Issue No 36 | 22 October 1999 | |
NewsTimorese Appeal to Democrats to Dump Reith’s Wave
The National Council for Timorese Resistance has appealed to the Australian Democrats to block the proposed Second Wave of industrial relations reforms that would make protests of conscience and solidarity impossible.
The plea is made in letter from the CNRT's National Political Commission representative for Australia Joao Viegas Carrascalao to Democrats' Senator Vicki Bourne sent earlier this month. "We would like to make you aware of the difficulties of another of our strongest supporters, the trade unions - difficulties over which you have some influence," the letter says. "We have known that many of the tremendous actions they took on behalf of our people in recent weeks are against the law in Australia. When the massacres began, most Australians expressed sympathy with our plight. However the unions were one of the few groups that had both the political will and the degree of organisation required to take action and we believe that their initiatives were an important factor in propelling the government itself into action. "Now the government unfortunately intend to make it virtually impossible for unions to take any solidarity action. Whilst of course your own national affairs are of your business, such moves sit awkwardly with the idea of freedom that all of us are trying to achieve. "We may or may not agree with the viewpoint of the unions at all times, but to make their effective function all but impossible is a worrying development from a democratic point of view." Senate Inquiry Comes to Sydney Meanwhile, retired unionists presented young workers with a log of hard-won conditions they had secured but were now under threat, in a ceremony outside the Senate inquiry sitting in Sydney today. Former waterfront boss Tas Bull, FSU official Lynne Poulsen and Metalworkers official Tom Shiner addressed the crowd about the need to stop Reith stripping away the workers' inheritance. Apprentice Connor Gorman spoke of how it was harder than ever for workers to protect themselves, particularly when they were starting out in a job. Inside the hearing, Labor Council assistant secretary John Robertson told the committee that the NSW industrial relations model was one that was based on consultative and collective arrangements that are balanced and fair. "The federal government should be looking at the statistics on strike action in NSW before embracing the Reith model," Robertson said. In other evidence today, the Community and Public Sector union claimed Peter Reith was breaking his own workplace laws by refusing to negotiate with it on behalf of its members in the Department of Employment, Workplace relations and Small Business. This is despite 70 per cent of staff being union members and staff union representatives having been elected unopposed to consultative committee to negotiate a union agreement with the Department. "Mr Reith likes to talk about choice but his own Department is ignoring the choice made by its own employees," CPSU national secretary Wendy Caird says. "The choice for employees is to take it or leave it. He is intent on treating his own staff in the same way Patricks did on the waterfront last year."
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Interview: When All’s Not WEL Suzanne Hammond explains how the federal government’s decision to cut off funding to the Womens’ Electoral Lobby wil impact on all women. Republic: The Great Constitutional Swindle In an upcoming book, Peter Botsman argues the blanding out of Australian consitutional history is one of the big barriers to the Republican cause. Unions: Beaten by the Clock Ron Callus from ACIRRT counts the social cost of increased working hours. International: Pakistan Military Urged to Protect Workers' Rights The ICFTU is urging General Pervez Musharraf, who yesterday seized power in a military coup, to take urgent steps to ensure a return to constitutional rule in the shortest possible time. History: How the Cunning Fox Survived Len Fox recently turned 94. He celebrated the event by sending out copies of his latest publication to friends; a booklet of his selected pencil and crayon sketches since 1925, with autobiographical commentaries. Satire: Direct Electionists to Keep Voting No Pro-direct election republicans who plan to vote “no” in the upcoming referendum have announced plans to extend their approach to every future election held in Australia. Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre Read the latest issue of Labour review, a resource for union officials and students. Review: Bowing down before Globalzilla It is my experience that books that have the word "globalization" in the title should be avoided at all costs.
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