
Issue No 53		12 May 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

News

Shaw Moves on Email Protection

The NSW Privacy Commissioner will be asked to develop guidelines for the monitoring of workplace emails while the Carr Government considers broader legislative protection for unions to communicate electronically with their members.

NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw has given the undertakings to the NSW Labor Council in response for calls to protection of workplace activists

The Labor Council has identified two priority areas fro government intervention:

(i) privacy of employee email communications; and

(ii) the right of union access to disseminate trade union information.

In a letter to the Labor Council, Shaw says he'll ask the Privacy Commissioner to develop guidelines to cover the monitoring of emails in all NSW workplaces.

Shaw agrees that there may be a need to develop a broader legislative response, following the model of video surveillance, but that this should wait until the completion of a long-running Law Reform Commission report into privacy, due to be completed mid-year.

Shaw also gives in-principle support to the right of unions to access employer email systems for legitimate organizing activities.

"I believe it is extremely important for people at work to be in electronic communication with their union," Shaw says.

"Traditional forms of communication, such as a noticeboard, may no longer be the most appropriate or effective mechanism, especially for people engaged in telework or situated in remote locations."

Shaw has asked the Labor Council to give bits views on the need and scope of legislation, although he's warned that their could be constitutional issues over the State's power to legislate in relation to email communications over telephone lines. He is seeking legal advice on the issue.

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Issue 53 contents

Interview: The Fruitful Shaw
After ten years in Parliament, NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw looks at some mountains still to be climbed.

Politics: Budget in Reply
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley replies to the Federal budget and paints Labor's alternative vision for the future.

Economics: Petition to Move a Mountain
A child born in Zambia or Tanzania or Bolivia owes more to international creditors than she or he will ever earn in a lifetime.

International: Solidarity in a Cold Climate
After an overnight bargaining marathon, Norway's unions have secured most of their main demands and have now ended their nationwide strike.

Health: Workers Health Centre Comes of Age
In 2001, the Workers Health Centre will celebrate its 25th anniversary, making it the longest running independent trade union based health and safety service in the country.

History: A Tribute to the Fallen
A Canadian tractor operator is seeking help to produce a book on monuments to people killed in the workplace.

Satire: Ralph Web Ring Busted
Following the dismissal of 27 Telstra employees last week for downloading hardcore pornography on their work computers, Ralph magazine sacked five employees yesterday for downloading positive images of women.

Review: Waterfront - Through the Reporters' Eyes
Fairfax journalists Helen Trinca and Anne Davies have skillfully transformed the waterfront war into the sort of thriller that any self-respecting Hollywood mogul would reject for being too wild to be true.

» Costello Backs National GST Pay Claim

» Conference Call: Support the NSW Way

» Games Rail Service in Limbo

» Shaw Moves on Email Protection

» Salami Reform: Reith Chops Up the Nasties

» Advocate in Trouble Over Rural Sackings

» Unionists take to Streets for May Day 2000

» Shareholders Rattle Rinto Tinto Cage

» Joy Dispute Widens With Midnight Run

» Employers Fail to Defy History

» Indonesian Labor Educator Reports to Local Unions

» Big Drum-Up This Wednesday