
Issue No 58		16 June 2000

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News

More Sackings Spark Entitlements Showdown

Another group of textile workers have been sacked and are now owed thousands of dollars as doubts over the effectiveness of Peter Reith's new workers entitlements scheme deepen.


	Zora Males Addresses Labor Council

On a weekend, when unions urged the state government to take action on the issue, the plight of workers at Hurstville-based Carlton Shirts has come to light.

Former Carlton employee Zora Males told Labor Council how she had been shown the door after 19 years loyal service, owed more than $14,000. Under the Reith scheme she will lose more than one third of this amount.

And worse, because the firm ceased trading, rather than went into liquidation, the workers will not be able to access the Reith scheme until the company is formally liquidated by the TCFUA - at a cost to the union of about $10,0000.

In all, nine female production employees are owed an average of $6300 each in unpaid annual leave, long service leave, superannuation, notice and other entitlements.

The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union has been pursuing the company director through the Australian Industrial relations Commission, where the company says it has no assets to pay the entitlements. This is despite a closely related company owning the building housing the textiles factory.

Compo Scheme to Bridge Entitlements Gap?

Meanwhile, unions are urging the NSW Government to use the state's workers compensation system to help fill void left by the Peter Reith's flawed workers entitlements scheme.

The bridging option has been mooted as states maintain their opposition to the Howard Government's minimalist entitlements package that leave retrenched workers thousands of dollars out of pocket.

The push to supplement federal payments without endorsing the Reith scheme gathered momentum at last weekend's ALP State Conference.

In a motion moved by Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union state secretary Barry Tubner asks the state government to fund a test case to put trust funds protecting worker entitlements into industrial awards as well as developing the bridging proposal.

Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says one idea being explored is to impose a surcharge on WorkCover premiums. Firms showing they had made adequate provisions to cover entitlements could be exempted from the payment.

The issue has been placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the State Labor Consultative Committee.

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Issue 58 contents

Interview: After the Gold Rush
NSW building union leader Andrew Ferguson on life after the Olympics and why Che Guevara is his political hero.

Unions: MUA Women's Policy Back on Course
A hard hitting report by the Maritime Union's women's delegate Sue Gajdos prompts the union to, once again, promote its female members.

Politics: Raising the Rafters
Opposition leader Kim Beazley delivered a stirring address to last weekend's NSW ALP State Conference. Here's every word of it.

History: Time and Tide
Greg Patmore surveys the themes of Working Lives in Regional Australia in this introduction to the latest issue of 'Labour History'

International: Fair in the Land of the Free
More than 20,000 immigrant workers, union members and community and religious leaders packed a Los Angeles Sports Arena on June 10 in support of immigrant workers' rights.

Environment: Life's a Beach
Workers are invited to join an environmental campaign to protect the coastal communities and coastline from exploitation by multinationals.

Satire: More Pacific Coups Forecast
The popular holiday resort of Great Keppel Island is bracing itself for a bloody coup, following the rash of rebel uprisings in other parts of the Pacific.

Review: At the Barricades
Denis Evans' photo essay on the Patrick dispute captures the camaraderie on the Melbourne picket lines - solidarity that, like solder, welded workers and their communities together into a human barricade.

Crackdown on Fiji Workers Intensifies
Building Industry Braces for Post-Games Slump
Call Centre Battle Hots Up
More Sackings Spark Entitlements Showdown
Carr Establishes Labor Hire Inquiry
High Court Puts Workers At Reith's Mercy
Miners Hit the Streets Over Death Threats
Unions Urged to Reignite Republic Debate
Tips Rip-Off Sparks Hotel Picket
Community Workers to Lay Siege to Parliament
Water Workers Accept 14% Pay Rise
Counselling for Workplace Accidents
Korean Food Festival is Union Business
Che Helps Doctors Save Lives
Maude Barlow Public Lecture - Sydney June 27