
Issue No 42		17 December 1999

News

'Scrooge' Destroys Staff Christmas

QBE Mercantile Mutual Ltd announced last weeek that it will sack 83 staff across Australia before Christmas.

The 83 staff targeted for retrenchment, including 31 staff in NSW, were ordered by management to pack their belongings and were escorted out of the office.

The Finance Sector Union has lodged a dispute in the Industrial Relations Commission. In a hearing earlier this week, the Commission directed QBE to begin immediate talks with FSU to develop a proper and fair process for handling any future staff reductions.

FSU NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mr. Geoff Derrick said, "QBE Mercantile > Mutual is this year's Christmas Scrooge. The company's decision to sack 10% of its workforce on the eve of Christmas is heartless and irresponsible."

"The way QBE Mercantile Mutual has handled these sackings is disgraceful. Staff with over 20 years service are being marched out of the workplace and sent home to tell their families that they have lost their jobs just two weeks before Christmas." he said.

"This quick-fire and callous approach to downsizing is a throw back to the corporate culture of early 1990's. The company has made no genuine attempt to find alternative roles for the redundant staff and has completely ignored the most basic right of staff in these situations to be treated with respect and dignity. The companies decision to implement these cuts on the eve of Christmas only makes matters worse." said Derrick.

Mr. Derrick said that QBE Mercantile Mutual's action would have a negative effect not only on the 83 staff who lose their jobs but also on the rest of the company's workforce.

"Other staff will see the way these sacked workers have been treated by management. The morale and productivity of QBE Mercantile Mutual's entire workforce will be negatively affected," he said.

Mr. Derrick said the actions of the joint venture company were particularly appalling considering QBE and Mercantile Mutual made a combined profit of $190 million last year.

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Issue 42 contents

Interview: Costa Bravo
Labor Council�s chief trouble maker chronicles the battles of the past year and ponders those still to come.

Unions: More Wins Than Losses
Workers Online ranks the Top Ten industrial relations stories from a year of frenetic activity.

International: Eric Lee's Year in Review
The editor of Labourstart looks back over his favourite stories of 1999.

Politics: So Many Questions
It was a year in politics that threw up more questions than answers. We look at some of the sticky ones.

Republic: Referendum With Class
Labor heretic Michael Thomspson analyses the failure of the Republican proposition.

Environment: Seattle Kills Greens V Jobs Bogey
The sight of US unionists, environmentalists and human rights activists being attacked by police in Seattle shows how far the progressive movement has come.

Deface a Face: Give Him a Hairdo
What better present could Michael Costa offer Workers Online readers than the chance to give him a Deface a Face style make over?

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
See the latest issue of Labour Review, our resource for officials, activists and students.

Review: Cultural Wasteland
Workers Online resident door-bitches Zanga and Paul pass judgement on the year that finished the millennium.

» What Price Aussie Jobs as Olympics Loom

» TWU Activist Named Organiser of the Year

» Unions Lock in New Years Eve Deals

» 'Scrooge' Destroys Staff Christmas

» Rule Changes to Restructure Council

» The Great Salary Rip-Off

» George to Kick Start NSW IR Reforms?

» Shaw Loses Key Advisers

» More New Faces at the New ACTU

» Reith Second Wave Not Beached Yet

» Peace in the Gong

» Workers Support Register Gathers Steam

» Pay Equity Enters Campaign Mode

» Union Aid Agency to Establish Dili Office

» Job Vacancies at the LHMU

» Guest Report

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Piers Watch

» Aquilina's Insult

» Well Done 1999

» US Union Site Worth a Look

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