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  Issue No 46 Official Organ of LaborNet 17 March 2000  

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News

NSW Government in Hot Seat Over Individual Contracts

By Noel Hester

The outsourcing of State Transit's Infoline to the controversial Telstra off-shoot Stellar has outraged call centre unions who say a NSW Government agency is taking advantage of Reith's IR laws.

The ASU and the CPSU, which cover Stellar, says the company is known for its anti-union policies, its reliance on individual contracts and rock bottom wages and conditions.

The NSW Government has contracted Stellar to run the State Transit Authority's 131500 timetable hotline number at their new Hornsby call centre. This site employs over 200 permanent and casual employees.

After staff finish their initial training they are told to sign AWAs as a condition of employment. Employees have approached the ASU and provided written evidence that their continued employment depended on them signing AWAs. They receive a base wage of $26,000 - well below the conditions enjoyed by State Transit employees.

Stellar fifty per cent owned by Telstra

Stellar Call Centres is a joint venture between Telstra and US call centre specialists Excell Global Services. Excell is based in Phoenix Arizona. Telstra owns 50% of Stellar.

The creation of Stellar gave Telstra access to a workforce to outsource future call centre work and control of a company that contracts staff to work longer hours at cheaper wages.

The centre has been experiencing extremely high turnover and employees report that they cannot meet the service levels expected by State Transit as they receive inadequate training and Stellar has difficulty maintaining staffing levels. With the extra demands of the Olympics this should be of great concern to the Government and the public.

There are more risks for the NSW Government in their link with Stellar. Stellar has been taken to court regarding Telstra's strategy of outsourcing work as a means of slashing wages and union busting.

Transmission of business

The future of Stellar will be decided in the next few weeks in a landmark judgement to be handed down by the Australian Federal Court. This test case defined the legal definition of 'transmission of business'. If the current appeal by Stellar against this decision is rejected there will be wide ranging ramifications for many businesses in Australia - including State Transit.

Stellar will be forced to recognise that their contract with State Transit is also a transmission of business and they will have to abide by the existing conditions of employment.

The ASU has called on the Labor Council to meet with the relevant ministers to ensure the NSW Government is not a party to the Reith agenda of individual contracts and for them to reconsider contracting work to such a company.


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*   Issue 46 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Bob Carr�s Awful Truth
The NSW Premier on Laborism, factions and why the Cabinet Office isn't running the state.
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*  Unions: The Stellar Experiment
The agenda for the future job-shedding program by Telstra has been revealed via it's bastard child, Stellar.
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*  Technology: Roboboss is Watching You
Behind the hype of the information age is a sinister side where workplace surveillance robs employees of all privacy and dignity. Sometimes, though, it provides welcome security.
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*  International: Kiwi Reforms To Spark Union Revival
The head of the New Zealand trade union movement is optimistic that workers will come back to unions once a fair industrial relations framework is put in place.
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*  Politics: Ethical Politics and the Clinton Affair
The vote by the US House of Representatives in December, 1998 on whether to impeach President Bill Clinton could be regarded as a debate about the acceptability of dirty-handed politics.
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*  History: Living Library
Sydney�s Mitchell Library archives house some of the most extensive records of our political heritage.
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*  Satire: Reconciliation, Aussie Style
The majority of Austrlaians want Aboriginals to adopt �our� values: �Why can�t they be ignorant racists too?�
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*  Review: Casino Oz
Laurie Aarons' new book puts the spotlight on the growing gap being the rich and the poor.
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News
»  Carr Vows to Move on Casuals
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»  NSW Government in Hot Seat Over Individual Contracts
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»  Telstra Troubleshooter Bombs Stellar
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»  Illegal immigrants Working Next Door to PM
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»  Education Department Hit By Massive Fine
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»  Victims Comp Changes Exclude Traumatised Worker
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»  SOCOG Agrees: Ceremonies Not an Eisteddfod
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»  Senate Guts 'Ships from Hell' Bill
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»  Campaigners Seek Dissident Web Domains
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Columns
»  The Soapbox
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»  The Locker Room
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  The Real Big Fella
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»  That's It For Labor
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»  Join Australia's Gas Out
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»  Tribute to Jennie
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