Issue No 54 | 19 May 2000 | |
NewsTide Turns On Competitive Tendering
The Carr Government is beating a retreat on competitive tendering, with its decision to end its policy of opening up rail track maintenance to a commercial bidding process.
The decision by Transport Minister Carl Scully and endorsed by the NSW Cabinet delivers an important win for unions who have spent the past two years arguing the policy was wreaking havoc on rural communities. In that time track work, once carried out by Rail Services Australia (an offshoot of the State Rail Authority), has been one by commercial giants such as Transfield. Rail unions have argued their members in RSA were disadvantaged in the tendering process, because of the superior public sector pay and conditions and the equipment they had at their disposal. The failure of RSA workers to win the contracts hit local communities where they lived, with the successful private companies trucking in workers from outside the area. The issue of competitive tendering was raised at last year's State Conference and has been referred to a special sub-committee of the State Labor Consultative Committee (SLAC). Unions had been backed by local Labor MPs, particularly in the Hunter region, where track maintenance had again been up for grabs. The Australian Services Union's Mark Ellery says the decision is an excellent result for RSA employees and the regional communities that depend on their jobs for economic viability.
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Interview: South of the Border Victorian Trades Hall chief Leigh Hubbard on life under Bracks, militant unionism and why more people march in Melbourne. Politics: Jeff Shaw's Second Wave The full text of the NSW Industrial Relations Minister's speech to Labor Council announcing the Carr Government's IR reform agenda. Unions: Reith's Laws: Just Say NO The ACTU has called on Labor and the Democrats to reject Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's anti-industry bargaining Workplace Relations 2000 Bill out right. History: A Breed Of Their Own Labour historian Greg Patmore explains what makes his fraternity tick - and why they're still going strong and making history. International: Sony's Asian Showdown The Japanese electronic giant Sony is threatening to shutdown production facilities in Indonesia - where a prolonged strike has cost it US$200milliom - and move to next door Malaysia where electronic workers are banned from forming a union. Human Rights: Good Guys, Bad Guys Everywhere we look -in our newspapers, on the television, in reports by business leaders, academics and politicians - advocacy of human rights seems to be on a collision course with governmental and business interests. Review: New Workers, New Challenges A new wave of thought is arguing that working life is changing - but this doesn't necessarily deal unions out the action. Satire: Rain Man Withdraws Endorsement of Qantas After the third major safety incident in the space of a year, Qantas has lost the confidence of the most famous public supporter of its once unblemished safety record, the autistic star of Rain Man, Raymond.
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