The Rail Tram and Bus Union has flagged that without some form of allowance its members won't work the special rosters drawn up to meet the unprecedented activity during the 15-day Games period.
"We will be running a peak hour train service 20 hours per day - that's 30 trains per hour - while the buses will be on call across the city," RTBU state secretary Nick Lewocki says.
The RTBU is currently negotiating an enterprise agreement to cover flexible rosters on major events and is also seeking a one-off bonus for the Games period.
And the Health and Research Employees Association says its members in hospitals and the ambulance service deserve a bonus, having already been told that leave will not be granted during the games.
The unions have asked the Labor Council to coordinate negotiations, after the Premiers Department indicated the government's position was that there should be no allowance whatsoever.
But Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says this is an issue "the government can't duck".
"Throughout the Games' preparation we have been responsible - the construction has been performed on time and under budget, an award is in place for workers at the Games," Costa says.
"But the government has to recognise that public sector workers should also be recognised for the extra responsibilities they will take on during the period."
While not wanting to set a quantum for the claim, Costa says workers at games venues have negotiated a $1.50 per hour attendance bonus.
Premier Wrong On Olympics Promise
The Premier Bob Carr today responded to the claim, saying it breached 1993 and 1998 commitments not to use the Games to push for wage increases.
But Costa says the premier is mistaken to say that a claim for an Olympics allowance for public sector workers breached earlier undertakings.
Mr Costa says the claim, is totally consistent with a 1998 undertaking: "this is not a pay claim, it is a claim for a one-off allowance to recognise major changes to the way many workers will have to perform their duties."
"We are talking about workers who have had leave entitlements suspended and major changes to their rosters.
"The trade union movement have kept all their commitments to the government. Building workers have constructed the facilities on time and under budget; workers at Games venues have locked into a special award.
"Public sector workers in vital areas like health, transport and emergency services, should receive some recognition of their increased pressure and workloads during this period.
"I will be seeking a meeting with the Government to point out that this claim is reasonable and in no way breaches previous undertakings.
"The Labor Council is committed to ensuring that workers are fairly compensated for their labour during the Games period.
"It is because of our efforts to negotiate wage arrangements early that there will be no wages explosion in NSW as a consequence of the Games."
Organisers of the ceremony have begun advertising for performers - prepared to commit for five months and will hold auditions this weekend.
But despite a $62 million budget for the ceremonies, no money has been allocated for professional performers.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance says the decision is an 'insult to all professional performers' that could compromise the quality of the ceremonies.
MEAA state secretary Michel Hryce says its fine to involve school children and community groups in the ceremonies, but the spectacle would require some level of professional involvement.
"This is a chance to showcase Australian talent, instead it could end up being like a school Eisteddfod," Hryce says.
Pool Structure 'Started to Talk'
Meanwhile, the building workers union has reacted angrily to claims by the Olympic Coordinating Authority that their decision to ban work at Homebush Bay Aquatic Centre was 'a stunt'.
CFMEU organiser Graeme Childs told Labor Council there were a very real danger that workers could have been injured of the action had not been taken.
Childs says the CFMEU attempted to have the safety issues addressed for six weeks before workers walked off the job this week.
Concern was initially raised when concrete slabs, meant to weigh 2.5 tonnes, registered double that weight when being lifted by cranes onto the extension platform.
As the project managers refused to act, bolts started to pull and the structure "started to talk to us", Childs says. Riggers placed props under the structure and demanded action be taken.
WorkCover inspectors later vindicated the action, issuing prohibition notices speaking of 'ceiling tiles falling from roof'' and 'supporting structural steel not adequate and risk to public and workers.'
The Australian Services Union and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union have asked the Labor Council to hold urgent talks with the premier over the move, which they say will lead to falling service levels for Sydney commuters.
Workers Online understands that the Treasury proposal was presented to Transport Minister Carl Scully within days of him announcing the purchase of the North and Western Bus Company for $20 million late last year.
Rail Tram and Bus Union divisional secretary Pat Ryan says the unions will oppose the corporatisation "violently".
"The only difference between corporatisation and privatisaiton is a 'C' and a 'P'," Ryan says. "If they corporatise, it gets taken away from the Ministry and given to bankers whose only priority is to turn a profit. "The provision of basic transport should be considered a service rather a business," she said.
The ASU services division's Gary Sergeant said the corporatisation would remove the Minister from industrial negotiations, killing the opportunity for political resolution of disputes between union and management. "We should spear this stupid idea," he said.
They braved the wind and rain outside a number of IWD functions and sent a strong message to Lo'Po and other influential women about the appalling state of community services in New South Wales.
Thirty women from the Australian Services Union kickstarted the day at 6.30 am outside a Unifem breakfast in the CBD hosted by Lo'Po and continued the message at an evening function hosted by Bob Carr in Government House.
The protests highlighted the NSW Government's 'hands off' stance to the SACS award, the worst in the country, and the inadequate funding for organisations in the sector.
The SACS sector covers non-profit community services for the aged, homeless, people with disabilities, young people, women and families in need. Faye Lo'Po is also the Minister of Social and Community Services.
ASU member Ros Bragg says Lo Po' has a duty as the Minister of Women to support the ASU SACS Award campaign.
'She's a member of a political party committed to improving worker conditions and women's rights. As Minister of Community Services, Aged Care and Disability Services she must show a genuine commitment by promoting an improved award,' she said.
Poor public perception
Pamela Foster from the Women's Refuge Resource Centre says there is a poor public understanding about the level of professionalism and skills required in the sector.
'There is a perception that it is about offering a cup of tea and a bit of a chat. It's seen as women's work and so undervalued,' she said.
'The SACS sector especially is important in the political climate we are in. There are more disadvantaged people needing more support.'
Let's celebrate and reflect
Danielle Castles from the Deli says while International Women's Day is seen as a celebration it should also be a day to reflect.
'Some things still haven't been achieved - like fair pay in social and community services,' she said.
Danielle too is unhappy about Faye LoPo's low profile around pay and work conditions in the community sector.
'She hasn't had much impact. She's silent about our issues and that's not good enough. She's in a position where she can influence what happens in our sector.'
ASU Secretary Alison Peters says Faye Lo'Po and the State Government should explain why they can't find money for decent pay for community sector workers
'At the end of the day if they don't support these services the responsibility will fall back on the Government,' she said.
The raw deal
� Eighty percent of social and community services workers are women
� The average salary is $25,000 (the average Australian average worker earns $38,000)
� The NSW Government's refusal to fund services to meet award obligations undermines pay equity in this female dominated industry.
� NSW has the lowest award rates for Social and Community Services workers in Australia despite having a Labor Government
The Transport Workers Union has scheduled a series of community forums across the state, inviting community, religious, political and trade union representatives to coordinate local action.
The TWU is focussing on the increasing disparity in incomes, services and economic growth and prosperity between rural and metropolitan areas and is inviting other trade unions to get involved in the campaigns.
The first forum is set for Bathurst on March 19, to be followed by Albury (April 16), Dubbo (May 21), Wagga Wagga (June 18), Goulburn (July 16), Wollongong (August 20), Newcastle (September 17), Tamworth (October 22), Grafton (November 19) and Port Macquarie (December 17).
CBA Merger to Shut Hundreds of Banks
The Finance Sector Union has warned that hundreds of country towns will be left without local services if the proposed merger with the Colonial Group is approved.
While the Commonwealth Bank today flagged a 'no forced redundancy' policy for workers in rural regions, the FSU fears service levels will be inevitable casualties of the merger.
"Access to banking, insurance and superannuation is essential for all Australian communities yet that access is currently determined entirely by the market place on a profit-making basis," FSU state secretary Geoff Derrick says.
"If the Federal Treasurer approves this takeover it will trigger a corporate feeding frenzy in the finance sector with the other big banks moving on regional players."
The FSU has called on the Federal Treasurer to block the merger on public interest grounds and ban any other takeovers until comprehensive Community Service Obligations are put in place
Telstra Staff Cut 60 Per Cent Since Privatisation
Meanwhile, the announcement by Telstra that it wants to shed a further 16,000 workers to maintain its massive profit levels has been condemned.
Communications union state secretary Jim Metcher says the cuts would bring the total workforce down to just 36,000 - down from the 90,000 staff who worked for the company before the federal government commenced privatisation.
Metcher says the drop in staff numbers have been matched by a drop in service levels - particularly in rural areas.
And he says staff who complain about the falling staff levels and service standards are being "targeted and silenced".
"We need a public inquiry to call the Howard Government and Telstra to account for the services it is delivering to rural areas," Metcher says.
NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa reiterated the labour movement's support for the proposed inquiry, as he officially farewelled George from the job at a dinner in Sydney this week.
The Labor Council has proposed the inquiry, which has the support of the labour hire industry and key employer groups, as an important step in the process of properly regulating the labour hire industry.
"We believe Jennie is the appropriate person to chair this inquiry, given her broad experience and understanding of working people," Costa said.
It is understood that the Carr Government is considering the inquiry, which was put to it in a range of reform packages more than six months ago.
George has been appointed to a position on the Delta Electricity board, nominated by the Labor Council, but has so far failed to secure her stated ambition of a seat in the NSW Upper House.
But she told the dinner she is open-minded about her future. "There are times when you just have to put sit back and let fate step in."
Loggin Off
Meanwhile, George signed off as ACTU president this week by opening the Virtual Trades Hall auditorium with a successful chat session on the perils of casual work.
George fielded a wide range of questions from young women workers about the nature of casual work and what practical steps could be taken to
One of the themes that came through the chat was that not all people object to casual work, they just want to know what their rights are to ensure they have a decent working life.
A recurring question was: if I'm in a small workplace, how can I make a stand against the boss on my own?
Jennie response? Don't stick your neck out, discuss the issues that concern you with your colleagues first, use your collective power rather than going one out.
See some of the tributes to Jennie is Trades Hall and view a copy of Jennie's farewell speech on The Soapbox
At a dinner in honour of both Whelan and Jenny George, the affable identity was toasted by both NSW Attorney General Jeff Shaw and IRC Deputy President and former Labor Council secretary Peter Sams
Sams said that Whelan's most enduring quality was his loyalty, shown in his preparedness to represent the Council at pickets around the state during his six years in the job.
One of his finest moments was when Whelan, a former policeman himself, mobilised the labour movement to defeat the Carr government's plan to do away with appeal rights for police officers.
More Changes in the Club
And more notable coming and goings saw two popular appointments to the NSW Industrial Relations Commission this week.
WorkCover General Manager John Grayson was today appointed to the NSW Industrial Relations Commission as a Deputy President.
Grayson, a former Compensation Court Commissioner, had held the top job at the WorkCover Authority since 1997.
He presided over the scheme at a time of significant financial pressures and helped drive the process of giving greater autonomy to key stakeholders, including the trade union movement.
The Director-General of the Department of Industrial Relations Warwick McDonald has been appointed Acting general manager, WorkCover Authority.
NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw announced the appointment this week, along with that of Roger Boland, from the Australian Industry group.
Boland was a respected and moderate voice for employer interests who had been the key industrial relations advocate for the MTIA before its merger to create the AIG.
For past interviews with both Grayson and Boland, search the Workers Online database - http://www.workers.labor.net.au
Fearing a cyber-lockout of the union, Teachers Federation officials sprung into action - contacting the Department of Education through which the site was accessed.
A flurry of phone calls between the Federation, the Labor Council, the Minister for Education's office and the Department ensued as the prospect of Cyber-Ken striking again hit home.
Eventually the federation received an explanation: it wasn't them the department of education, it was the computer's , or rather their server, Ozemail, the Department's ISP.
Seems the department l has a large security "net nanny" filter to stop undesirable sites being downloaded into schools and the filter had decided to prevent any access to any 'Geocities' web site, one of the world's largest free web hosting sites..
The Federation current site is hosted on Geocities while they are rebuilding their site with Social Change Online. By midday departmental technical officers had done a "work-around" so the URL (the web site location) would not be affected.
"While it caused some excitement, it got resolved quickly - it does show the potential of the employer from preventing our access to the DET's intranet and our members," the Federation's John Dixon told Workers Online.
"It shows we need to enshrine in award terms our access to our members and particularly our Fed Reps in schools.
"It also raises the need for protocols around our members rights individually and collectively to privacy and confidentiality in E-mail and web correspondence.
The Municipal Employees' Union is making the application to recognise the value bilingual workers bring to their organisations.
MEU legal officers Ben Kruse says that while the payment was not large it was an important symbol on the value of a diverse workforce.
"We've got a lot of librarians, customer service operators and council workers who use community language skills regularly in employment, but local government salary system doesn't reqard these skills," Kruse says..
Under State government regulations all Councils must have social plans in operation that require Councils to target service delivery to groups from Non English Speaking Backgrounds.
"This should be a catalyst for all councils to look at the skills existing staff have to improve their services," Kruse says.
The case is scheduled to open before Justice Monica Schmidt on Monday and will run for four days.
by Noel Hester
They braved the wind and rain outside a number of IWD functions and sent a strong message to Lo'Po and other influential women about the appalling state of community services in New South Wales.
Thirty women from the Australian Services Union kickstarted the day at 6.30 am outside a Unifem breakfast in the CBD hosted by Lo'Po and continued the message at an evening function hosted by Bob Carr in Government House.
The protests highlighted the NSW Government's 'hands off' stance to the SACS award, the worst in the country, and the inadequate funding for organisations in the sector.
The SACS sector covers non-profit community services for the aged, homeless, people with disabilities, young people, women and families in need. Faye Lo'Po is also the Minister of Social and Community Services.
ASU member Ros Bragg says Lo Po' has a duty as the Minister of Women to support the ASU SACS Award campaign.
'She's a member of a political party committed to improving worker conditions and women's rights. As Minister of Community Services, Aged Care and Disability Services she must show a genuine commitment by promoting an improved award,' she said.
Poor public perception
Pamela Foster from the Women's Refuge Resource Centre says there is a poor public understanding about the level of professionalism and skills required in the sector.
'There is a perception that it is about offering a cup of tea and a bit of a chat. It's seen as women's work and so undervalued,' she said.
'The SACS sector especially is important in the political climate we are in. There are more disadvantaged people needing more support.'
Let's celebrate and reflect
Danielle Castles from the Deli says while International Women's Day is seen as a celebration it should also be a day to reflect.
'Some things still haven't been achieved - like fair pay in social and community services,' she said.
Danielle too is unhappy about Faye LoPo's low profile around pay and work conditions in the community sector.
'She hasn't had much impact. She's silent about our issues and that's not good enough. She's in a position where she can influence what happens in our sector.'
ASU Secretary Alison Peters says Faye Lo'Po and the State Government should explain why they can't find money for decent pay for community sector workers
'At the end of the day if they don't support these services the responsibility will fall back on the Government,' she said.
The raw deal
� Eighty percent of social and community services workers are women
� The average salary is $25,000 (the average Australian average worker earns $38,000)
� The NSW Government's refusal to fund services to meet award obligations undermines pay equity in this female dominated industry.
� NSW has the lowest award rates for Social and Community Services workers in Australia despite having a Labor Government
This is the first ever joint shareholder initiative sponsored by unions in several countries, and, in recognition of the growing globalisation of the capital markets, represents the broadest international proxy contest to date by any shareholder proponent.
The shareholder coalition have submitted two resolutions for consideration by the shareholders at both London-based Rio Tinto Plc and Melbourne-based Rio Tinto Ltd. for consideration at the company's two Annual General Meetings in the United Kingdom and Australia in May.
The resolutions demand that the Rio Tinto board of directors becomes more accountable to its shareholders through the appointment of an independent, non-executive Deputy Chairman after May 2000, and that the company implements a workplace code of labor practice at its operations worldwide.
The coalition is asking institutional investors to support these two resolutions in order to make Rio Tinto more accountable to its shareholders and increase shareholder value.
The coalition have also launched a special web site dedicated to the proxy contest, with the complete text of the resolutions and supporting statements, which can be found at http://www.rio-tinto-shareholders.com
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) - the principal union representing Rio Tinto's unionised workforce in Australia- has joined with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Great Britain, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) in a world wide public launch of the shareholder initiative today in Sydney, Brussels, London and Washington, D.C. Combined, these organisations represent 41 million workers.
The proponents represent workers who are both direct Rio Tinto shareholders and who are beneficiaries of pension funds that are company shareholders. The coalition estimates that pension funds with worker beneficiaries account for approximately 19 per cent of Rio Tinto's shares-worth approximately US$3.2 billion-mainly held through nominee accounts.
Speaking at the Australian launch in Sydney, ACTU secretary Greg Combet said that the shareholder action was the first of its kind for trade unions in Australia, and the first ever joint shareholder action by worker-owners from a number of countries at a multinational company.
"Worker-owners and other shareholders need to join together in common cause to ensure that corporate management is accountable and that the long-term interests of shareholders and workers are protected," Combet said.
NSW Attorney General Jeff Shaw launched the Fair School Wear campaign at Leichhardt High School this week, committing the government to ensuring clothing outworkers receive a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.
The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union is backing the campaign, which it hopes will change the purchasing behaviour of consumers across the country.
Fair Wear has already targeted the fashion industry, with most major labels signing a code of conduct. TCFUA organiser Barbara Jensen says the next step in the campaign will be sporting uniforms.
The three school uniform suppliers who have signed the Fair Wear code of practice are the retailer Lowes and manufacturers Bonds and Poppets.
The schools who to date have committed to the Fair Wear campaign are Cerdon College Merrylands; Leichhardt High School; Marrickville High School; Monte Sant Angelo Mercy College; Our Lady of the Nativity, Lawson; Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta; Peats Ridge Public School; Penrith Anglican College, Terra Sancta; Tuntable Falls Community School and Walgett High School.
Concerned Families of Australian Truckies (CFAT) chairperson Judy Penton was thrown out of the St Clare outlet after holding a protest about the unreasonable demands the company was putting on drivers.
TWU state secretary Tony Sheldon says: "Woolworths cannot keep getting away with just pushing it's weight around and expecting the drivers and their families in the transport industry and other concerned members of the community to continue shopping at their stores and contributing to their profits."
"Woolworths and other retail industry clients are going to have to accept that they have a responsibility to the drivers and the trucks out there on the road that are keeping their industry alive, their shelves full and their profits up.
"It is the only way we are ever going to substantially reduce the number of people killed in truck accidents on our roads," Mr Sheldon said. Last year of the 351 people killed in work related accidents, 171 were killed in work related accidents involving trucks.
Invoking rarely used sections of the Corporations Code, the NSW Labor Council has written to the ASIC to look into the provisions that allow directors to be struck out after presiding over two insolvencies within a five year period.
Under sections 599 and 600 of the Corporations Law directors who have presided over two or more companies that have gone into external administration within a seven year period owing more than 50 cents in the dollar to creditors can be prevented from managing another corporation for a period of up to five years.
While the federal government plans to remove these sections from the Code this week, Labor Council lawyers say they are to be replaced by new sections with even tougher provisions.
ASIC has already refused to investigate allegations of insolvent trading against the Parish meat directors, but has yet to look into sections 599 and 600.
The two directors - Ken Parrish and Colin Lord - appear to have been involved in other failed enterprises before the collapse of Parrish Meats in August last year left about 120 workers up to $1 million out of pocket.
According to a directorship search conducted at the ASIC, Parrish had been involved in the failure of two companies (Parrish Meats and South Coast Bulk Carcass Carriers Pty Ltd) and Lord four (Direct Acceptance Corporation, Direct Acceptance Investments, South Coast Bulk Carriers and Parrish Meats).
We're looking for someone young who has had to declare
themselves bankrupt. From what I gather it can happen where someone looses their job, finds they've got credit card debts and maybe other items they've bought such as a car.
After being pursued by their creditors some people elect to declare themselves bankrupt.
In terms of the story we want to do it would be a person in their 20s or 30s who has had to declare themselves bankrupt through spiralling debts.
Essentially we want to do the story so that other people who might find themselves in a difficult situation might look for assistance before it's too late.
The second story where I'm looking for a casestudy is where one partner finds themselves suddenly single due to their partner being killed, divorce.
We want to find someone who may have left the management of the finances to other person.
My direct line at Channel Nine 9965 2865.
Kind Regards Katrina Wing, Money program
Michael Crosby's appeal to Australian unions not to lose their nerve is spot on. He is saying that we have barely developed organising momentum yet and he is right. Our movement is still dominated by a method of unionism which encourages "organiser dependency" which in its roots, if not in its intention, assumes that workers themselves cannot build unionism in and beyond their workplace. Sometimes in discussions about organising this assumption is explicitly stated. As often as not it is an unconscious assumption and all the powerful and undermining for that.
Michael is also right in saying that we have adapted the USA unions' 'organising model' into a uniquely Australian hybrid. In New Zealand there have also been great efforts by a small group of unions to build an organising culture in a hostile environment. The element we give more serious attention to than the Americans is union education.
I believe that there is still something missing from the organising model we are developing. That is, what sort of organising is capable of creating campaigns of an industry wide and society wide character. There are other countries where union movements are in advance of the Americans in this regard. Especially, I think there is a lot for us to learn from the Canadians, especially but not exclusively the Canadian Auto Workers. Why should we not learn from Canada where union density has remained in the mid 30 percents in a an environment as hostile to unionism as ours, if not more so, just across the border from the land of 14% density?
The CAW - and also other Canadian unions - have advanced some crucial question and encourage membership study of them: what sort of unionism are we trying to create? what is the purpose of organising? to fix our numbers problem? to get a better deal on the job? to determine the shape of the society in which we live? This means discussing and studying our values and principles - deeply. There is even less discussion of these and related questions in our labour movement than there is of organising, and this, I argue, is very dangerous.
And it means investigating the features, effects and causes of the exploitation experienced in common by workers across all countries on the globe. How does this exploitation link to the exponential destruction of the world's ecosystems? How does it link to the denial of land rights? Are these latter questions, and others like them, union business? >As I said, the CAW is not the only union around the world who take these questions seriously. Our movement desperately needs to join in.
Don Sutherland
To Whom it may concern.
I am writing this letter openly, however,I feel that the workplace in question should not be named as yet.
On 7 Jan 2000, I was unfairly dismissed, and my former employer settled out of court with me, however, the core of this letter is as follows.
In investigating my rights, I discovered that this NATIONAL company is NOT paying award wages, nor complying with award conditions.You see, when I started my employment, I was certain that the 'contract' I signed was a part of enterprise bargaining. I later discovered I was wrong. The company in question is underpaying staff up to 300p/week gross, it has 4 office locations, and, even if I make a claim, the Department of Industrial Relations won't say boo about this nor investigate, as the workers have to make a complaint first.Strange that my claim for a little over 15000 in back pay doesnt even bother the Dept.The workers at this place are just to scared to say anything in fear of thier jobs. Now you tell me, how fair is it when you do everything by the book, yet this employer is slapping out whole system in the face and making good profits on underpaying staff. How is that so, and what can I do about it.
>
>Confused.
Noticed you posted the Yahoo/SEIU story. We have joined the campaign for Respect at LAX and are attempting to globalise it.
Find out more by clicking on our Home page and going to the news -
http://www.union-network.org or directly to:
Bob Ramsay
In relation to the current NSW Teacher Federation ban on the ELLA tests may I suggest that the Federation has made a grave error of policy. So, too, has the State Government!
The ELLA test is a literacy test aimed at measuring student literacy skills in Years 7 and 8. This year the State Government used those test results to place STLD teachers in schools. The NSW Federation has protested the use of the test results for staffing and has banned the test this year.
I believe that the Federation is wrong to object to resource (staffing) distribution to schools less privileged. That is a Government right and I believe that more resources should be transferred to those in need. Whether enough resources have been so placed is another matter. It is therefore unwise for the Federation to protest the staffing of schools less well-off.
We all would surely like those who require support to be given priority. This is a principle all who profess loyalty to the principle of equity should support.
However I do believe that the ELLA test should be banned. The test itself is the problem. It is a blunt instrument and is based on a poor definition of literacy. It is effectively a meaningless test. That the Government is using such a test shows its total lack of understanding of good educational practice and casts doubt on the capacity of its advisers.
The Government and the Federation should enter meaningful talks, not over the issue of staffing, but over an effective test instrument that really measure literacy. In this way we shall proceed with the good of students at the centre and not revert to posturing - on both sides.
Brian Everingham
by Peter Lewis
What is the Working Women's Centre and what does it do?
It's a community legal centre. And it is an organization that is managed by community organizations, NESB organizations, women's organizations, trade unions and the Human Rights Commission. It provides information and advice to women via a call service that operates three days a week on industrial matters and work related matters.
It was set up by activist women, essentially from immigrant women's Speakout and the Womens Electoral Lobby and some trade union women, arising out of the need that Speakout had identified in servicing their clientele, particularly in those unregulated areas of women's employment. Speakout used to have in the early 90s numbers and numbers of enquiries from their constituency about employment matters and they saw a need for a centre other than their own organization to provide advice and information to working women from NESB backgrounds as well as addressing all the cultural barriers we know about that those women have traditionally found in asserting their rights at work.
To what extent are you filling a gap that's left by people who aren't in trade unions?
Most women in NSW aren't in unions, whether unionists like that or not. Sixty seven per cent of women in NSW aren't members or trade unions. So that leaves a big area or number of women who have no where to go for industrial advice. In that context, what we at the Centre deal with are similar matters to what a community legal centre would deal with. We deal with unfair dismissal matters primarily, as a very last resort. Women who are working in un-unionised or under-unionised industries don't know about grievance centres in awards; don't know about grievance procedures in enterprise agreements. All they know about is what they read in the media. And there has been a huge penetration in the public psyche around unfair dismissal matters, and also in particular on maternity leave entitlements and sexual harassment and workplace harassment matters. They don't know the particulars of what they need to do to go about it, so they ring us and we point them in the direction of utilising the user friendly provisions in particular of the NSW Industrial Relations Act.
How well is the system set up to deal with people from non-English speaking backgrounds?
In general the NSW Act is user friendly. But I think that all institutions are inaccessible to people from any NESB backgrounds, by language alone. In the Commission at the moment it is very difficult because of budgetary constraints on the part of the IRC to get an interpreter. So that in itself is the start of it. And at the Centre we have for example, a Chinese speaking worker who is able to assist women from her community in accessing remedies under the NSW Act and the Anti Discrimination Acts that are available to them.
There isn't much information out there in NESB communities about industrial or employment rights and the Centre is almost the first point of information for people and we usually get referrals from Speakout or other ethnic community organizations like the Vietnamese Welfare Association or the Australian Chinese Community Association fFrom people who have absolutely no idea what they should do. And they mostly work in unregulated or under-unionised industries.
So the system itself isn't accessible in the sense that the language barriers alone provide inaccessibility, but the information about exactly what to do isn't out there either. Now, that worries me because while I think that DIR has done a really job of promoting access to award information, it's scary just how much people don't know about their employment situation.
What about the broader group issues, particularly around working women from non-English speaking backgrounds. What can an organization like yours do to promote their collective interests?
Well, one of the objects of the Centre from its inception was to encourage women to join and be active in their trade union to achieve their rights at work, and of course the Centre is consistent with this object. We would of course, see as an ideal situation women joining and being active in their trade unions. But for one reason or another that has simply not always been the case.
And why do you think that isn't the case?
Lack of information, without a doubt. The women who contact us have absolutely no idea about what their rights are by and large. And lack of visibility of the trade union movement, it would seem to me anecdotally again, is a really big issue. And I think if you surveyed community legal centres; if you surveyed more of the organizations that provide this sort of advice, they would all tell you the same thing. That what you get mostl find is you are halfway into your interview and you say, "have you contacted the union about this? Are you a member of the union? Have you contacted them?" They say, "there's no union here".
Have you found the demand for your services increasing over recent years as there has been a push to deregulation and more precarious employment?
Yes. We are pushed to capacity, We take 70 calls a week. We are open three days. We take 20 to 25 calls a day and if we were open another two days we would take another 50 calls. So we have noticed an increase, and certainly in the early days of the Centre it was promoted as a place where women could come for information. And so we are out there with community organizations; in the neighbourhood centres and community centres which deal with people's day to day lives at time of shrinking resources across the community.
Working within those constraints, what community development work is going on?
NSW DIR has funded us over the last three years for community development and information projects, which has largely gone to rural and regional areas. We are also targetting the Chinese and Vietnamese communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. We are also working with community legal centres to ensure that they have access to information about employment rights and law. We have held workshops in numerous communities, including Lismore, for example, at the end of last year, where I went up and ran workshops over two days with women from mainstream and aboriginal communities. And again, it was confirmed for me just how much of a need for this kind of information there is. Women were completely ignorant about employment rights and we were able to provide them with information.
So, this is a bit of a community legal model to industrial information. How do you see that concept expanding throughout the community over time?
I think that the NSW Industrial Relations Act really does lend to that kind of acceptability. Many legal centres have been successful, as we know, over the last 25 years, providing a point where people who can't afford legal advice to go and find out information about problems that they have. That's no different to finding information about work. And the Act stresses the need for accessibility to the industrial relations system. ,
And having come from an union background yourself, what do you think the union movement can learn about the operation - the experience of something like the Working Women's Centre?
Well, it really does need to tailor its organising activity to get information to people who don't have it. To organising non- and under-unionised sisters. I understand the constraints in the sense of what's viable and the lack of resources in the trade union movement. There does need to be consideration given to those emerging groups of workers.
But I think there has to be some thought about the Organising Model and the Servicing Model. And essentially what community legal centres and Working Women's do is provide a servicing model. You ring up and you get the information you need. And it is a real challenge for the trade union movement to combine the organising model with the old servicing model. - to tailor its organising activity to what is most needed in that particular group of workers or community, and it might be the case that a particular group of workers wants to be serviced. That is how they will be retained - included and retained.
It's been an interesting debate and I have certainly been active in the debate over a long period, and being at Working Women's has taught me that there is still a need for a servicing office mentality among certain groups of workers.
When people walk away from your service after having been looked after, do you get the sense that if the unions were looking after them they would become committed members, and maybe even activists?
Absolutely. You know, as a union official I used to get thank you cards and what have you. We get tokens, we get cards, we get all kinds of things. People are really grateful for the service that's provided. Now, that's not to say that's ideal. But we are able to provide an advice, information and advocacy service that goes to the direct needs of the individual at the time.
by Louise Beard
"I didn't know there was a specific award for the IT industry..."
This is something I seem to be hearing a lot lately. And whether it be officers from other unions, employers and even, at times, our own members, more often than not the mention of an award which regulates the terms and conditions of IT professionals elicits this same response.
This reminds me of the reactions I faced when I first began as an Industrial Officer with APESMA. In conversations with former colleagues, friends and the like, I would explain the role of APESMA and its jurisdiction with respect to IT professionals. Even then, some found it difficult to grasp the concept of a union for people in IT, particularly contractors.
But yes, there is a union for those in the IT industry. The Information Technology Professionals Association (ITPA) was established first as an industry group for APESMA members in 1995, then as a separate body in 1996. The ITPA has seen a phenomenal increase in membership of 84% in the last 12 months and a substantial proportion of our ITPA members are indeed contractors.
And yes, there is an IT award. The Information Technology Industry (Professional Engineers) Award 1999 to be precise. As a federal award this applies to a number of listed respondents nation wide.
Do we really need an award for the IT Industry?
We certainly do. A common misnomer, however, is that because market rates for IT professionals are currently high, an award has no real utility. This is clearly not the case, as the benefits of award coverage extend far beyond minimum rates of pay. The best example of this is the access an award gives the employees it covers to the Industrial Relations Commission. To state the obvious, enforcing award conditions and pursuing grievances, particularly alleged cases of unfair dismissal through the Commission, is a much cheaper and far less time consuming alternative to pursuing a claim for breach of contract in a Local or District Court.
In any case, it is important to have minimum award rates in place as a safety net. While most IT professionals are paid well above these rates at present, market rates could just as easily do an about-face in the future. Further, it is never safe to assume that an entire profession is paid highly, just because the market rates are high as an overall indication.
Since the Award was made in July 1999, many employees in the IT industry have been happily discovering their rights as award employees. However this is matched by some employers who still subscribe to the "ignore- it- and- hope- it- goes- away" school of industrial thought. But the IT award will not be going anywhere, and in fact, will only be getting bigger as more employers continue to be roped in.
The role of an ITPA Industrial officer .
The ITPA is administered from APESMA's federal office in Melbourne. As an Industrial Officer in the NSW Branch I have portfolio responsibility for the majority of private industry APESMA (NSW) members and for all ITPA members in NSW.
This puts me in daily contact with members in the IT industry, who phone, fax and of course email their industrial inquiries through. These cover a variety of issues and as a result my duties range from reviewing contracts of employment through to providing representation on redundancy, unfair dismissal and discrimination matters.
The most common questions from ITPA members relate to both award and market rates of pay, working overseas, becoming a contractor, setting up a business and general conditions of employment such as leave entitlements and hours of work. As it is common for contracts of employment in the IT industry to contain confidentiality, intellectual property and post-employment restraint clauses, a considerable amount of advice is also sought in relation to the obligations such clauses create.
The unique aspect of my role is that I deal with individuals as opposed to workplaces. IT professionals are so mobile and so much of their work is project based that it hampers the ability to apply traditional organising models successfully. The focus is therefore not on establishing groups of employees or contractors in the one workplace, identifying workplace delegates or establishing committees.
I have worked closely enough and long enough with IT professionals to know that this would not be a successful approach in any case. This can be attributed to both cultural and practical reasons. The IT industry is largely comprised of young Generation X'ers, who move from job to job and project to project at an unprecedented rate. Many relocate to different cities and countries without a second thought. A great number change their status from that of employee to contractor and vice versa on a regular basis.
The nature of their work is not conducive to team building and rarely fosters a collective identity in a particular workplace. Instead it demands a considerable degree of autonomy and nurtures individualism. While many IT professionals enjoy the ease at which they can work from home - or anywhere with online access for that matter - the nature of their work is sometimes described to me as isolating. I have seen the manifestation of this problem in practice with members who experience difficulties in communicating and negotiating with others in the workplace, particularly managers, but also clients, customers and even colleagues.
Another challenge for an industrial officer in the IT industry is the "secrecy" issue. An alarming number of members will only communicate with the Association in complete secrecy, lest their employer finds out, which "wouldn't look good". This is a sad indictment on the culture of some organisations, but an unfortunate reality that we must face. Members are generally aware of their rights with regard to freedom of association and if they are not, the Association ensures that they become aware. But the practical reality is that the mere existence of certain rights does not necessarily ensure that they will be upheld. If they are infringed it is also often difficult to prove. In most cases the employee concerned complains of a "general feeling" that seeking industrial advice from a union would be frowned upon (as a side issue it is also worth noting that I have found some employers very receptive to the idea of their employees being members of a "professional association" but not a "union". Even when the ITPA's role and functions are explained clearly, it appears that substituting the words "professional association" in place of "union" sometimes makes all the difference. While this may sound absurd it is yet another indictment on the current industrial relations climate, particularly the negative union images propagated by various forces).
In any event, I am yet to come across an individual in the industry who is prepared to pursue a complaint or to stir up any trouble over the issue of union membership. Instead, they prefer to seek advice behind a thick cloak of secrecy. This is obviously far from ideal, and I would be the first person to encourage the opposite. However, it is vital to respect the member's wishes and in doing so this often means ensuring that privacy and confidentiality are foremost considerations. Usually this is only an issue at the very outset of the member's problem, as the importance of maintaining secrecy obviously diminishes when the ITPA is required to act on behalf of the member.
The relevance of a Union in the IT Industry
On the other side of the coin, it is encouraging to find that we are often contacted by IT professionals eager to join the Association who have been referred to us by their colleagues. Even more encouraging is the 83% growth in membership that the ITPA has seen in the last 12 months. So how does a union appeal to potential members in the IT industry?
I believe the answer relates to my earlier observations about the culture of the industry. We need to understand important factors such as what drives IT professionals, how they work, where and when they work and the global market for their skills. It is also important to reiterate that this is not only about understanding the IT profession, but largely about understanding the working patterns and preferences of Generation X, particularly as these differ from those of preceding generations.
In so doing we are more easily able to identify their needs and interests and deliver our services accordingly. We are able to give the members what they want, not what we think they want, or should want. This is the reason our one-on-one approach is successful. It is also why we place so much emphasis on servicing. Because it is what the members want and are prepared to pay for.
Obviously, not everybody agrees with this approach, and I have been engaged in some lively debates in the past with officers from other, more traditional unions. Accordingly, in the interests of supporting my contentions, I provide the following example.
Take the issue of contracting. One of the best things the ITPA could have done was to extend its coverage to IT contractors. Whether you believe, as many do, that contracting is an inferior alternative to employment, the reality of the situation remains - the IT industry is comprised largely of contractors. Further, many IT professionals choose to be contractors. Some prefer the security and benefits, such as leave entitlements that go with their status as an employee, while others prefer the greater flexibility and higher hourly rates of pay enjoyed by contractors. Either way it is a personal choice. Thus, while some unions refuse to have anything to do with contracting, the ITPA must. To respond any differently would be to ignore a pertinent reality in the IT industry and issues facing our members. Our response is therefore to offer advice on becoming a contractor - advantages, disadvantages, legal and practical requirements etc. This is the best thing a union can do for its members - to give them access to resources that will empower them to make an informed, personal decision.
This is just one example of how unions must respond to the real needs and preferences of their members. We must look carefully at the culture of the particular profession or industry and find the best way to appeal to it. Above all we need to be flexible in our approach and let the members' interests dictate the way the union operates and what it offers its membership.
Sometimes this means adopting new ways of doing things and abandoning others. This is often more easily said than done, particularly as some individuals and unions are still very resistant to change. But it all comes back to a basic rule. So basic that it is almost a clich�: to ensure their survival unions must move with the times. I guess this is a clich� for a reason - it is true. This is the information age and we have to move with it, now. This applies not only to groups with a direct interest in IT, but to the entire labour movement.
Please note that the views expressed in this article are the author's and not necessarily those of the APESMA or the ITPA.
by July, 1943 edition of Transportation,
$BODY.FILTERED$
by Cracking the Gender Code - Who Rules the Wired World?
The intensity with which Wired discourse consistently excludes, degrades and attempts to destroy difference is equalled only by its almost obsessive reconstruction of white masculinity in a new, quintessentially hypermodern form.
This new hypermodern machismo combines the mainstays of the emerging digital culture with very traditional constructions of masculine power, frontier mythology and technological transcendence. What emerges is an image of a hypermacho man who uses new forms of technology to reassert power. He dominates older forms of capital and the nation-state for the benefit of his new digital economic frontier, and reasserts traditional gender roles that protect masculine privilege.
The Wired man is the creation of visual and linguistic devices combined with the long-standing symbolic associations that govern hegemonic western culture. The resulting discourse reaches out and tries to grab the reader personally, invoking images of hypermasculinity and supplementing these with very political, ideological content.
Attracting the Right Readers
Although Wired's design screams for attention, the high-tech intensity that characterises the Wired look does not appeal to all potential readers. In fact, the style is uniquely designed to attract a particular brand of reader, namely, Wired's self-proclaimed constituency and readership, the digital generation. It is this digital generation that is to find itself and reality it understands graphically reflected in the magazine's design. As we have seen, other potential readers are often turned away at the first sight of Wired's cover.
As a result, the significance of the cover, as the primary identifier, cannot be underestimated. The basic elements of the cover do not stray from the conventions of commercial publications: a primary graphic features the character, author, personality or issue being highlighted in the magazine and a series of headlines entice the reader below a consistent, easily-identifiable banner. What most dramatically distinguishes the cover of Wired on the newsstand is its colour intensity, the unusually provocative headlines and the creative, frequently computer-generated, cover image. Together, these elements create a strikingly unreal or hyper-real visual image that either attracts or repels potential readers.
In order to understand how this is done, it is useful to once again compare Wired with a more familiar and ubiquitous magazine genre, the women's fashion magazine. According to Ellen McCracken's useful study of this genre, the cover image of a model on a so-called women's magazine represents a "Window to the future self," a symbol of what the reader can achieve by consuming the magazine's content. The cover of Wired serves an analogous function as both the window to the individual reader's future and to a more generalized future world.
The cover does more than simply catch the eye of the casual passer-by. Wired's cover graphic, which most often depicts a celebrity of the digital generation, challenges the (presumed) male reader to emulate the characteristics and achievements of the cover "model," who is almost always a white male. Just as the cover model of Cosmopolitan comes to signify the "Cosmo girl," and all the values endorsed by the magazine, so the figure on the cover of Wired represents elite members of the digital generation.
And, like the model on the cover of a fashion magazine, the image on Wired's cover plays on the vulnerabilities of its intended readers in order to draw them in. Female readers of fashion magazines find themselves drawn to the unrealistic, fantastic images of the current feminine ideal and their attendant promises of happiness and adoration; so the digital generation likewise sees on the cover of Wireda graphic representation of all that they (apparently) want to be. While the fashion magazine promises to replace anxiety and emptiness with the adulation that cosmetic beauty provides, Wired promises to replace a sense of lack of control or fear of emasculation with a reinvigorated form of masculine privilege in a digital world. How is this achieved?
Like the Cosmo girl, the Wired man is a figure who is mediated by the commercial products and themes that fill the magazine. Yet while female cover models wear the products that the fashion magazine advertises and project the flawless, current fashion image, Wired's cover model is frequently depicted through a technological lens; he is shown superimposed on a surreal hypermodern background, or he is represented as a computer-enhanced image. He becomes a symbol of technology's wonders and a testament to the joys of a digital future.
The Wired cover model does not need to wear any particular products, because he himself is infused with the most important product of all: technology. This association is enhanced by the fact that Wired's cover models are usually leading technology gurus and futurists like Nicholas Negroponte or George Gilder, or computer game creators like John and Adrian Cormack and John Romero, or corporate leaders like Bell Atlantic's CEO Ray Smith, or Citicorp/Citibank's CEO Walter Wriston. These figures are depicted as obvious masculine personas.
However, unlike so-called cover girls, Wired cover icons look directly into the camera. They do not avert their eye coyly or present a subordinate sex symbol image that invites the male gaze. Their stance is authoritative if not outwardly aggressive, and their facial expressions reveal self-confidence and power. Unlike the nameless Cosmo girl, the Wired man's name or professional affiliation is prominently displayed in a short headline that situates him as an important figure in digital culture. These headlines affirm the power and prestige of the featured figure, while connecting him to the Wired world. For example, Walter Writson's image is accompanied by the headline, "He was the most powerful banker in the world. So why is he talking like a cyberpunk?"
Rather than suggesting passivity and availability, the Wired man is definitely active, physically or intellectually flexing his muscles in a hyper-modern Wired world. Despite the fact that his image is digitally altered or that he is flanked by an artificial background, he appears to remain in control of the image and the technology presented. He is not made attractive by "scientific advances in skin care" like the models in fashion magazines or patronized by hairspray's "bendy-holdy technology stuff" like models on TV ads. The viewer does not gaze at him but is confronted by him. As a result, the reader enters the Wired world as a challenge, not as a voyeur. Together, these elements reinforce a long-standing, exclusive cultural association that links technology with masculine power and privilege.
Of course, not all covers of Wired feature the elite members of the digital generation. The privilege has also been enjoyed by some more mainstream cultural celebrities. They too have been subject to the wonders of digital photographic manipulation and high-tech effects.
For example, the race car driver Jacques Villeneuve becomes "wired" when he is represented in a highly stylised, technologically mediated image that links him to digital culture. The fallen sports star O J Simpson is worthy of a Wired cover only when every aspect of his face (lips, nose, eyes) is technologically altered to portray hymn as a white man. Even when Wired has no human subject on its cover at all, its technological preoccupation is clear as is its provocative, aggressive tone. Covers that feature cartoon images or bold graphics are less direct representations of the digital generation and more symbolic of the extent to which technologies, rather than people, are central to the Wired world.
The accompanying headlines pitch stories in a dramatic way, frequently using war imagery or hyperbole to emphasize their significance. For example, one cover that generated controversy and resulted in a flurry of letters to the editor in the following issue features the Apple computer logo wrapped in barbed wire. Beneath it is a single word: "Pray." The image emphasizes the technology-related content of the magazine and reflects the construction of corporate competition as an exciting, take-no-prisoners battle in which only the powerful will survive. Apple's shrinking market share, it would seem, makes it a candidate for divine intervention. The tag lines that accompany the Apple logo on this cover are typical Wired fare: "Starwave's Jocks Score," "The Summer's Best Special Effects," "Telco Terrorism" and "Exclusive: Jacking into China." In these lines, technology combines with corporate power games and male sexual imagery to construct one of Wired's dominant equations: technology = power = masculine privilege. Even when the face of the digital generation is absent, its interests and self-image are reflected on the cover of Wired.
The march has already attracted the interest of 3000 groups in 143 countries, and will be mobilising millions of women worldwide. Women trade unionists are involved and will be lobbying for the march's demands which particularly touch on the lives of women workers:
- measures to combat the structural causes of poverty;
- equal rights for women in the workplace;
- a respect for core labour standards, including the recognition of the importance of unionisation for women's rights at work;
- the improvement of working conditions in free trade zones
- an end to speculation through implementing the Tobin tax.
This activity will be carried through to the ICFTU's Congress in Durban, South Africa, April 3 - 7, where the ICFTU is working with its South African affiliates, COSATU, NACTU and FEDUSA to organise activities to publicise the march.
Throughout the year, women trade unionists will be collecting signatures on petitions and getting women to sign cards to support their demands. These will be delivered to the United Nations in New York at a rally on October 17, the World Day for the Elimination of Poverty.
The World March of Women's WebSite can be found on:
http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000/en/oct98_06.html
Campaigning on New ILO Convention on Maternity Protection
Meanwhile, , women trade unionists used International Women's Day as the opportunity to step up campaigning for a new ILO Convention on Maternity Protection to be adopted at the International Labour Conference, in Geneva, this June.
The present Convention 103 (passed in 1952) protected maternity rights. While everyone agrees that it needs to be updated, the unions want to ensure that a new one embodies six key rights to give the best possible protection to women, particularly as globalisation is making women's work more insecure. The key demands are as follows:
- that it protects the rights of all working women, whether in full time, part time, homeworkers, or casual workers:
- that it covers all women, whether they are married, and whether their children are born in or outside marriage;
- that maternity leave should include a period of compulsory leave of 6 weeks to protect the health of the mother and child,
- that it ensures economic security during the maternity leave period,
- that it prohibits pregnant and nursing mothers from being dismissed or discriminated against at work,
- that it allows women to breastfeed their children at work.
During first discussions which were held at the International Labour Conference in 1999, it was clear that employer groups and a number of governments were trying to water down current protections. So between March 8 and June this year unions will be working hard to make sure that all workers, both men and women, governments and employers understand about the rights which must be enshrined in the new Convention to protect working mothers with newborn children.
Unions, and especially their women's sections, will be running campaigns amongst their members and at their workplaces, through journals and bulletins, posters, leaflets and information sessions. They will also be approaching employers, asking them to commit themselves to a charter of minimum maternity protection, based on the six key rights.
The unions will be fighting to make sure that the international instrument adopted at the ILO in June includes the best possible standards for maternity protection.
by The Chaser
The Minister for Excise and Aged Care, Ms Bronwyn Bishop, has admitted that investigations are under way. "There are some very disturbing allegations about dilution," said Ms Bishop, "I've received complaints about the use of hygiene products other than kerosene, including the notorious paint stripper toluene and, in some extreme cases, hydrogen dioxide."
"I am deeply concerned by these new allegations" said the Minister. "My Department was only informed about them in mid-1998 and today I will be launching an immediate investigation. It is every old person's right to bathe in full-strength kerosene and we will not tolerate some pensioners getting second- best treatment."
But industry insiders allege the dilution scandal is the result of government policies affecting the pricing of petroleum products. "A simple kerosene bath for our valued customers has gone up by 12 per cent over the last fortnight" said one proprietor, who refused to be named. "It's enough to drive your son to suicide."
Critics have claimed that even bathing in kerosene may not be best medical practice. But the Minister has rejected these claims. "An envigorating bath never hurt anyone - personally I bathe in formaldehyde daily, and look at me. I function about as well as any average pensioner if I recall correctly."
Meanwhile numerous petrol station owners have complained that nursing homes are pushing up the price of paint thinner. "Not that this effects us at all," said one station owner. "We are just concerned for the housepainting industry
by Party Girls (Pluto Press)
The Australian Labor Party both reflects Australia's mainstream culture and has a culture of its own. The Labor Party's roots are in unionism and militant industrial struggle. While many women were heroes in these struggles, the culture born was one of male bonds, male mateship, male leadership and male aggression.
For much of this century this culture fitted neatly in an Australia where the cultural stereotype, if not always the reality, was of a male breadwinner bringing wages home to a non-incoming earning wife whose world was centred on home making and childrearing.
Today's Australia no longer resembles this 1950s imagery. Neither does today's Labor Party.
State Branches and Union Delegates: Formal Structures of Power
Part of the difficulty with analysing the Labor Party's structure is, that like Australia generally, in many ways the Party remains a federation of state- based organizations with their own idiosyncrasies. Each of the state-based structures is founded on an amalgam of individual membership and trade union affiliation. In general terms, individuals can join the Labor Party and attend a locality based Branch, with individual membership giving a right to vote for the delegates who will form the peak decision-making body of the Party in that State. Trade unions affiliate to the Party for a claimed membership number and are allocated delegates to the peak decision-making body in proportion with that membership number. The number of delegates to the peak decision-making body is divided between affiliated trade unions and those elected by individual memberships in an agreed ratio, which is either 50% each or 60% for trade unions and 40% for delegates elected by individual members.
This kind of structure clearly has it shortcomings. Obviously, locality based membership branches are a hang over from an era when working hours facilitated men, in particular, gathering at evening meetings that were within walking distance. The limited forms of mass communications meant such meetings played a valuable role both in informing those who attended about current political issues and in performing 'on the ground' campaigning activities. While a number of local branches are vibrant and clearly meet a need for the members who participate in them, the reality is most Party members do not regularly attend their local branch. Many branches are held together by a dedicated, but small, group of Party members in the older age bracket.
The Labor Party is not alone in struggling to maintain a vibrant membership base and updating its structures to meet the needs of the modern world. Many civic organizations, which rely on volunteerism, are finding it increasingly difficult to renew their membership base as we confront a time pressured world with much of the population only just keeping their heads together as they struggle with work and family obligations.
The difficulties of maintaining volunteer involvement are compounded for political parties, such as the Labor Party, by the way in which modern politics is conducted. In this era of mass communications, increasingly political leaders conduct their dialogue with the electorate directly through free media and, at election times, through paid advertising. The message delivered by political leaders is shaped by the work done by a full time and professional political class of advisers, strategists, pollsters, spin doctors and the like. As the day-to-day pursuit of politics shifts increasingly into central hands, it is difficult to offer individual members much more than a role in fundraising, handing out how-to-votes cards and other campaign orientated tasks.
While each state Branch and the Labor Party nationally maintains a policy generation structure in which individual members can participate, the historic tension as to who really controls policy questions, the Party or its parliamentarians, remains.
There has been a general debate in the Labor Party in recent years about how to renew its membership base. Both John Pandazopoulos, the new Minister for Major Projects, Tourism and Gaming in Victoria and Jim Claven, the author of The Centre is Mine, have written persuasively about the need to move to a mass-based membership model like that used by British Labour under the leadership of Tony Blair. Within Britain, individual members have been empowered within the Party's decision making structure through the use of plebiscites and highly professional 'marketing' strategies have been used to sell membership. Such strategies have included highly discounted memberships, youth recruitment drives, the mass distribution of slick recruitment material, the use of targeted direct mail and telephone canvassing and high profile recruitment events such as 'Red Rose Week'. These strategies are credited with doubling British Labour's membership in a five-year period.
Within the Labor Party in Australia, this debate has yet to resolve in concrete changes. To the extent that membership rules have been altered, the tendency has been to tighten the criteria for being eligible to vote in preselection contests as a result of increasing concern about 'branch stacking' and membership manipulation.
There is no evidence to suggest that the continuing problems with giving individual members a real say and a real role discourages women more than men. However, given that for women, the struggle to balance work and family life is particularly intense, it is not surprising that a locality based branch structure, generally based on evening meetings at which childcare is not provided, tends to attract fewer women participants than male participants.
Alternatives to locality based branches such as work based branches, issues groups, women's branches and the like have been suggested but not warmly embraced. Just as the debate about increasing membership has become hostage to concerns about membership manipulation, so has the debate about branch structures with fears expressed that those seeking to manipulate membership will misuse more flexible branch structures.
As the Party has debated issues about the rights of individual membership, recruitment strategies and different branch structures, it has also debated the question of the appropriate degree of trade union influence on the Party. Some in this debate have suggested that as trade union membership numbers have declined, so should the percentage of votes guaranteed to trade union affiliates. Others put the view that, given the history of the Labor Party and the connection that still exists between unions and large numbers of workers, the Party would downgrade trade union influence at its peril. It is also suggested that, given it is virtually unheard of for trade unions to vote as a block, such a change would be no more than symbolic and have no substantial effect on outcomes.
When analysing this debate, it would be simplistic in the extreme to characterise trade union influence in the Party as simply equating to male influence. In recent times, trade unions have systematically developed affirmative action programs in order to better reflect and serve the constituency of working women. However, some historic organisational biases do exist. For example, teachers' unions, nurses' unions and the unions representing direct public sector workers have not traditionally been affiliated to the Labor Party. These are also unions with high female membership and leadership. The failure to affiliate is explained, in part, by the professional association backgrounds of these unions and, in part, by the political difficulties of developing an organisational link to the political party that may become the government and the employer. However, the non-affiliation of these unions does mean that many of the key unions affiliated to the Party have a larger male membership constituency than female membership constituency and a larger number of male officials than female officials.
Consequently, while the Labor Party's formal structures are not directly discriminatory, there are factors that mean those structures facilitate male involvement more than female involvement.
At the Right Pub at the Right Time: Informal Structures of Influence
Clearly, every organization has an informal structure that shadows and enlivens the formal structure. In the Labor Party, the factional structure is a large part of this informal structure, but it is not the whole story.
As noted above, the nature of modern politics has given rise to increasing amounts of influence being placed in the hands of the professional political class. Given the increasing importance of this political class, it is important to note that, at its most senior level, it is almost exclusively male. Currently, the Chiefs of Staff to our Federal and State Labor Leaders are all male - with the exception of Premier Bob Carr in New South Wales. The Labor Party's National Secretary and each State Secretary are male except for the State Secretary in the ACT.
In part this can be explained by the family-unfriendly nature of the jobs, which have historically required long hours and constant travel. The 'work to you drop' ethos which pervades this political class means there has been no real attempt to facilitate part-time work or working patterns which recognise family needs. In addition, these jobs tend to become a lifestyle in which being at the right pub or the right dinner at the right time can be as important as performing professional duties during the day. The ability of those with young families, and women in particular, to get in and stay in the networks, is therefore limited.
It is time that these practical and cultural matters were addressed and that the apparent barriers to women in filling these positions are systematically analysed and overcome. Unless this is done, we risk severely limiting the sources of advice and talent to Labor governments and leaders - by losing women's perspectives and skills.
Turning to the factional structure, which is so key to understanding the functioning of the Labor Party, we find a state of flux. The ideological divide, which first defined the Left/Right split, namely attitudes towards communism and the former Soviet Union, has given way. In many ways, the factions are now far more personality-based groupings with differences in style rather than substance.
This is not to say that the Labor Party lacks participation from a broad ideological spectrum. The Party continues to incorporate participants from a conservative Catholic background right through to those who still hold misty dreams of revolutionary rather than evolutionary change. In searching to define the current division between the Right and the Left, it can be said, in the broadest of terms, that the Right has a more free market economic perspective and a more conservative social perspective than the Left. Like all good generalisations, there are many exceptions to the rule. For many within the Party whose views were not tightly formulated before taking up membership, whether they join the Right or the Left is increasingly a decision based on personal connections, friendships and happenstance. Indeed, the breakdown in the clear ideological divide between Right and Left has meant that in a number of States there has been increasing factional fluidity with a breakdown of Right and/or Left groupings into smaller subgroups.
Where does all this leave women? Historically, the leadership of factions has been exclusively male, with the greatest displays of male political aggression saved for inter-factional negotiations and intra-factional dissent crushing. Only recently have we seen the emergence of female factional leaders. Clearly, these leaders, like the male leaders, do not have complete freedom of action and generally such female leaders are working within a paradigm largely defined by male trade union leaders, given the importance of trade unions to factional politics. However, some changes in style and substance are discernible, and it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of this development.
Clearly, there remains a debate about the desirability of the Labor Party having any form of factional structure. However, whatever one's position on this debate it seems inevitable that factions will continue to exist within the Labor Party and within political parties generally. Consequently, women's involvement in factional structures at the senior level is desirable if we want to ensure that factions within the Party and the Party generally are fully open to women's participation and women's perspectives.
One of the most dramatic labour market developments over the past decade has been the growing numbers and growing workforce share for casual employees.
Today 26% of workers are casually employed with almost 2 million workers in that category.
Casual employment arrangements have become 'typical' of the new jobs being created over the course of the 1990s. The "permanent casual" - a misnomer if ever, is on the increase.
These are not casuals in the sense of being employed short term or irregularly but not permanents either, as the employees in question do not have access to standard award entitlements.
These developments are having marked negative impacts on women at work, for they are disproportionately represented in casual employment, with high rates of casualisation in feminised industries.
Take for example the area of accommodation, cafes and restaurants with a staggering casual density of 56%: cultural and recreation services with a density of 47% and retail around 46%.
32% (1 in 3) of employed women are employed on a casual basis. Women comprise 55% of all casuals with the overwhelming majority working part time.
And yet among these part time casuals 59% of women have been with their current employer for more than 12 months. These long periods of casual employment are even more prevalent among full time casual employees.
What is their plight at work?
At best they will be receiving an hourly loading which can only partially compensate for entitlements and benefits foregone.
But as we know, many casuals don't get the loading because award enforcement is so lax, particularly in small business and small workplaces.
And now, with the increasing trend to deregulate the labour market there are growing numbers of workers, particularly young people and women who are on individual contracts or informal arrangements. These workers, outside the scope of regulation, are at the behest of their employers in regard to their wages and conditions of employment.
It has been argued by some commentators that the award system has itself become a vehicle for the legitimisation of casual employment.
How can this be so?
Because award provisions generally for casuals are oriented not towards providing protection and benefits but rather towards sanctioning their demise by way of an hourly loading.
Existing Award regulation (or lack of it) allows a much wider variety of employees to be designated 'casual' extending well beyond the group of workers - those who are true casuals employed short term or irregularly.
The prominence of women among the ranks of low paid and insecure casual workers is the result of a labour market that operates in a specifically gendered way.
Casual work is no longer a peripheral element of organisational strategy (what we once described as the cover/periphery model) but increasingly a central component of how firms organise their workplaces. So many casual jobs are now effectively permanent and ongoing.
The existing regulatory framework is indirectly and systematically discriminating against women because it inadequately protects a form of employment in which women are disproportionately represented.
They receive few entitlements, lower and more volatile earnings and poor access to training and career paths.
For feminists and union women activists we need to appreciate that many of the gains we fought for and won over the last decades are being denied to growing numbers of women at work.
Important entitlements like equal pay, maternity leave, parental and carers leave, annual and sick leave and superannuation are all at risk for these women.
The Challenges
The challenges are several fold:
- To re-regulate casual employment
- To ensure that casual employees are truly casual and do receive a loading in lieu of non wage employment entitlements
- To consider appropriate Award and legislative responses
- To understand the growth in casual employment and its implications and future trends in an increasingly de-regulated labour market.
- To appreciate that young people have experienced a dramatic rise in casual employment (much of it not voluntarily accepted). Today 59% of 16-19 year olds are casual and 26% of 20-24 year olds.
- To focus on how we as a union movement recruit and extend membership coverage among casual employees. Currently it is at a low 11%. Our future is increasingly located among the precariously employed.
In conclusion
Women unionists of today and tomorrow will conduct their work and struggles in a workplace and economy so different from mine when I first became involved almost 30 years ago.
Then 50% of workers were in unions, and full time permanent employment the norm.
Then the centralised system of conciliation and arbitration and awards provided the vehicles through which major gains were achieved for women workers. Equal pay, maternity leave, carers leave, and superannuation to name a few.
Over 1 million women work as casuals. The great majority of them are part time and without access to the employment benefits that women of my generation fought for.
In an increasingly deregulated labour market underpinned by precarious forms of employment the challenges for you are many.
The solutions will of necessity be different.
They will require different organisational responses and structural accommodations.
But I'm confident that unionism will survive and that you, particularly the talented and capable young women in our ranks, will continue to fight the good fight in the decades ahead.
Women need unions and unions need women.
I thank you all for your support - especially my friends, family and my mother.
You know I'll always be there in spirit with you.
The history of this white paper says a lot about a government ignorant of the problems facing elite sport and unable--or unwilling--to face the tough policy issues involved in sport and recreation. During the last federal election the coalition made a commitment to the Australian sporting community. According to their policy document. the coalition would: - commission a White Paper on sport and recreation post-2000, to lay the base for a comprehensive policy statement that addresses principles, defined policy goals and objectives.
Given that the post-Olympic landscape is so uncertain and there is a high level of anxiety among both Olympic and non-elite sporting organisations, an inquiry into our sporting future was not unjustified.
It was, in fact, in desperate need of occurring, in light of the coalition's mismanagement of the sports portfolio since they were elected. The opposition, however, was rightly concerned about the manner in which the Minister for Sport and Tourism, Jackie Kelly, established this review, and in hindsight our concerns have been justified 10 times over. In the first place when the white paper was announced there were already a number of inquiries into sport under way, including an Australian Sports Commission internal review and a National Elite Sports Council inquiry into the organisation and delivery of funding to elite sport after the 2000 Olympics.
Then it took the minister over seven months to find four task force members to conduct the white paper review, but she allowed just four months for them to report back. That is half the time it took her to come up with the task force members. The white paper task force, which the minister subsequently renamed the Oakely review, was late in getting their report completed--understandably, I believe, given the enormous task they faced in preparing such a major document. And indeed this document was supposed to come up with a plan for the future of Australian sport.
And didn't the minister talk up this white paper as a major government policy document. We heard more about the potential of this white paper to solve the government's policy dilemmas with sport than anything else. Here is just a sample of what Minister Kelly has said about the Shaping up white paper: it will lead to the `greatest change in the administration of Australian sport and recreation in recent history,'; it is `the most far reaching assessment of Australian sport in 20 years,'; and, it is `the most thorough look at sport and the sports industry in Australia in 25 years.' These are all quotes from Minister Kelly.
The white paper was eventually completed at a cost of over $270,000, an enormous amount of money considering sporting organisations are busy preparing to slash programs and services in the light of coalition funding cuts. Furthermore, the minister promised that the government would be officially responding to the white paper `in early 2000'. It is early 2000, and this white paper into the future of Australian sport is collecting dust on a shelf in Minister Kelly's office. It is a pretty expensive bookend at a total cost of $270,000.
During the last round of Senate estimates I tried to find out just when in `early 2000' the government would be producing their response and why the minister is refusing to address its controversial recommendations. It will not come as a big surprise to the sporting community--who did work extremely hard in preparing their submissions for this inquiry--that the white paper actually recommends an increase in funding for sport. This is not what Minister Kelly wanted to hear. I remind you that at the time my suspicions were that indeed this whole process of a white paper was to establish some public imprimatur for a further cut to federal funding. But look what happened.
The coalition is busy slashing $25 million out of the sporting program through the loss of the Olympic Athlete Program and reducing their funding for sport and recreation after the Sydney Olympics. That has led to the minister wanting to bury the white paper. It did not come up with the recommendations she was looking for. Solution: put it on a shelf and let it gather dust, and proceed with the funding cuts.
During senate estimates Mr Robert Crick, head of the Sport and Tourism Division of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, denied that Shaping Up is a white paper, which the coalition promised at the last election, backing off at 100 miles an hour. For the record, a white paper is `an official report or policy proposal of a government on a specific subject'. Yet when I asked Mr Crick if Shaping Up is a policy paper, he told me that is not a definition of a white paper. He then qualified his answer by saying:
"I think there was an intention initially and it was foreshadowed that the government would produce a white paper. A decision was made, however, as an initial sort of step towards a process of producing a policy statement on sport post-2000, that a review would be undertaken by an independent panel of people well experienced and expert in the area ."
There it is on the public record: either Minister Kelly has broken an election promise to commission a white paper into sports funding or she has kept her promise and chooses now to bury the paper because she did not like its recommendations. Either way, it is an appalling indictment of the government and the minister, because the Australian sporting community is in desperate need of long-term policy and funding structures to be set in place before the Sydney Olympics.
There is no point in addressing the white paper's recommendations after the next budget. Why? While the opposition has many concerns about some of the recommendations in this white paper, we certainly concur with its conclusion that Commonwealth funding is essential in the battle to increase sporting participation and encourage active lifestyles amongst individuals and the community. The most important aspect of Commonwealth funding to the sports sector is to ensure security and continuity of those community organisations which do provide the infrastructure to allow people to be active, healthy and sometimes in their competitive sport participate in compellingly interesting pastimes during their leisure hours. At the moment, elite and Olympic athletes, coaches and organisations are facing massive cuts to their programs--and at least a half a dozen will be axed from the AIS--because of funding shortfalls.
In the last round of Senate estimates the Australian Sports Commission revealed that once the $25 million Olympic Athlete Program--OAP--ceases later this year there will be a reduction in funding for all sports. The commission made it clear that they have told all fields of sport not to enter into contractual arrangements that rely on OAP funding beyond 31 December 2000. This means that, unless increased funding is provided, many Olympic coaches and athletes will head overseas. It also means that Olympic sports like gymnastics, water polo, canoeing, squash, and some track and field and swimming programs may be axed, regardless of their achievements at the Sydney Olympics. In other words, we may face the situation where Australia wins medals in Olympic sports that the AIS will later have to cut because of a lack of funds. I was also told in estimates that the Sports Commission will have to shed jobs in light of the loss of OAP funding.
I find this quite amazing because the sports industry is very much a growth industry. It provides millions of dollars in revenue for state and federal governments--as we shall see when the Olympics occur. That is why the Labor Party believes that investing in both elite, community-based and participatory sport is of essential long-term benefit to the wellbeing of the nation. There will be no Olympic legacy without a continuing investment in athletes, coaches, administrators and support staff and there will not be significant benefits from the Commonwealth investment in sport unless that investment is continuous, consistent and balanced. Unfortunately, none of these three elements is apparent in Minister Kelly's approach to the portfolio.
The white paper contains many recommendations that the opposition disagrees with. However, to simply ignore a document and hope it goes away is an abrogation of responsibility. All of these issues need to be openly discussed and debated rather than shelved. It is not enough to provide funds for the Sydney Olympics and then throw up your hands and say, `We won't fund sport.' To secure our sporting future and retain the legacy that Australia deserves from hosting the Olympics, we must retain our top athletes and coaches. I am concerned that we will lose them when they feel that they have no job security in Australia after the Olympics. Moreover, the AIS and the Sports Commission should not be placed in the position of having to cut programs and tell young athletes that they are no longer wanted because of funding cutbacks.
Jennie has made not only an extraordinary contribution to public life but has been an active player in Australia's political scene for more than 30 years.
NAOMI STEER - Labor Council
In the coming weeks and indeed today, many stories of Jennie will be shared and tributes paid to her. Already one book has been written about her, as well as countless media articles.
"Jennie - the Mini Series"
No doubt it's only a question of time before we have "Jennie - the Mini Series". The big question of course is whom we would cast in her role. For a woman of so many parts one actress just simply wouldn't be enough .We would need an ensemble.
Rachel Griffiths would be perfect to portray Jennie the teenager - a bit quirky; a bit naughty and cheeky; sneaking out the back at school for a puff on her cigarette - a habit we know she still hasn't discarded.
Her revolutionary days as part of the Eureka Youth League have definite shades of Judy Davis in Children of the Revolution.
And what about Natasha? I think Meryl Streep for you. After all, she like you can speak 5 languages and she's pretty gorgeous too.
Opening Episodes
The opening episodes of our series would follow Jennie's mother and grandmother's flight from Russia through war torn Europe. Jennie's birth in a small Italian town and then finally, the family's early struggles in the migrants hostels in Sydney's outer west.
Ironically, when the family arrived in Melbourne they were greeted by a strike. Yes those wharfies were at it again and refused to unload their luggage. I doubt whether Natasha, Jennie's mum, would have ever imagined that her daughter would be leading those wharfies across the docks some 50 or so years later.
Now for Rachel there is plenty of juicy material to work with. Apparently Jennie was a promising ballerina and pianist until she became possessed by Beatle mania. And then worse! The Eureka Youth League!
My cinematic vision of the league is of all these fresh faced young girls and boys with napsacks on their backs and red scarves round their necks singing and toiling in the fields. Cathy Bloch however, assures me that the League was nothing so daggy, and that the League was simply a club for nice young people to get together and have a little fun like:
� hurling yourself in front of a moving cavalcades. Which is what Jennie did when she jumped in front of Lyndon B Johnson's car in 1966, as part of the anti-Vietnam protests; or
� getting yourself arrested. Which is what happened to Jennie when she ran out onto the Sydney Showground during the 1967 Sydney Royal Easter Show, carrying anti war placards just before a United States military band was about to play! (I bet it was Jennie who made all those anonymous calls to SOCOG over the foreign bands.)
Fortunately Jennie survived these adventures and before long she was on her way through the union ranks. Think Sally Fields in Norma Rae, with a dash of Bett Midler and Noni Hazlehurst thrown in. This is the period of Jennie's firsts. First woman to head the teachers' union as Secretary then president; first female Assistant Secretary of the ACTU; then in 1995, the first woman President.
The last 5 years have been on fast forward. Rio Tinto, Weipa, the MUA dispute - Jennie has been the public face of the trade union in all these campaigns.
She has been at the forefront of reconciliation, a mover and shaker on the republic and honoured as one of Australia's 100 living Treasures.
And all the while she has planed, trained, and automobiled her way across Australia, speaking to and inspiring thousands of workers. Honest, compassionate, articulate and tough - there is also a little of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Jennie. Time and time again she has managed to ward off the worst excesses of the Howard/Reith duo.
Jennie's mini series has still some way to go as we wait to find out what role she will take on next. Although we don't yet know where her story will take her, we can be sure that at its heart will be the same energy and passion and commitment to justice she has demonstrated all her life.
*****************
SAM MOAITT - President NSW Labor Council
It is hard to express the thrill that I felt in being asked to speak here today at this very special Women's celebration of Jennie George's work.
It is almost unthinkable that Jennie is leaving the ACTU, but I think we could safely say that Jennie will never leave the trade union community.
For me, Jennie is a fellow traveller, someone I have shared the road with and shared the load with; someone I have always admired.
I remember one time I saw Jennie speak at a rally at Wentworth Park - I think we were saving the NSW public service once again - and I listened to her and felt her passion and her power. When Jennie speaks like that she can pull people together better than anyone.
Jennie is a leader, but not one who always has to be in the spotlight. She has always been prepared to share. I have been on many joint exercises with Jennie where we have been lobbying in Macquarie Street or in Canberra. She will roll up her sleeves and give it all she's got. I don't think Jennie will ever be any different.
Two years ago, in the early days of the now almost hated Aged Care Act, Jennie joined forces with the nurses unions right across Australia under the banner of the ACTU and became our main spokesperson.
Jennie said to us quietly that this was not her forte, not in her area of expertise, but that didn't stop her. She was absolutely prepared to put our issue, the issue of good care for older Australians in nursing homes, right at the top of her agenda. I'm sure that the politicians who were lobbied by Jennie in that particular round were quite convinced that she knew the issue thoroughly.
Whether in Canberra, or Weipa, or on the back of a truck, on the docks in Sydney, Jennie has unequalled pulling power.
It has been said in the past, and I think it is fairly safe to say today, that the world of trade unions is often perceived as a male bastion, the boys club. Swanston Street or Sussex Street, no amount of Armani suits or Hugo Boss splash-on can dress up the fact that the boys still have the numbers.
This is not to say that we haven't come a long, long way since the 60s and 70s round of feminism in Australia. In those days when the words affirmative action brought a strange look on the fact of male colleagues, where talk of ensuring a percentage of places for women was laughed at. We have come to the point where, in my view, women, and in particular women like Jennie George, are the trade union leaders who are showing the way.
I was on the stage with Jennie in Melbourne when she was elected to the ACTU presidency and I have to say it was one of the most uplifting and exciting experiences of my life. Just being there with Jennie - and her mum - and experiencing the overwhelming warmth which was expressed by the Congress and the workers who had come to attend on the day, is something I will always treasure.
Jennie has never been a token woman - Jennie has never been a token anything. No-one in their right mind could ever think that and I think that Jennie has forged the way, pushed the pack, to help all of us in leadership positions in our unions and organisations realise that we can do it and also make us know that what we bring to these positions, that is what women bring, is something strong, worthwhile, something which will permanently change for the better the face of the union movement right across Australia.
Jennie threatens some men - and I venture to say, some women - but not the women here today. Those of us here today are here because of our terrific respect for Jennie, not just her public media reputation, but the wonderful woman that she is.
Jennie has always been able to see through a snow job. She likes people straight, she likes people to tell it the way it is. She says what she feels, she tells the truth.
I guess if I was writing a song for Jennie George, I would probably call it "Oh Lord it's Hard to be an Icon", but Jennie George is an icon. She is an icon for women, an icon for unionists and an icon for workers. No-one else could have been the public face of the MUA dispute and unified the people of Australia in absolute opposition to the bastardry of Patricks against the abuse of workers.
Jennie uses the word "collective" a lot, but I think Jennie shows that she almost owns that word. She shows us what collective truly means.
Of course, I have got a couple of special stories that no-one else can tell you about. It is a little known fact that Jennie George and I went to Burwood Girls High together. It was in the playground, between reading excerpts from our secret copy of East of Eden at lunchtime, and being late for our Business Principles class, that Jennie and I plotted our takeover of NSW unions. She said she would become a teacher and take over that union and I would go into nursing and take over that union, and pretty soon we would have the whole game tied up.
No, to be honest, that didn't happened, but I can tell you that Jennie George did lead the now famous walk out of Burwood Girls High students over the issue of the extremely poor quality of cream buns in the tuckshop. Jennie and I have always been partial to something sweet.
I just have to say I have loved working with Jennie and I look forward to continuing my working relationship and friendship with her. I know that all of us here today are here to celebrate Jennie's wonderful contribution to Australian trade unions.
Sure, she's always been in the background, the beehived madonna of federal politics, another junior minister whose talents ended up falling way short of her ambitions.
Like the aunt who's vice like grip you avoided each Christmas, there was something almost reassuring in the knowledge she was out there - a long, long way away from Planet Relevance.
How things change in a week.
When the nursing homes scandal first broke, you actually got the feeling Bronnie was enjoying the attention; here was a bank of cameras to bare the molars at, who actually wanted to film her. A nice change from having to chase them herself.
The fact that most of the attention is over her inability to run a department that could discern between establishments that care for the old and those who speed their flight from this mortal coil was just a detail. The show was on!
But as the week has worn on, the strained smile transformed into a grimace as she lurches from question time to question time with a blowtorch on the belly.
Press gallery observers say her performance has gone from bad to worse; incompetent in question time , not even on top of her briefing notes to the extent that she's been passing on one question, only to discover the prepared answer in her files a couple of questions later.
By the end of the week she was a dead woman walking - wounded, perhaps mortally, from her own inability to master a brief. It was a far cry from those heady days in opposition when she would hammer junior public servants in Senate Estimate committee hearings, playing up her inquisition to the TV news.
As it all unravels besieged Libs must be turning their minds back ruefully to the days when she used her numbers on the NSW State branch to bump off one of the truly decent Liberal's Chris Puplick, to snare the top Senate position for herself. These days Puplick is the NSW Privacy Commissioner - how Bronnie must be wishing for the benefit of his services right now.
So, in the interests of kicking a political corpse when it's down we induct the Minister for Caged Hair into the Toolshed. Now it's time to use your creativity to help bring out the true awfulness of the Bishop persona to the surface.
Question Is it my imagination, or has the pressure of the past week flattened the beehive?
Check out the Tool Shed
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