had inspected the machine the employee was supposed to operate. The employee was shown a safety video and was provided with an instruction booklet. However, on the day of the accident the worker was asked to operate a different machine. Drake argued that they had done everything reasonable to comply with their obligations. Section 53(a) of the OHS Act allows a defence of doing everything "reasonably practicable" to comply with the Act. Section 53(b) provides the further defence if the commission of the offence arises from causes beyond the defendant's control and against which it is impractical to make provision.

However the Commission held that no defence for Drake had been made out. It was said to have been feasible for Drake to have a established a notification system whereby they would be notified before an employee was instructed to work on a different machine. This would allow them to carry out a risk assessment. The duty of care imposed by the Act must be strictly observed.

(OHS Legal Guide; vol. 2, issue 9, September 1999)

Bullying: Eight Steps to End It

The National Children's and Youth Law Centre, with funding from the WorkCover (NSW) Prevention, Education and Research Grants Scheme, has produced a resource kit featuring practical guidance for employers to help stamp out bullying, harassment and violence, especially involving young trainees and apprentices.

The Youth Law Centre sets out an eight step programme to prevent these problems, and the resource kit contains information on:

· What constitutes workplace violence and harassment

· Legal consequences for employers and employees of failing to prevent violence and aggression

· Intervention strategies

· Model protocols for investigation of complaints and interviews, model grievance procedures, and a model code of conduct

These can be found at http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au

(Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin; vol. 8, no. 178, 15 September 1999)

View entire issue - print all of the articles!

Issue 32 contents

Interview: His Daily Fix
Graham Richardson talks of his transition from national politics to talkback radio and his ongoing jobs as a fixer.

Politics: Requiem to the Third Way
The swing to Labor in Victoria shows clearly that once again Australian voters have rejected economic rationalism. The result, and the reasons for it, should worry John Howard.

International: A Common Struggle for Freedom
It may not get the headlines, but Western Sahara has some chilling similarities with East Timor.

Unions: Woolscour Workers say No to Peter Reith
Workers at Canobolas Wooltopping - a woolscour plant near Orange, in central west New South Wales, have just sent a message to Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith: thanks, but no thanks.

Legal: Outlawed Acts of Consicence
The recent boycotts in support of East Timorese indepndence highlights the extremism of Reith's second wave.

History: Was Manning Clark A True Believer
A Canberra history conference shines the spotlight on Australia's most famous historian.

Review: Paranoid Echoes
The calls to examine the Australian–Soviet documents in the Moscow Literary archives have grown in volume over the past year.

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
The latest issue of Labour Review - a resource for officals and students.

Satire: Kennett Boosts Chances: Two More Independents Dead
Caretaker Premier Jeff Kennett today admitted that voters perceived him as arrogant and out of touch, but insisted that they were wrong.

» Public Servants Seek Leave For Timor

» Goodbye Green Bans - Dumped by the Wave

» Government Rules Nobble Public Sector

» ACTU Pushes On With Privatised Portal

» Powerful New Years Eve Deal for TransGrid

» Banks Grill Staff on New Fees

» Off the Rails - Workers Gagged

» Staff Frustration Boils Over at Sydney Water

» Kennett Nose-Dive: Botsman Picks It

» Academics Fail Non-Union Deal

» Nike in Indonesia: Military Employed to Intimidate Workers

» The Laugh’s On Barry