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| Issue No 59 |  |
23 June 2000 |
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LegalKnock, Knock - Who's There?By Rowan Cahill
When the nine year old son of CFMEU construction division state secretary Andrew Ferguson recently responded to a Saturday door knock, it was neither a friend nor a Jehovah's Witness.
Instead an agent of Joy Manufacturing stood on the threshold, attempting to serve a personal damages claim on Ferguson for $700,000. Ferguson was away at the ALP State Conference, so the agent tried to bully the child into taking the document, until the intervention of his mother. The claim arises from Ferguson's alleged involvement in the pickets, protests and solidarity actions that have been part of the long running and bitter Joy dispute. That same week Joy issued a claim for unspecified damages against South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris. This claim involves 13 charges and possibly exceeds $I million. Subpoenas and claims against union officials and rank and file members are being thrown around by Joy like confetti. A Company spokesman has confirmed "dozens" have been issued, while speculation places the eventual number closer to 250. About 70 workers from three separate unions (the AMWU, AWU, and CEPU) have been locked-out of Joy Manufacturing in Moss Vale for three months since the collapse of EBA negotiations. Two picket encampments are permanently manned outside the worksite. The workers are surviving frugally on a fighting fund, while their activities and those of their unions are restrained by Supreme Court injunctions. The damages claims, and the crass treatment of the child by what amounts to an operative of a multinational--since Joy is a subsidiary of the American holding company Harnischfeger Industries Inc.-- have intensified the bitterness of the dispute. Not everything is going Joy's way. The three unions involved have commenced Federal Court proceedings challenging the legality of the lock-out. The union case is arguable and novel. During the initial hearing the judge was moved to point out that it is not the case that different rules apply for employers than apply for unions, and that neither party is above the law. The matter returns to Court on 31 July. Concerns by the AMWU regarding heavy handed police conduct in clearing a picket outside Joy's Moss Vale worksite in April are being investigated by the Ombudsman. Meanwhile some observers are increasingly curious. Despite union pressure, Joy maintains a reluctance to place cash in a trust fund and ease worker concern about accrued entitlements, one of the issues that has arisen during the dispute. The Company maintains that such entitlements are not at risk, and claims an entitlement trust fund would place it at a commercial disadvantage. However money seems readily available for Joy to employ contractors, a specially hired security team, high powered lawyers with more legal tricks than you can poke a stick at, and a vast array of logistical support. Which leaves many wondering if Joy has access to some mysterious bottomless financial pit, and whether there are other agendas at work here that go beyond the resolution of a local industrial dispute.
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   Interview: Holding the LineDiwan Shankar, Assistant National Secretary of the Fiji TUC, is in Australia to consolidate support for his members and plead for ongoing bans. Technology: D-Day for VC?NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa explains the motivations behind the new Get on Board computer-internet venture. Legal: Knock, Knock - Who's There?When the nine year old son of CFMEU construction division state secretary Andrew Ferguson recently responded to a Saturday door knock, it was neither a friend nor a Jehovah's Witness. Unions: Are You a Good Listener ?Mark Hearn goes inside the Energy Australia call centre to find a workplace where there is a code for evrything - even trips to the toilet. International: Union Observers Barred from Zimbabwe PollFive observers from the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and 19 other South Africans aligned to Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice are among 233 observers barred by the Zimbabwean government from monitoring the parliamentary elections. History: Community, Class, and Comparison Despite its occasional romantic tendencies, new labour scholarship is mapping collective action within working class communities. Satire: Rural Poor Return to LaborThrilled by the great new branding, the new Country Labor party has caused scenes of great rejoicing in the country. Review: The Wicked Webs We WeaveLaborNet web-meastro Paul Howes trawls the web for some hot sites for all you political junkies.
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