
Issue No 56		02 June 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Trades Hall

Neale Towart's Labour Review

The Man with the Answers trawls the world of industrial relations for the latest in trends, cases and ideas.


	Neale Towart

Youth Union Membership

The study of young people and trade unions by the Employment Studies Centre at the University of Newcastle, commissioned by the Newcastle Trades Hall Council found that major reasons for lack of interest and membership of unions by young workers were: Lack of knowledge, Fear of victimisation, Poor access to union information.

Young workers have very little knowledge of what unions actually do, the democratic structures of unions that make the unions "theirs" and also were unaware of the legal constraints on unions.

The image of unions was very much the blue-collar bloke type. Media portrayal of unions reinforced a negative message.

Michael Crosby from TUTA says these findings match the research the ACTU and other bodies have been doing.

Some of the recommendations of the report have already been taken up by unions, including the focus on young organisers and youth teams.

Crosby rejects the "good news" media strategy recommended by the report as being a tried and failed approach. He also says the suggestion of cut price membership drives would not be a wise investment for the future.

Crosby would prefer the approach of practical organising and campaigning to give young people an idea of the positive feeling of working as a group for a common purpose.

Community and grass-roots campaigning is a part of this. The CFMEU Rio Tinto campaign is a good example of unions joining with other organisations on a broad issue which does not only effect their members jobs but the well-being of the environment and corporate ethics.

(Workplace Change; issue 50, May 2000; University of Newcastle. Employment Studies Centre. Young People and Trade Unions)

Union Delegate Reinstated

A meatworker sacked by G & K O'Connor Pty Ltd, a Victorian abattoir, was reinstated by Federal Court order. The abattoir was at the centre of a long dispute with the AMIEU last year, and the worker was sacked for gross misconduct after attending a union meeting while off work with a back injury. The union sought reinstatement because it saw the sacking as a breach of the freedom of association provisions of the Workplace Relations Act (AMIEU v G & K O'Connor Pty Ltd, FCA 627 12/5/00)

(Discrimination Alert; issue 111, 23 May 2000)

The Implementation of Competitive tendering in the Australian Social Welfare Sector

Competitive tendering and the way it is implemented create a detrimental impact on the social welfare sector. As governments become more specific about service and eligibility requirements, service providers have less control over the types of services they are able to offer and the types of people they may accept as clients.

Co-operation between agencies is reduced when tender requirements prohibit information sharing. Participating in the tender process is time and resource intensive. Reporting requirements add to administration costs. Service quality is of course, reduced.

(Just Policy; no. 18, April 2000)

Disability Discrimination in Employment: eyesight

A person successfully applied for a position in a public sector organization but subsequently failed the eyesight test so was not appointed.

Under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 it is unlawful, when deciding who to employ to discriminate against a person on the grounds of disability as long as the person can carry out the inherent requirements of the job. The public sector organization said that the person couldn't carry out the inherent requirements because of the failed eyesight test.

The complainant argued that the employer cannot defend their standard of eyesight requirement because other employees safely and satisfactorily performed the inherent requirements even though they wore visual aids. The complainant had previously worked in a similar position and argued that the standard was arbitrary and inflexible.

The Tribunal determined that the person was refused employment because of a disability. The person past record should have been taken into account when assessing they could carry out the inherent requirements of the job. Instead the employer had relied solely on medical assessment.

The level of vision required in the job takes account of the risk of visual aids being dislodged. However the employer makes no attempt to enforce the standard except in pre-employment testing.

The tribunal found discrimination against the rejected applicant. The matter is currently on appeal.

(Equal Time; no. 44, May 2000)

Shoe Roadworthiness

The CSIRO is calling for a new standard for slip resistance in footwear.

More than half a million people were hospitalised in the 1990s after slips and falls at work. In 1995-96 slips and falls cost the community $3.17 billion!

Good quality safety footwear is manufactured and exported here but other types of footwear need work.

(Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin; vol. 9, no. 188, 8 March 2000)

Adolescent Worker Occupational Health and Safety

C. Mayhew

Young workers are frequently said to be at increased risk of occupational injury and death. This article examines the evidence about patterns of injury among working adolescents, reviews some international approaches to controlling the risks, lists key findings from one recent Australian study of young casual workers, and highlights some potential control measures.

(Journal of Occupational Health and Safety Australia and New Zealand; vol. 16, no. 2. April 2000)

Labour Market Programs

An ABS study of the effectiveness of the primary labour market programs between 1994-1997 has found that job seekers involved in these programs significantly improved their chances of finding employment.

The programs were those set up under the ALP Working Nation strategy. The major initiatives under this program were a wage subsidy program and training programs (significant by their absence from Work-For-the-Dole), brokered employment programs that provided funds for projects of community significance and job-search programs targeting long-term unemployed.

The Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) carried out its own evaluation that largely mirrors the ABS study. The findings emphasise the importance of wage subsidy schemes that incorporate training programs.

(ACOSS Impact; May 2000)

Individual v Collective Bargaining: developments, outcomes and experiences in Australian workplaces

Grant Poulton

The author, the deputy director of Australian Business Industrial addresses the impact of AWAs from a policy context, a statistical context and anecdotally. He sees people, employers and employees, as having a unrealistic expectations of AWAs. The fact of their being a no disadvantage test and that individual employees can appoint bargaining agents are seen as ways that conditions and wages are protected, as is the position of unions.

Statistically the problem is seen to be not enough statistical analysis available, because the secrecy of documents means that they can't be analysed as ACIRRT does with enterprise agreements.

Anecdotal evidence from employer members of Australian Business suggests that reasons for not pursuing AWAs include:

� transaction costs for development and implementation,

� processing delays,

� sending wrong messages to employees (perceived as anti-union approach) thus creating hostility in a workplace,

� uncertainty over outcomes because of the application of the no-disadvantage test,

� repeating the process over and over for individuals

Advantages of AWAs for employers have come from an unanticipated direction, in particular from the development of traineeship AWAs. Previously it was difficult to fit training systems into the award system, according to Poulton.

(http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au, Australian Business website)

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  Issue 56 contents

Interview: When the War is Over
Teachers Federation chief Sue Simpson has just come through the industrial dispute of a lifetime. But where to now for her members?

Politics: The Beazley Manifesto
Read the full transcript of Kim Beazley's Fraser Lecture develiered this week, where he unveiled Labor's new industrial relations platform.

Unions: Dudded on the Dock of the Bay
Until a few weeks ago Allan and Beverley Crelley had never ever heard of SERCO the big London multinational that specialises in winning contracts from governments committed to outsourcing their workers.

History: The Long March for Justice
Against the backdrop of the Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge that took place last Sunday, it is worthwhile recognising that trade unionists were actively promoting the issue decades ago.

International: UK Unions Turn the Corner
Union membership is on the rise for the first time in 20 years, indicating an early response to union recognition legislation set to come into effect next month.

Work/Time/Life: Flexible Clerks Save Hours
The Australian Services Union has successfully blocked an attempt by wholesaler Davids Limited to force clerical staff at the company's Blacktown office from flexible working hours to a standard 38 hour week.

Review: Who Really Won the War?
It might be being pulped for a reference to serial-suitor Peter Costello, but 'Waterfront' has sparked some lively debate about our recent industrial history.

Satire: Gosper's New Torch Role
A week after he was excluded from the Olympic torch relay as a result of public criticism, Kevan Gosper has been reinstated by SOCOG President Michael Knight for a special project.

» Long Service Leave Push for Short-Term Workers

» Carr Asked to Act on Fiji Crisis

» Major Blow to Government Outsourcing

» Beazley Blocks Contracts as Reith Hits New Wall

» Carr Makes Formal Offer on Olympics Pay

» Surfing Carnivals Highlights Beach Threat

» Mail Stopped Over Junk Deal

» CBA Staff To Strike Over Queues and Abuse

» Women's Bureau to Stay in DIR

» Joy's Winter of Discontent

» Advocate Pushes Pattern Bargaining

» Nike Versus The Workers

» New Safety Laws A First in Australia

» Workers March for Reconciliation

» Labour Movement Mourns Loss of Neil Marshall (11th June 1943 - 31st May 2000)