
Issue No 51		28 April 2000

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News

Stopped Clock Starts Ticking at Sydney Water

By Noel Hester

It's a case of the missing year. Sydney Water management have been negotiating with the ASU over an enterprise agreement in a state of denial about the pay rise-free year since the last agreement expired.

Not since the Khmer Rouge turned the clock back to Year Zero has an organisation been so arbitrary about time.

But talks made a breakthrough of sorts this week when Sydney Water HR Head Honcho, Sandra McDiarmid (ex- News Corp) conceded that 'there was a missing year.'

ASU members have been campaigning for pay increases of 4% per year in line with the rest of the public service - 12% for a two year agreement to cover for the lost year. Sydney Water have been offering 7%. This week they upped the offer to 8% after being reminded in a 24-hour stoppage two weeks ago that unilateral decisions from authoritarian management breed resistance.

Sydney Water have been stalling these talks for over 18 months. In that time productivity and workloads have increased dramatically following significant redundancies.

Sydney Water employees vowed at their last stop work meeting to take further actions including bans on overtime, rigorously follow safety procedures and continue stoppages if they don't get the 4% per annum they are entitled to like everyone else.

There may be a time warp on the penthouse floors of Sydney Water's Corporate Head Office but in the workplace the clock goes tick, tick, tick.

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  Issue 51 contents

Interview: Wrestling With Reith
CPSU national secretary Wendy Caird has faced the full force of Peter Reith's attack on the federal public sector. The good news is she's still fighting.

Unions: The Organiser
As the nature of working life changes fundamentally, union organisers like Sally are taking up the challenge and changing too.

Safety: Remembering the Fallen
NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw's keynote address to mark the International Day of Mourning for Deaths in the Workplace.

History: May Day Connections
May Day as a modern working class celebration and commemoration began from the 1886 events in Chicago where workers were demonstrating for an eight hour day. But the day already had special significance for working people before then.

Women: Swelling the Ranks
Jenny Wright wears the honour of being the nation's first pregnant wharfie modestly. But it's not all clear sailing for this trailblazer.

International: Dawn Raid to Arrest Korean Union Leaders
Riot police have broken into the office of the Daewoo Motors Workers Union in Pupyung, near Seoul, and taken union leaders into custody for the "crime" of leading a militant struggle to save the jobs of Korean auto workers.

Satire: Angry Star City Staff Strike it Unlucky
Gamblers panicked when they discovered they were locked out of the Casino when 1800 workers walked out.

Review: The World of Wobbly Window Cleaners
A new book 'Reshaping the Labour Market' shines the spotlight on the impact of labour market deregulation.

» Government to Outsource Staff Relations

» Dial-A-Contract Hits Call Centres

» Reith Loses Plot Over 'Bad Bargaining' Bible

» Prayer for the Fallen Marks International Day

» Entitlement Time-Bomb Still Ticking

» No Joy for Southern Picket

» Union Fighter Shapes Up For Casino Workers

» Stopped Clock Starts Ticking at Sydney Water

» Telstra Tangle Over 'Honest Rob'

» A Week of May Days

» Big Drum Up for East Timor!

» Pick a Pollie - the Truth Revealed