
Issue No 55		26 May 2000

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News

Libs Fail to Block Family Friendly Laws

The NSW Upper House has passed laws protecting workers with family responsibilities from discrimination despite opposition from the conservative parties.

Under the changes, employers will be required to reasonably accommodate the needs of employees who are responsible for the care of a family member, unless it can be shown that it would cause unjustifiable hardship to the employer.

The legislation, announced last week, brings family responsibilities into the reach of the Anti-Discrimination Act.

The Legislative Council passed the changes, despite the Opposition's "irrational" behaviour, in first supporting the Bill, then abstaining from it, then finally voting against it.

NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw told the House the Opposition had displayed a "conflict of disloyalties". He says the only consistency in the Opposition's voting was its inconsistency.

The bulk of the government's package including increasing rights of access to the workplace for union and giving the IRC the power to recognise independent contractors as employees are expected to be passed by parliament this session.

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Issue 55 contents

Interview: The University of Rupert
National Tertiary Education Union president Dr Carolyn Allport on News Corp's move into tertiary education and the Universitas 21 experiment.

International: The Unionist Who Sparked a Coup
Workers Online's Fiji expert Andrew Casey profiles one of the men at the centre of the crisis, detained PM Mahendra Chaudry

Unions: The Call to Action
The Australian Services Union is leading the push into the call centre industry. But winning these new workplaces is a major challenge.

Politics: Workplace Gladiators
Peter Reith as Russell Crowe? That's the image Labor IR spokesman Arch Bevis conjured up in a frecent address to the Industrial Relations Society.

History: How to be a Good Unionist
It's 1917, WWI rages and federal public servants are given these rules on how to dischare their responsibility as members.

Legal: The Price of Solidarity
Intimidation, threats and even murder still await many workers who attempt to organize in a number of countries around the world, says a new ILO report.

Review: Inconvenient History
In may be cold comfort to Republicans, but the vote for Federation was every bit as tempestuous as this collection of articles shows.

Satire: World Bank Caves In
In a victory for Seattle protestors, international monetarists have decreed that global utopia to begin immediately.

» Fiji Faces International Union Blockade

» Workers Return to Dump Reith's Third Wave

» Budget Raises More Questions than Answers

» Teachers Finally Achieve Satisfaction

» FairWear Campaign Targets Uniforms

» Rio Tinto Appeals for Industrial Peace

» Beer Hike Sparks Worker Concerns

» Libs Fail to Block Family Friendly Laws

» No Joy For 'Back Door' Pete

» Angry Truckies Converge on Border

» Unions Dues Test Case Looms

» Why Solidarity Messages Mean Something

» Radio Free East Timor Rocks

» The Soapbox

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Neale's Spot On!

» Silence on the GST

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