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Straw Men
Somewhere between Bangalore and Surrey Hills a story about off shoring of Australian jobs got confused this week; unleashing a round of hand-wringing that speaks volumes about the political and commercial potency of this issue.
Interview: Australia’s Most Wanted
The ACCC is the latest state agency to turn its guns on the construction union. National official, Dave Noonan, discusses the implications.
Industrial: The Fox and the Contractor
With new laws looming for “independent contractors”, Foxtel subbies have had the carpet pulled from under their feet, writes Nathan Brown.
Unions: Industrial Wasteland
A group of inner-Sydney veterans appear to be working to strip their families of retirement incomes. Jim Marr records their desperation.
International: Two Bob's Worth
German and British workers are participating in business decisions while WorkChoices locks Australians out of the conversation, writes Anthony Forsyth.
Economics: National Interest
John Howard claimed that interest rates would always be lower under a Coalition government than under Labor, Neale Towart crunchess the numbers.
Environment: The Real Dinosaur
Economic ignorance remains at the top and the critics are oblivious says Sol Power
History: Only In Spain?
The experiences of self management during the Civil War have been the one positive factor to come from that tragic event, and the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation thrives today.
Review: Clerk Off
Nathan Brown draws solace from some fellow social misfits.
 Activists Notebook
Money Walks Over Jobs
Classifieds the New IR Attack Dog
States Keep Stakes in IR Blueprint
Meatworkers Boned by WorkChoices
Tune Up for Radio Rentals
Democracy Overboard in Bass Strait
Unionist Targeted for Deportation
Taxpayers Taken to the Cleaners
Staff Sunk By Float
AWB Sets New Low
Heinemann Pushes the Envelope
Giant Catastrophe for Crew
Workers Lose Right to Choose Lawyers
Skill Vouchers A Dud, AMWU
Legends
Westie Wing
MLC Ian West ventures beyond Macquarie St and into the desert of the eco rats. The Soapbox
Testing Times
Former RLPA secretary and Newcastle Knights prop, Tony Butterfield, fires up over dawn raids. Obituary
Dare to Win
The union movement has lost an inspirational leader of working men and women, writes Jeana Vithoulkas Fiction
Tommy's Apprentice
Chapter Two - Tommy’s Tale.
Honest John, Would You Like Lies With That
The Unpromised Land
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News
Heinemann Pushes the Envelope
Heinemann - the electrical parts manufacturer that docked 53 workers a week's wages for an overtime ban - is continuing to push John Howard's new federal IR laws to the extreme.
The South African-owned company has attempted to stop employees from seeking to protect their entitlements should the company go bust.
But the Australian Industrial Relations Commission has upheld a previous decision - appealed by Heinemann - that seeking protection for employee entitlements is not 'prohibited content' under Howard's new laws.
Under WorkChoices, all content not directly pertaining to the employment relationship is banned from workplace agreements.
Heinemann sought an order to stop members of the Electrical Trades Union taking protected industrial action on the grounds the union was pursuing prohibited content.
But the AIRC's full bench said a claim protect employee entitlements in the event of liquidation did pertain to the employment relationship, similarly to claims for employer superannuation or insurance against loss of earnings.
In August, while attempting to negotiate an enterprise bargaining agreement which guaranteed their entitlements and granted a reasonable pay rise, the workers stopped working voluntary overtime for a week, but continued to work normal hours.
Heinemann - which wanted to slash penalty rates for overtime and shift work - refused to pay 54 Victorian employees for that week's work, owing them $33,000 in total.
The workers are continuing to fight for a fair collective agreement.
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Issue 328 contents
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