
Issue No 58		16 June 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

News

Carr Establishes Labor Hire Inquiry

The Carr Government has commissioned a landmark inquiry into the labour hire industry, opening the prospect of increased regulation of this growing slice of the employment market.

The inquiry was requested by both unions and key industry operators to address concerns that rogue agencies were driving wages and conditions down.

NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw today announced the terms of reference of the taskforce will examine:

� the employment relationship between workers, labour hire companies and host employers in different Australian jurisdictions and whether NSW legislation should be clarified or varied

� consider OHS obligations and whether legislation should be clarified or varied

"The taskforce will look at industrial instruments with regard to labour hire and ensure the rights and obligations of employers and workers in labour hire are commensurate with those in other employment relationships in NSW," Shaw says.

Arising out of the terms of reference, Shaw says the taskforce will:

- examine the desirability of facilitating industrial instruments specifically for the labour hire industry, or of applying the prevailing conditions of the host employer to labour hire workers; and

- consider options to ensure the rights of workers on the labour hire firm and woirkers employed by the host company to organize and bargain collectively.

He says any recommendations will need to demonstrate that they will not unduly impose regulatory burdens on business that adversely affects employment.

Shaw says labour hire is a growing phenomenon and we need to adjust to changing workplaces. Over two per cent of NSW workplaces use labour hire and in industries such as finance and insurance the figure is over 50 per cent.

"We have been asked by both employer and employee groups, particularly the major labour hire firms, to clarify issues such as the employer/employee status and occupational health and safety responsibilities relating to labour hire," Shaw says.

NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa and four other union representatives have been invited to sit on the Taskforce. They will be: Annie Owens (LHMU), Andrew Ferguson (CFMEU), Russ Collison (AWU) and Bernie Roirdan (ETU).

The taskforce findings are due in October.

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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