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The ACTU will launch its Living Wage 2000 campaign next week which will seek increases in Award rates of pay for low paid workers.
Greg Combet says unlike previous years union members will have plenty of opportunity to look at and discuss the Living Wage claim before it is lodged in the commission.
'We'll finalise the claim at the ACTU executive meeting next week. In November unions will take the claim out to members and delegates, explain it and discuss it. Then we'll follow up with an application to the commission in November,' he says.
This change from the top down, file it and arbitrate approach to one encouraging members to be part of the process builds on a successful rally outside the Commission on the last day of hearings last year.
Combet says the message is clear so far from union members.
'People understand the issues. Low paid workers are hurting. The tax system is unfair. Someone on $25,000 a year only gets a $12.50 tax cut. Fair dinkum, that disappears in the first visit to the petrol pump,' he says.
Combet's comments follow the release of CPI figures for the September quarter that confirm the cost of living jumped by 3.7% since the introduction of the GST, pushing inflation above 6% for the first time in a decade.
"These figures confirm that it is ordinary workers and their families who have been the big losers under John Howard's GST," he says.
"The bad news in the CPI figure for working families, whose budgets are already stretched to the limit, is that the full impact of the GST on prices is yet to be felt.
"Despite the Treasurer's promise that the GST impact on inflation would be a 'one-off', the figures suggest that GST price rises, $1 a litre petrol and a low $A exchange rate will continue to push up the cost of living."
Mr Combet also said that Treasurer Peter Costello had directly contradicted himself when he claimed in a radio interview this week that low paid workers are 'better off' under the GST and that the July 1 tax cuts 'more than compensates for price rises'.
"Back in May, Mr Costello told us that the July 1 tax cuts were not compensation for the GST. He said Australians 'deserved' the tax cuts that they were not designed to 'sugar coat' his GST. What we saw this morning from the Treasurer was a giant back flip. He now claims that tax cuts were designed to compensate the low paid for GST price rises.
"The reality is that Mr Costello's GST tax cuts have failed workers on both counts. The low paid only got back what they had lost to tax bracket creep since 1993 and the CPI result confirms that the GST will continue to push prices up for some time yet.
"Mr Costello also said that home mortgage rates were lower than at any stage since 1983 - apart from the rises in the last year. Does that mean the low paid can just ignore all four rate rises? The Treasurer is not living in the real world.
"Low paid workers must not be left to unfairly carry the burden of this tax."
MEAA's Michel Maree Hryce |
They have pledged a widescale public and community based campaign to defend the ABC's editorial independence, its ability to fulfil its Charter obligations, and against any cuts.
This follows an extraordinary address to staff yesterday by Shier - only his second in eight months in the job -which has seriously damaged the new chief's credibility.
Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) NSW Secretary Michel Maree Hryce says staff are dismayed, angry and disillusioned following the meeting which had been touted by management as the occasion when the direction of the organization would be outlined and clarified.
'He didn't appear to have answers to how his directives were going to affect the organization. Staff left the meeting frustrated and disappointed about that,' she says.
'Staff still haven't been adequately informed and they want to be consulted as they are entitled to in their agreement.'
The Media Alliance and the CPSU say by failing to provide clear direction and details Shier is not prepared to promote and protect the principles of public national broadcasting. Instead he invited staff to tout for sources of funds from commercial organisations and from Government departments to fund major areas of ABC activity.
'These two examples of funding avenues jeopardise the ABC's editorial independence, its freedom from commercialisation, and threaten the politicisation of the national broadcaster,' the unions say.
Shier confirmed that there would be cuts of $2 million to Radio budget including a redirection of $750,000 to the Program Creation and Development Division, that will lead to further job cuts, confusion over editorial control and an overall reduction in the number of actual program makers.
He refused to provide any answers to questions about the staff impact of either the news and
Current Affairs or the Radio cuts. It remains clear however that if these cuts proceed, staff cuts will inevitably follow. He did not offer any information about the Television budget, saying instead that it was up to Directors to make those suggestions.
The ABC unions say a significant proportion of the cuts announced are a direct result of Shier's continued expansion of his new executive group of the senior executive and the blowout in the salaries being paid to a new and bloated senior executive
Staff have given ABC management till 24 November to address concerns raised at the meeting before convening for further action.
by Mary Yaager
NAB Customers take to the Streets |
"Drummoyne was not a loss-making branch. It tells a lie to the bank propaganda which is they only close branches that are not". FSU NSW Secretary Geoff Derrick says.
Hundreds of people turned up to Drummoyne today to protest against the closure and to support the campaign organised by the local MP John Murphy and the Finance Sector Union.
Outside the National Australia Bank at Drummoyne, Geoff Derrick joined the Shadow Treasurer, Simon Crean in speaking to the rowdy gathering.
Geoff said "the Howard government is totally irresponsible in allowing the banks to have cart-blanche over service delivery, job security and affordable and reasonable transaction fees".
The Finance Sector Union says the National Australian Bank has closed 88 branches this year and has just announced a further 100 branches to close over the next 12 months.
The Commonwealth Bank has closed over 70 branches this year. This has hit hard on the average Australian family, small businesses, the elderly and the poor - the very people who need this service the most. Geoff Derrick says.
Banks were once the hub of Australian communities not only in the regional centres and country towns but also in the suburbs. They provided a good opportunity for locals to meet and network and also provided job opportunities for thousands of young people.
Geoff went on to say "the presence of a local bank ensure the presence of a local economy. We are going to continue to campaign to have either this federal government or the next legislate for a charter of social responsibility".
The Finance Sector Union and Labor are calling on the Howard government to take immediate action and to direct the ACCC to formally monitor bank fees, services and charges.
by Andrew Casey
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Nor has it been good at encouraging church members to join, and be active, in their unions, the Uniting Church's NSW synod general secretary, Rev Chris Budden, told the media this week.
Rev Budden is reported in the media as saying the Church recognised there was always room for improvement in their workplace practices.
" We haven't probably always been good at encouraging our members to be actively involved in the union movement, and we want to do that, given there is a fair bit of pressure in the other direction," Rev Budden said.
Rev Budden made the comment after a recent story on the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) website, about a dispute involving Aged Care workers employed by a Catholic Church agency in Queensland, was followed up by the mainstream media.
You can read the original LHMU story if you click here: http://www.lhmu.org.au/union/233.html
The media reports, based on an Australian Associated Press (AAP) story, quotes Rev Budden as saying that the church was working on a memorandum of understanding for employment relations in its operations in New South Wales and Victoria.
" We are trying to develop a set of principles which we believe should guide the way in which we employ people," he is quoted as saying.
" We would certainly be encouraging collective bargaining and trade unions and unless it was in senior management positions we wouldn't be encouraging individual contracts.
" We clearly believe it is difficult for individuals to have the power to negotiate contracts on their own without support."
The Catholic Church is also expected to soon release a Bishop's statement on industrial relations, which is believed to support the rights of workers to collective agreements.
The ACTU, along with key union affiliates representing workers employed by church agencies, has been promoting a dialogue with religious groups on these issues.
Rev Budden said the Uniting Church and the Catholic Church had long been supporters of unions.
But Rev Budden said the Uniting Church recognised there was always room for improvement in its workplace practices.
"We haven't probably always been good at encouraging our members to be actively involved in the union movement and we want to do that, given there is a fair bit of pressure in the other direction," he said.
" We believe that work is not just about individuals, it's about the good of the community and people need protection and support in that."
Rev Budden said the church also recognised its employees were no longer strictly church people.
"I'm not saying that we were exploitative, but there was always the possibility that people weren't treated as well salary-wise, partly because they are being funded to do welfare work," he said.
" We worked out recently that across Australia, we employ more people than BHP.
" Many people are doing it because of a commitment to the church but we are now employing a lot of people who are not church people for whom it is a job."
Rev Budden said the Uniting Church hoped the memorandum of understanding would be finalised early next year.
by Phil Davey
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Over 400 building workers at the massive Westfields Hornsby project have just returned to work after a week of bans and walk-offs, having won a new site allowance that is expected to become the new industry standard in NSW.
The Westfields workers won a $3 an hour site allowance (up from $1.80 an hour) as well as a 24 hour $25,000 death benefit. When overtime is taken into account this translates to an extra $150 in the average pay packet, over and above normal EBA (Enterprise Agreement) rates of pay.
This is expected to become the new standard for major projects (over $140 million).
Westfields have already agreed that the new site allowance will become the standard rate on their new projects, as will the death benefit. Builders Bovis-Lend Lease have also agreed to adopt the standard. Other major building companies are expected to agree over the next week.
CFMEU State President Peter McClelland today hailed the win as historic. "Over 30,000 unionised workers will ultimately benefit from the Hornsby win. We expect this new standard to be adopted by the industry, which means more money at the end of the week in our members pockets."
"30,000 families in NSW will get an improved quality of life thanks to the militancy and discipline of our members at Hornsby"
by Zoe Reynolds
An estimated one in four wharfies (30 of 120 employees) at Port Botany container terminal suffer neck, shoulder and back injuries, with dozens seeking physiotherapy. The situation in other states is no better.
The injuries result from labour cutbacks which force straddle operators to work day after day twisted sideways in cramped, poorly designed cabins, with only one break, every shift.
The 10 metre high straddles, which carry containers to and fro between the ship, stack and trucks, require operators to contort their bodies while driving sideways, their heads and necks twisted and strained up to 90 degrees for hours at a time. No straddles at Patrick enterprises have ergonomically designed seats or dual controls.
Prior to the dispute in 1998 and the enterprise agreement of the same year, three operators were allocated to each two straddles, ensuring job rotation and reducing strain. Down drivers worked lashing/unlashing containers, driving light equipment, canteen cleaning and assisting clerical staff etc.
But in the pursuit of profits and higher share prices for parent company Lang Corp, Patrick cut back on drivers, job rotation and breaks. This is despite current research and a series of reports recommending a maximum time frame of four hours (in total) over an eight hour period for awkward working postures.
The Sydney branch is now prosecuting Patrick under Section 15 (1) of the NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act on behalf of six Sydney straddle drivers.
by Lisa Jooste
Helen Creed, National President of the LHMU and WA State Secretary of the union, reported to the annual meeting of the National Council - meeting in Queensland - the effects of the WA industrial laws on the LHMU's members.
Because of the secrecy sections of the state laws the Union was last week prevented from telling the state's Industrial Commissioners the truth about the impact of WA Workplace Agreements on cleaners.
Most cleaners are forced to sign individual contracts - Workplace Agreements - just to get jobs.
The WA Commission struck out the evidence of Cleaners and Union officials about pay cuts of up to $2.30 per hour (which works out to over $80 per week).
The Commission stopped the cleaners whistle-blowing.
Changes made to the Industrial Relations Act, by the former State Minister for IR, Graham Kierath, actually prevent Commissioners from informing themselves about the provisions of Workplace Agreements.
Graham Keirath is to West Australian unions, and their members, a cut-down local version of Peter Reith - but he often tried to outdo his national counterpart.
Keirath is as reviled by the WA labour movement, as his counterpart is reviled nationally.
"All we want is for cleaners to be able to have a choice between Workplace Agreements and the Award,"LHMU National President, Helen Creed, said.
"This ruling is heart-breaking. How can the Commission make a fair decision on choice, when they can't even consider the facts?
"In the interests of justice, these laws must be abolished!"
by Andrew Casey
" Our 60-member National Council has resolved to call on the ACTU to put forward a claim for a substantial wage increase at the next Living Wage Case, " Jeff Lawrence, the National Secretary of the LHMU, said today.
" Our members believe there is an urgent need to campaign for minimum wage levels of $500 per week, or $13 per hour for the lowest paid, in circumstances where interest rates, unrestrained petrol prices, bank charges and inflation has escalated to the point where workers and their families are suffering.
" Union members have had a gutful of Federal Government policies that have produced sharply declining income and living standards," Jeff Lawrence said.
" The latest inflation figures for the September quarter of 3.7% and over the full year of 6.1% show the burden being shouldered by workers while company profits continue to escalate.
" The LHMU National Council - which has met all this week in Queensland - believes that, driven by the GST related price increases, inflation will remain high during the next 6-12 months and must be compensated for as soon as possible.
" This union's National Council has resolved to back the Living Wage Case by initiating wage claims with employers, and campaign for wage justice for lower paid workers through workplace and industry activism," Jeff Lawrence said.
The ACTU Executive meets next week in Melbourne to discuss the parameters of a National Living Wage Case. The LHMU is one of the ACTU's largest affiliates.
by Phil Davey
CFMEU rank and file joined the picket, which repelled attempts by council and police to board up the premises. Under the broader umbrella of the Building Trades Group of Unions, stop works were called which successfully resisted an eviction. Negotiations are now underway for a caretaker lease agreement over the property.
This ground breaking policy will allow all vacant South Sydney Council building stock to be available for low income earners. The Broadway squats will now be the pilot study for this progressive proposal. Not unlike the Builder Labours Federation, the CFMEU has shown its strength within broader community issues, like the green bans which saved squats in Woolloomooloo and paved the way for public housing initiatives.
The Broadway squats have been occupied by squatters since February and have provided homes while South Sydney Council plans to sell the block to the Walker Corporation for the construction of 600 luxury apartments. Many working class suburbs are increasingly under threat of this kind of exclusive development while public housing dwindles and homelessness increases. It is estimated that around 30 000 homeless people sleep out every night while there is a nine year waiting list for public housing. This at a time when there are an estimated 2000 empty buildings in Sydney!
Down on the picket line a CFMEU member and paralympian Todd Philpott said 'my mum always told me that charity begins at home, and I reckon these people shouldn't be kicked out on the street just because they have the initiative to house themselves'. While labour and social movements fight for adequate government funding for housing, this caretaker policy provides immediate and real options for housing now.
A Palestinian Police Station Destroyed by Israeli Defence Forces |
In response to urgent requests from hospitals and clinics and the recent scale of injury from violence, APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad, along with AngliCORD, AustCARE, Australian Volunteers International (AVI), Muslim Aid, the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) and World Vision, have launched a co-operative appeal seeking support from the Australian community for medical relief to the region.
Funds raised by individual agencies for the appeal will be used to support emergency medical, relief and rehabilitation services via the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, the Augusta Victoria Hospital and Al Maqassed Hospital in Jerusalem and the Union for Health Work Committees (UHWC) active throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
Tax deductable donations can be made to APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad by:-
Ringing 1300.362.223 (business hours - have your credit card details ready)
or by Writing to:-
APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad
Medical Relief Appeal for Palestinian Territories
Box 3, Trades Hall
4 Goulburn Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
For further information please contact Phillip Hazelton or Peter Jennings at APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad on (02) 9264.9343
IMF Managing Director Horst K�hler |
The proposals were tabled on Monday at meetings between the World Bank's President James Wolfensohn, IMF Managing Director Horst K�hler and a high-level international trade union delegation led by Bill Jordan, general secretary of the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the world's largest trade union body.
"It is time to think more institutionally about how the world trade union movement can interact more effectively with the World Bank, to the mutual benefit of both parties", Bill Jordan told James Wolfensohn at a meeting on Monday.
Trade unions have generally been very critical of the lack of consultation by governments and local Bank and IMF officials, particularly in the preparation of poverty reduction papers, despite their insistence on involving civil society, including trade unions, in the new poverty reduction strategies adopted by the international financial institutions(IFIs).
"The real weight you have given to consultation and to social concerns needs to be demonstrated by the Bank's readiness to step in and insist that governments do consult trade unions and other parts of civil society", Bill Jordan stressed.
Referring to the concern of a wider public about the side effects of globalisation, the trade unions consider that a number of key problems could be avoided should social issues and basic workers' rights be integrated into the programmes run by the international financial institutions.
Etsuyo Washio, President of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation Rengo, proposed that "following the example in the OECD of its Business and Industry Advisory Committee and its Trade Union Advisory Committee, the World Bank should establish a trade union advisory committee of the World Bank".
"We need to do more: co-operation, regular consultation and a dialogue with the institutions with better monitoring of programmes", emphasised Dieter Schulte, President of the German Trade Union Confederation the DGB.
"This would greatly contribute to establishing a global democracy", Mr Washio added.
Trade union reports suggest that the proposals were welcomed by the Bank and the Fund. The 60-member ICFTU delegation also raised a number of other key issues for trade unions ranging from the IFIs' poverty reduction programmes, core labour standards, and social safety nets to international financial reforms.
A major trade union operation to combat HIV/AIDS at the workplace, in particular in Africa, was also on the agenda, with trade unions seeking financial support for badly-needed education and prevention programmes.
At the close of the second day of the meetings, the World Bank made a commitment to an enhanced programme of continued consultations with trade unions at national and international meetings, common action on HIV/AIDS, further debate on privatisation and
joint work to develop core labour standards in World Bank policies and strategies.
by Rowan Cahill
It was a cool Spring morning. The air was alive with union flags, and joyous applause. An emotional occasion.
Before the workers walked through the factory gates to the skirl of pipes, they were addressed by union officials. AMWU state secretary Paul Bastian, AMWU organiser Alan Ward, and South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris congratulated the men on their unity and resolve through almost seven months of strikes and lockouts.
Beyond the celebration, however, were undercurrents of unease. Despite having won a 12 per cent pay rise over three years, a single workplace agreement, and maintaining a unionised workplace, workers remain concerned about their long-term security.
By Wednesday rumours were circulating in the close knit semi-rural community about looming retrenchments at Joy, although no approaches have been made to the unions concerned (the AMWU, AWU, and CEPU).
But it took less than an hour back at work on Monday for the company to show its colours, ending the long accepted 10-minute paid morning tea break. According to the AMWU this sort of action is inflammatory and takes matters back to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.
Creative interpretations of the back-to-work agreement by Joy management cannot be ruled out.
While wise heads prevail on the workshop floor, Joy workers are in no frame of mind to play games or be further insulted and pushed around.
Each man is hugely out of pocket because of the dispute, and the company's decision to employ a thuggish bunch of interstate scab provocateurs during the last four weeks of the dispute was the final and disgusting straw.
Obviously it is too early to close the watching brief on Joy. This looks like being a festering dispute that simply won't go away.
by Mary Yaager
Heath Francis |
On Sunday 22nd October, Heath competed in the T46 class 400m sprint for arm amputees and won his first gold medal in a time of 50.16 seconds. The crowds, clearly delighted, cheered and his family waved their "Go Heath" banners high as Heath took a lap of honour around the track, in this his first paralympic games.
On Tuesday 24th the Australian 4x400m T46 relay team, of which our hero is a member, charged to victory knocking 14.5 seconds off the current world record. Heath took the final leg and finished the relay for the team with a total time of 3.32.44 minutes, collecting his second gold medal.
Heath has another two races to run in these the 11th Paralympic Games - 4 x 400m relay tonight after 5pm and 4x100m relay on Saturday 28th.
Go for it Heath!
Re: Workers Online Issue 40 Dated 19/11/99.
The SRA did not back down on surveillance.
The two dismissed employees are still fighting to get their jobs back in the AIRC.
The SRA wants to use them as a precedent so they can use the Automatic Ticket Barriers on other employees and dismiss as many as they can.
The dismissed employees were never redeployed as mentioned in that issue.
Twelve (12) months has passed and the two dismissed employees are still in the street pending the AIRC findings because the SRA is using the ATM's information against these employees even though they admitted to no proper protocol or union agreements.
Please warn other employees that The SRA will utilise the ATM's data as surveillance after they set a precedent with these two employees (who were doing their job collecting timesheets going through the barriers not knowing that the barriers are collecting data to be used as surveillance, and then were asked 9 months later what they have done on the relevant days in question, and because their answers were not plausible they were dismissed for serious misconduct).
George Matalani
(one of the dismissed employees)
Further to my letter on the outrageous collusion between management, quisling employees and in extreme cases Union Officials, in the harassment of employees, particularly those active in the advancement of wages and working conditions. I have had several people contact me over the past week asking for advice on how to recognize these sociopaths. (An almost untreatable mental disorder usually based on a foundation of narcissism.)
As a rule, the recognition of these parasites is blatantly obvious after they have struck and moved on to their next victim/s. The affected victims have usually been drained dry and can be distinguished as being an empty shell. Then there are those that have not been completely drained and have been infected with this same virus "Toxic Personalities" and they too become predators of the naive.
How to repel these parasites?
Unions must clean up their own act, then act to end this terrorism - A terrorism that is being subtly and not so subtlety imposed on their members by these " Toxic Personalities", personalities, regularly employed by corrupt organizations under the guise of Human Resource* management. *(An outrageous reference to people)
Unions should have already collated a list of theses "Toxic Personalities", and when they move from organization to organization they should be pursued with zeal and a common purpose of conversion or extermination.
Unfortunately these "Toxic Personalities", because of there very self-centered nature, narcissism, are like chameleons and are constantly changing form.
An excellent reference to these aberrations of human nature is - Difficult Personalities by Helen McGrath and Hazel Edwards and is published by Choice Books rrp $20.
This is a book all Union Libraries stock, and should be compulsory reading for all Elected Union Delegates!
Tom Collins
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Holland is currently being run by a Prime Minister who came out of the labour movement. Is that helping trade unions?
I don't think you can say it is helping the unions, but I also couldn't say it was not. Our relationship with politics is not as it was thirty or forty years ago. We talk with all political parties and we try to make deals with all of them. If you look at our membership the second biggest group in terms of membership are those who vote for the right-wing liberal party.
So there's no official affiliation with any one party?
No. The FNV is the product of a merger by the Catholic trade union movement and the social democratic trade union movement at the end of the seventies. What came out of that was a pluralistic trade union organisation that is open to everybody who works, regardless of their political or religious affiliations.
Are there political parties that are hostile to the union movement - or is there a general acceptance that unions have a role to play in society?
Just recently there was an interview with all the major leaders and what struck me was that they were all very positive about the role of trade unions. That includes the right-wing parties who you would expect to be a little more hostile. Although in practice on some issues we are obviously at odds with each other. But that's over the issue, not the question of whether trade unions are important for the development of society. They would accept that.
So what are the dominant issues confronting the Dutch movement at present?
The booming economy has created a shortage of labour and we get some signals that this is forcing people to work overtime. The related issue of excessive work, stress and pressure. This is being felt across most of the workforce.
You have a unique relationship with employers on working time - could you explain this?
In the period of the early eighties, the economy was in much worse shape than it is now. There was a unique agreement between Wim Kik (current Prime Minister) who was at that time leader of the GNV and his counterpart from the employers organisation. Trade unions promised moderate pursuit of wages. In exchange, employers promised they would lift their blockade to the reduction of working time.
It was a period of high unemployment and the reduction of working time from 40 to 38 to later 36 hours, was a very important strategy to build more jobs.
Was it accepted by those workers who already had the jobs?
It was a period when unemployment was very dramatic - workers were given the choice of higher wages or the creation of jobs - all said the creation of jobs. If you look at the period today; if we are self-critical we would say the reduction of the working week to 36 hours partly contributed to the increase of work pressure. The original idea was to reduce hours to create more jobs, but if the extra worker never came, the worker was just squeezing in more work to a shorter time. But there is evidence that the policy did create more jobs and at least prevented the increase in job losses. The question then became whether it was the suppression of wages or the working hours that was responsible.
On an international front, there has been debate this year about global labour standards. Has this emerged as an issue here?
Child labour is a big issue. The trade unions were one of the first to take this up. We arranged for the wife of Prime Minister Kok to receive the first carpet with a trade mark which guarantees no child labour was used in producing it several years ago. Since then we have supported projects in India and Pakistan where we try to get children out of the work and get them into education. Consumer campaigns like the rugs have been successful and allow ordinary people to play a role.
How's the overall strength of the union movement here?
Overall, between the GNV unions, the Democratic Christian unions which are Protestant; and the professional personnel - it would be 28 per cent. The influence that unions have has to do with the Dutch model of labour relations in which we look for win-win situations rather than looking for conflict. There are several examples where we have been able to resolve issues that divide unions, employers and the government in other countries.
For example, flexi-workers and the riseof agencies for temporary workers. At first, the trade unions struggled against it, but later out we found out that there were many workers to work in that kind of job. And at the same time, the demand from companies for these types of workers was increasing. Existing law didn't reflect this reality and we accepted there was a need for a new law. Political parties couldn't come to an agreement, so they asked the social partners (employers and trade unions) to deal with it.
What emerged was a compromise which lifted the old limitations on temporary work; another system was introduced under which temporary labourers, after a couple of years are given a permanent position with the agency. If you were to analyse the situation, if you lock yourself into opposing something that is a reality it is you who end up standing outside of reality. But if try to go with the flow, but to push it in a certain direction with more rights for workers, in the end both sides will be happy.
Michael Gadiel |
The most avid watcher quickly becomes jaded given the quantity of information to absorb. The analysis is analysed, and the spin doctors commented upon, to the uninitiated the experience can become overwhelming.
Given the ocean of facts, figures, news, anecdotes, discussion panels, polls, vox pops, rhetoric, satire and spin -- it becomes impossible to separate what is important from the background noise. As in Australia, getting too close to the campaign can make you lose your perspective.
It seems that the punters are still buying the "hayseed", "good old boy" routine that George W. Bush plays when questioned beyond his understanding of the issues (which is frequently). It seems he can answer any question with an answer like, "I don't know 'bout that -- but I sure do know what the folks want and that be kicking some good 'ole Washington butt" -- and the voters love it. Al Gore seems to be unaware that he is playing into this strategy by being the kid at the front of the class saying "pick me, pick me, I know that answer to that -- now let me tell you...", twenty minutes later they've still got no idea what the hell he is talking about, but they have decided that if they have to put up with this for the next four years they'd rather elect the dummy.
Still this is the country where Governor Bush, the son of a former President and the bother of Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, is able to cast himself as the political outsider?!? Bit 'o the 'old Ross Perot stuff there 'aye George? The is also the place where it looks like the dead (former) Governor of Missouri, Carnahan, is going to win a place in the Senate. Where the Governor of Minnesota, Ace Venture (yes, the Rock 'n' Roll wrestler who wore the feather boa) did an interview with Playboy magazine declaring that if he died he'd "like to come back as a 'D cup' bra"!
Indeed the Americans are becoming a cynical and jaded lot. Their politicians still make impassioned speeches promising big picture visions of justice and equality. The place is so big, and people to switched off, the only way you can get your message through is by television. But television costs. In come the money men. Money -- the mother's milk of US politics. But with the money come the strings and the vested interests ensure that things stay the same and that the visions that are passionately declared at campaign rallies can never be realised. Your message becomes hollow, but now you're on television, you can say what you like, because it's free speech, and you'll get elected, because the Americans will vote for anyone who's on television. They have a political system that has been totally distorted by the broadcast medium.
Voters still aspire to the high ideals, want the passion but are not prepared to vote for a candidate who does not advertise, that is, a candidate without money. It seems that the whole system could do with a healthy injection of realism. I think we're going to have to wait another ten to fifteen years before the Internet overtakes television and the fundamentals of political dialog can be changed. Until then, be prepared for more cynicism.
The current race is still tight. Following the last Presidential debate, Bush was able to establish a commanding lead. But as the campaign has progressed over the last week, Gore has regained ground. With two weeks to go, Bush is a few points ahead, but within both candidates are within the polling error margin of each other. The campaigns are focusing in on the battleground states, the key among which is Florida. Gore can't win without Florida, a traditional Republican stronghold and Governed by Bush's brother. But with a high proportion of retirees, health is a major issue in this state and Gore has more credibility in this area.
America is in a time of economic boom, unemployment is at record lows - the Nation feels it can afford to elect someone it likes rather than someone it needs -- so Gore is in trouble. If he is to win the campaign he needs to go back to his strategy for the Democratic Convention -- show some self analysis and wind back his ego. If he basically admits that he's a dork, apologises and makes the point that there are some major issues like education, health care and social security at stake -- he is clearly the candidate with the better credentials in those areas. Gore must convince the electorate that he is the 'smart guy' and not just the 'smart ass'. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Gore campaign isn't turning to Workers Online for its advice, so I don't think the message will get through. We'll just have to wait, hope and see what happens!
by Andrew Casey
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The commercial high-rise office cleaners are refusing all food until their employers agree to a contract that provides living wages, affordable health insurance and full-time hours.
Negotiations that might have ended their fast hit a snag when contractors refused to make available more full-time work opportunities.
The Service Employees Industrial Union (SEIU) has run a national Justice for Janitors campaign which has had some significant wins across America this year.
But in Stamford, Connecticut - which is a mid-size city north of New York - the 300 unionised cleaners are now in the fourth week of a strike.
To back the campaign the SEIU took out a full page advert in the New York Times this week.
Also this week a number of their members were arrested during a sit-in, and now some members have gone on a hunger strike.
Soon after the strike started the SEIU cleaners handed out big green garbage bags to office workers in the places they were on strike. The cleaners wanted to highlight their demands for better pay and working conditions.
Handing out the garbage bags underlined their important role in the workplace and as the strike continues, the office workers would have to make their own arrangements to keep their workplaces tidy.
The SEIU is the sister union to the LHMU.
In the same US state of Connecticut the SEIU has just won pay rises, improved pension benefits, more paid vacation and the opportunity to move from part-time to full-time work for members in the city of Hartford.
With full-time positions, the US workers will now be eligible for health benefits.
"We needed full-time jobs in the suburbs, and because of the strength of our members, we were able to achieve it,'' Kurt Westby, the president of the local branch of the SEIU said.
The cleaners provide services in some of the most prominent office blocks in the Hartford area.
" I think it's a major step for bringing low-wage workers out of poverty wages,'' the local union leader said.
"Hundreds of workers are going to start to get health care. Was it everything we wanted? No. But we made tremendous strides.''
by Dick Bryan
Derivatives: Casino Capitalism's Currency |
Financial Derivatives. The term is appearing more and more in the media, but it is very hard to find out what they are and what they do. Ask a financial market dealer or analyst, and a spray of impenetrable jargon appears. The temptation is to ignore it all as paper shuffling, or to simply condemn it as hot money, speculation, and the means by which spivvy guys in suits support cocaine habits.
Those judgments are probably all true to varying degrees, but if we ignore financial derivatives, we ignore the fastest growing, largest and potentially most volatile aspect of capitalist economies. To understand what is driving international financial volatility and corporate strategies, and all the associated implications for workers and communities, you have to have some handle on derivatives.
Derivatives Are Ten Times As Important As International Trade
Before an explanation of what derivatives do, it is important to see the scale of activity we are addressing.
Table 1 shows some important facts:
Notional amounts outstanding at year-end, in billions of US dollars
1993 | 1998 | |
---|---|---|
Exchange Trade Instruments | 7,7771.2 | 13,549.2 |
Interest Rate Futures | 4,958.8 | 7,702.2 |
Interest Rate Options | 2,362.4 | 4,602.82 |
Currency Futures | 34.7 | 38.1 |
Currency Options | 75.6 | 18.7 |
Stock Market Index Futures | 110.0 | 321.0 |
Stock Market Index Options | 229.7 | 866.5 |
OTC Instruments | 8,474.6 | 50,997.0 |
Interest Rate Swaps | 6,177.3 | |
Currency Swaps | 899.6 | |
Interest Rate Options | 1,397.6 | |
Total | 64,546.2 |
Source: Bank for International Settlements, Annual Report 1999:13
What are derivatives?
As the table shows, they are futures, options and swaps contracts applied to interest rates (predominantly) currencies and company shares, and they are traded in two forums: specific market places (like the Chicago Futures Exchange) or by private arrangement, where a broker stitches up a deal between two parties (called Over The Counter (hence OTC)). It's like the difference between a house sold at auction and a house being sold by the estate agent working with two parties.
The evidence above shows that virtually all the growth is in OTC contracts. The broking is done by financial institutions. That's where banks are now making so much of their revenue, and it is the profitability of this activity (called financial services) that makes them want to run down retail branch banks in country towns and shopping centres - there's more money in derivatives broking.
These futures, options and swaps - what role do they play? Here the analysis can get a bit technical, but they are essentially where companies place side bets on their risks of doing business. It's a bit like a bookmaker laying-off big bets with other bookmakers (or the TAB), but with more complex choices.
First, a bit of background. When markets (and especially for finance) went global in the 1970s and especially 80s, companies found themselves exposed to new and greater risk. They might borrow in Australian dollars, but invest in Thailand. They might need revenue in Australian dollars, but have contracts signed in Yen. The value of a copper mining company on the stock market will go up and down as the price of copper goes up and down. Should a company borrow at variable interest rates, or at fixed rates? What currency should they hold assets in?
The answer to all of these concerns is that there is no correct answer for all time. When the bank asks you whether you want your home loan at a variable rate, or at a guaranteed rate, but a bit higher than the variable rate, you are being asked how much you want to gamble, and how much you are prepared to pay extra to aviod the risk of interest rates changing. When your superannuation company asks you 'do you want to be in a scheme with secure investments, but with a lower expected rate of return, or with riskier investments with a higher expected rate of return?' you are being asked how much you want to gamble. When you retire, and have to decide where to invest your superannuation funds, you have to gamble.
Financial advisors will usually advise you to hedge - to spread it around - to take some risk, but have some securely tied up. So it is with companies. They face high exposure to risk all the time, and derivatives markets are designed as a place to spread risk.
Take a futures contract for oil. An oil producer is fearful that prices will fall in the future. An airline company is fearful prices will rise in the future. They can hedge their risk by agreeing to trade oil at a certain price in 6 months time: they will sing a futures contract They will both accept to pay a bit more (or receive a bit less) to buy certainty.
An options contract will do something similar. Our airline may be willing to put down some money today on a contract that gives it the right to buy oil at a $50 a barrel in 3 or 6 months time. It will not have to buy the oil (for the price may have fallen) but the option gives it some security that if the price keeps climbing, it will still get its oil for $50 (plus the cost of buying the option). It is insurance.
An interest rate swap is slightly different. It is where two companies borrow in different currencies (or in different interest rate systems (short term/long term or variable/fixed interest rate)). Companies borrow where they get the best deal, and swap repayment obligations with other companies that get a better deal in other parts of the market. (Why the deals are different in different parts of the market is a complex calculation on the part of lenders). This may sound a technical nicety, but notice that this activity is the primary activity on derivatives markets. Tens of trillions of dollars of repayment obligations are swapped each year.
Dealing With Risk
The above description sounds a bit like a lesson in corporate accounting - how to keep companies financially stable and not exposed to unwanted risk. It sounds like the market is a nice balance - oil companies that want to sell and airlines that want to buy.
But notice a couple of points.
First, in these derivatives markets, participants can buy and sell without having to put down a significant amount of cash. Options in particular mean that you can invest money in future prices (of shares, oil, etc.) by putting down a tiny portion of the value of the item. I'll pay well under a dollar to but an option to buy (or sell) shares (at a certain price at a certain time) that may themselves trade for 30 dollars.
This means that there is huge scope for speculation, for dealers can be highly 'leveraged' - they have put down a small amount of money but have assets worth a lot of money riding on it. Derivatives markets certainly provide fertile ground for speculators who will buy and sell futures and options contracts hoping to make a quick buck.
So there is an irony: derivatives markets have grown to provide a means for companies to lay off risk, and the ideal version is that companies have complementary perspectives on risk (like the oil company and the airline). But there is also scope for the gambler pure and simple to enter the scene to speculate on oil prices by trading futures and options contracts.
Second, turnover on derivatives markets is many times larger that trade in the 'real' item. The barrel of oil may change hands once, but the futures or options contracts on that barrel may change hands many times. That fact then has implications for how the price of a barrel of oil is determined. Evidence suggests that the value of the 'real' item is now being driven by the derivatives market transactions, not the other way round: 'real' prices are being determined in speculative markets.
Hence, when the Reserve Bank of Australia wants to influence the value of the Australian dollar, it does so in currency swaps markets, not the 'cash' or 'spot' market. It says that turnover in the swaps market is greatest and, because of the leveraging, any expenditure has a greater impact on the value of the dollar.
More Than Speculation
Derivatives markets do have lots of speculation involved, and that makes them volatile and unstable. But we cannot dismiss them as just speculation or markets for 'hot money'. They are a place where companies attempt to reduce risk - by selling it off. And here is the real danger; much deeper than the image of the casino that is popularly applied to derivatives.
Buying and selling risk doesn't make risk disappear, it just means that those who want to avoid some can sell it to those who want more. But should those who buy risk go broke, it repercusses through the system. If the other party to your options, swaps or futures contract doesn't come to the party as they are contracted to - if they are in the hands of the receivers - then you too are in trouble. You've paid good money to buy the oil or the copper at a certain price next March, but there's no oil or copper there, because the risk taker went belly up.
Derivatives therefore increase the chance of big, system wide volatility, for they piece companies together like dominoes - if one falls, so do others, and then others, etc. We have seen crises when hedge funds (big traders in derivatives markets), like Long Term Capital Management, go broke and the repercussions go far and wide.
In that case, we saw the US Federal Reserve (the central bank) step in to set up a bail out. But one day, the crisis will be too big for even the Fed to resolve. That's what happens when derivatives markets make the financial interdependence of corporations around the world greater and greater: it works well when it works well, but when it doesn't . . . .
Modern Workplaces - Modern Stress |
Up to one in 10 people suffer from workplace stress, leading in some cases to unemployment or hospitalisation, the International Labour Office (ILO) says in it's study of Finland, Germany, Poland, Britain and the United States.
"In many countries, early retirement due to mental health difficulties is increasing to the point where they are becoming the most common reason for allocating disability pensions," it warns.
In the United States, an estimated $US30 billion ($AS56 billion) to $US40 billion ($AS75 billion) is spent on treatment of depression alone, and around 200 million days lost from work each year.
In the European Union, the report estimates that between 3 and 4 per cent of gross national product (GNP) is spent on mental health problems.
In Germany, nearly 7 per cent of cases of early retirement are linked to depressive disorders. Workers suffering such problems are also likely to be away from work about two and a half times longer than those suffering from other illnesses, it said.
German workers have seen changes in the last few decades "due mainly to rationalisation and the rapid introduction of technology along with rising unemployment," the report said.
In Britain, one in every 20 people of working age are likely to experience major depression, while in the United States, the rate is one in 10 and in Finland, more than half the workforce suffers some kind of stress-related symptoms.
In the United States and Britain, the threat of unemployment has been less in recent years, the report notes, but workers face pressure as a result of new technologies and rising productivity demands.
In Poland, political changes also brought a socio-economic transformation which had "serious ramifications for the labour market and for the mental well-being of people in the workplace".
The five countries were chosen by the ILO because they represent different approaches to the organisation of the workplace, welfare systems, legislations and health care.
The report also notes some progress, saying that in the United States, many employers now understand the relationship between health and productivity, improving their management strategies and introducing support programmes.
"Employers of all sizes are beginning to recognise that depressive disorders often constitute their highest mental health and disability cost'" it says.
In Germany, corporate health promotion is becoming a higher priority. Programmes including role playing and relaxation procedures to increase self-confidence have been in place for many years.
A joint study on the same subject by ILO and the World Health Organisation warns that predictions indicate the future will witness "a dramatic increase" in mental health problems.
"Workers worldwide confront as never before an array of new organisational structures and processes - downsizing, contingent employument and increased workload," the report says.
ACTU's Greg Combet |
Even though this week's CPI result surprised on the low side of market expectations, the prospect of 5% inflation as Australia goes to the next election is not far-fetched.
Thanks to Prime Minister Howard and Treasurer Costello, the CPI figures will deliver Australia its highest inflation rate for a decade.
Not since December 1990 has the headline over-the-year rate of inflation exceeded 6%.
It is in this context that the ACTU will announce its annual Living Wage Claim next week. Our priority will be to ensure that the lowest paid in our community are not left to unfairly carry the burden of increasing petrol prices, rising interest rates and an inflationary GST.
The claim will be for a fair increase in the minimum rates of pay to give low-paid workers a buffer against inflation. The GST income tax cuts were paltry for these people, failing even to compensate them for tax bracket creep since 1993.
Petrol price rises, the currency slide, and continuing strong economic growth fuelled in part by hefty tax cuts for high-income earners, has contributed to rising inflation.
But the GST is by far the dominant factor pushing prices up this quarter.
In the May Budget, Treasury forecast an inflation rate peaking at 6.75% in the September quarter, falling to 6% over the year to the December quarter. This requires a zero or negative CPI result next quarter.
The same Treasury forecasts have inflation falling to around 5% over the year to March and June 2001, implying successive quarterly price rises of around 0.5%. Over the year to the September 2001, Treasury forecast headline inflation rate of only 1.5%.
These forecasts will surely be exceeded.
In no other country has the price impact arising from introduction of a broad-based consumption tax washed out of the economic system within twelve months.
Whatever today's inflation spike, the real test for the Treasurer will play out over the coming twelve months.
In the Australian economy thousands of micro-level price adjustments are made each day. Strident hectoring from the ACCC will have caused most businesses to adjust their prices cautiously in this quarter, but this restraint is unlikely to last.
The pipeline effects of currency depreciation, oil prices and income tax cuts for the better off, will continue to flow through the economy. There will be plenty of economic noise to camouflage any further price adjustments, even if the regulator is still looking assiduously at corporate Australia's price setting practices.
The GST tail in the inflation profile over the coming year or two will most likely be much fatter than official forecasts suggest. High inflation may not be here to stay, but is likely to persist for a good deal longer than the Government has anticipated.
This has implications for monetary policy and for wages. It means the social security compensation arrangements provided under the Government's package will be inadequate.
Unions will also be looking to protect their members from GST-induced inflation and further interest rate hikes through the Living Wage Claim and collective bargaining.
No one realistically expects executive and managerial salaries to grow more slowly than prices. Nor is parliamentary and judicial remuneration likely to be restrained - the Remuneration Tribunal has linked those salaries to growth in average earnings.
In a fair society, low-paid workers alone should not be left to pay the price for Howard and Costello's new tax.
by The Chaser
Bush - A Washington Outsider? |
Greg Payne and Brian Ramsay approached George W. Bush and encouraged him to run for President on the basis that it would be "pretty f**king funny" if anyone actually believed he was serious.
Payne and Ramsay said they told George Bush -who they knew from College - to promote himself as a "Washington outsider" during the primary elections earlier in the year, even though his father was a former President. They were surprised when he agreed to do it, but even more amazed when voters responded positively.
Payne said that the initial joke worked so well that they decided to press ahead with an entire campaign based around saying the exact opposite of the truth. Very soon the whole thing had gotten out of control.
"That's when we told George Bush to highlight the 'character issue', we thought that would be too ironic even for Americans." Instead, the former coke-snorting playboy casanova has gone from strength to strength arguing that he can stem America's moral decline.
Indeed, Ramsay explains, the double irony is that Bush is winning the character issue against a man as boringly straight as Al Gore. Ramsay explains: "It's also been fun working out Bush's policy on drugs. As we all know, George speaks from a position of considerable knowledge of that subject." They break into laughter. "We've always wanted him to say 'I did not inhale' or something. I can't wait to see people's reaction."
One of the highlights for the two pranksters have included Bush's pledge to crack down on campaign contributions while at the same time being the first candidate to reject Federal funding due to record levels of corporate contributions.
"One of my favourites was telling George to project the image that he is his own man - not driven by polls and focus groups. At first he didn't like that suggestion, but the irony is he ended up running that line because he couldn't think of anything better to do himself."
"And you've got to admit that the entire idea that Republicans care about issues like social security, pensions and health care is very, very funny. After a while we got so cocky that we decided to rub the irony in the faces of the public. That's when we came up with the slogan 'Compassionate Conservative'."
Payne and Ramsay also revealed what led them to start off the joke. "We got the idea from the movie Trading Places. We thought it would be funny to put someone wildly inappropriate into a position of considerable responsibility and power and see how they reacted. It's amazing how life imitates art. George Bush truly is the Eddie Murphy of American politics."
Ramsay says that he's never done anything like this before, but Payne says he ran Reagan for President in 1980 after a bet with his room mate. "I won $10 for creating the Reagan years. That was hilarious." Payne also admits to losing a similar bet in 1988 when he ran Dukakis as a joke. "Although you have to admit - Dukakis really was a joke!"
The ultimate irony, however, is that Payne and Ramsay have convinced Bush that education should be the centrepiece of his campaign. In a campaign that relies on the complete stupidity, gullibility and lack of education of voters, it was risky, but it paid off. "After all - who better demonstrates America's desperate need for better education than Bush himself?"
by Peter Lewis
Peter Lewis |
At the dawn of a new century the powers of Europe - Germany, Britain, Italy, France and Holland - are all being ruled by Social Democratic legislatures. As the nation-states that have dominated Western thought and culture since history was recorded are finally finding mechanisms to end their ancient feuds that have brought so much misery and destruction, the leaders of these key states are wielding real influence in defining the new Europe. With the leverage provided by the expanding concept of a united Europe these governments are making real headway on environmental laws, labour laws, as well as the terms for engagement with global capital. And in doing so they are creating a counter-argument to the American model of global capitalism where the market has replaced the State as the sovereign power.
Where America wields global power through private investment backed by the threat of public force, the western European nations are creating a sphere of influence based on the new rules of engagement in a unified Europe. Through the economic integration of the Euro and the rules governing membership of the EU, they have the tools to set conditions for both member states and the dozens of aspirant states to the East. The power to issue directives on everything from social policy to labour laws to the environment has led to real progress. These directives are, for instance, being used to unveil tax havens within Europe and pressure countries of the East hoping to join the EU to revise their nuclear power policies.
At the same time individual states are pushing the edges of the political debate showing how enlightened policy need not be at odds with economic growth. European environmental standards on everything from recycling to greenhouse are world's best. The recent blockades over fuel prices are testament to the steps being taken to discourage private cars - petrol is two to three times more expensive than in Australia. Working hours are a mainstream political issue with governments in France and Holland taking positive steps And even debates about national identity are mainstream with high profile protests against American culture - in particular McDonalds - in France and Italy, winning the support of the government.
Interestingly, apart from Tony Blair in Britain, all these governments are alliances between a progressive centrist party and one or more parties of the broader Left such as the Greens in Germany, the Socialists in Italy and even the liberal Right in Holland. These are not two-party states - and the political landscape is far more diverse. In Germany you have a Green as foreign minister and a Chancellor who is currently sitting at number two on the pop charts with a song based on his refrain 'go get me a bottle of beer before I go on strike here." In France, it means a cultural warrior like Jose Bove eyeing the presidency - as soon as he gets out of jail for bulldozing the local McDonalds. In Italy, it means an Opposition leader like media magnate Silvio Berlesconi, is accepted by the union movement as a moderate force and decent employer. Whereas voters in two party states like the US decry the lack of choice between leaders, the need to build alliances to rule creates a mixing pot of real ideas, real issues, real personalities.
Another striking factor is the ongoing strength of the Liberal right - often linked to the church under the guise of the Christian Democrats. Where the wets are a museum piece in Australia, their policies of genuine liberalism live on. They act as a buffer against the more extreme right wing groups, who are marginalized. In Holland, for instance, the government of former union leader Hans Kok is a coalition of the Liberal right and social democrats - with Trade unions, again with the exception Britain, are far less likely to support one political bloc, preferring to seek influence and understandings with all groupings. And when you look at union agendas across the continent, its hard to mount the argument that there is more for organised labour to be gained in maintaining a position of political partisanship.
None of which is to glorify the new Europe - there are huge disparities across the continent in terms of wealth and opportunity. Many rural communites are now deserted - those that survive are propped up by tariffs, the shift from the south of Italy to the north has been profound; there is also rising intolerance of economic refugees from former colonies. As for the Euro, the decision by the Danes to reject economic union and Britain's continuing ambivalence to economic union shows not all are convinced on the course of action. This indecision has recently sent the Euro into freefall, raising doubts about the workabilityof the financial; system; but with the currency due to begin circulation in just over 12 months, most are now tied to the process. As they should; the majority of states recognise that the fortunes of their people are tied together; the days of colonial competitiveness are over. Neither does this detract from the parallel reality that European union is a self-preservation mechanism in the face of globalisation; but this necessary change is providing opportunities to recast society on many different levels.
Travelling around the continent these past few months, I've been struck by how much of European history has been dominated by violence in the name of one nation-state over another. Not to mention the colonies. All these countries seem to have at some stage been conqueror and conquered; all the way through to the 20th century and its horrors. You get an undertone that after WWII a collective decision has been made that enough is enough - no state is worth this sort of destruction. It seems that the majority have accepted that the time has (finally) come to work together. So is Europe progressive? Sure. But at this point in history, an outward looking, tolerant and hands on state, working with like-minded neighbours, seems the only logical option.
by Joe McLoughlin
|
Forget your Doncasters and your Melbourne Cups, exciting as they are, this is the real McCoy, the fair-dinkum decider of the best horseflesh in Australasia. Sure the weight-for-age scale has its critics but it remains the fairest test of merit racing has to offer.
And tomorrow's showdown is set to be a classic. Kiwi raider Sunline and Victorian favourite Sky Heights are entitled to dominate the market and, very likely, the race but the intriguing thing about this Cox Plate is the depth of performers around them.
All it will take is one stumble or a jockey to pull the wrong rein on one of the favourites and well-credentialled athletes like Tie The Knot, The Message, Testa Rossa, Shogun Lodge and Diatribe will come right into the reckoning.
Moonee Valley can be a graveyard for punters. Track form is more important than at most other venues but, just when you least expect it, even that can go out the window, so much so that some professionals simply bypass the venue in their search for a dollar.
But the great thing about the Valley is the ability of the track to absorb moisture. If this event was being held anywhere else, after the big wet that seems to have been rolling through Victoria for the last six months, it would be dead as a spectacle already.
Moonee Valley, though, will provide going good enough to preserve the essence of the contest.
Bearing that in mind, those with a punter's instinct, might still be considering a wager.
Most will look at Beat The Fade and Fubu but only fleetingly, perhaps pausing to wonder how on earth a couple of Toyota sedans managed to make it into a showroom packed with Ferraris.
Weight, just 48.5, and a proven liking for soft and dead tracks will have some reassessing Queenslander, Show A Heart, especially those with multiples in mind.
The odds, 50s and 33s, for Referral and Oliver Twist pretty much put them in their places. Skoozi Pleased in lead-up efforts but might find this a bit rich, although last weekend's Caulfield Cup was a timely reminder about the JA Cassidy factor.
Then it's on to the blue riband end of the field although you would be entitled to wonder whether the weight-for-age scale, track conditions and/or Moonee Valley, itself, are going to advantage Tie The Knot, Diatribe, Shogun Lodge or Testa Rossa.
On that sort of thinking, we're left with three runners - the two favourites and dark horse The Message, coming off back-to-back Group wins at Hastings, New Zealand. It's not bad form but still leaves a significant class question mark dangling over his head.
Two weeks ago, the Cox Plate looked a simple equation - if Fairway ran he could bother Sunline out of it front and, if not, the wonder-mare had her hoof in the till.
Fairway's out but Sky Heights has overcome a miserable Melbourne preparation to rediscover his best and the New Zealander has drawn the visitor's alley of 13 - not as damaging to her as some others, perhaps, but a consideration nonetheless.
You can turn this race upside down, shake it and examine its entrails but you will struggle to go past Sunline, just as plenty of Australia's best have over the past three seasons.
If somehow, she blew to better than 2s you would be entitled to make up some seriously exaggerated stories and run them by the bank manager but at 6/4, and sliding, the prudent might remember Dane Ripper and keep their hands in their pockets.
Enjoy the spectacle because only another deluge is going to prevent it being one of the year's great sporting events.
NB: If someone, a partner for example, forces you to spend the housekeeping on the Cox Plate you might extract some value by trying trifectas based on Sunline beating Sky Heights with The Message, Shogun Lodge, Skoozi Please, Diatribe and Show A Heart all tossed in to fill the minor placing - then again, you might not!
Neale Towart |
The Federal Court has found that a company that sacked a woman because could not work late due to childcare responsibilities has breached the Workplace Relations Act's discrimination provisions.
Justice Michael Moore found Downer Group Ltd contravened s170CK(2)(f) by terminating the woman's employment for reasons that included a proscribed reason - family responsibilities. The woman started with the group in October 1997 as personal assistant to its managing director, Stephen Gillies. Her letter of appointment, which she signed, stated her hours were 8.30-5.30pm, Monday to Friday, but added that: "It may be necessary for you to work outside these hours, while the Company will endeavour to keep such additional work to a minimum it is expected that you will make yourself available for such requirements." Justice Moore said he was satisfied that the managing director was made aware before the woman started that if she were required to work beyond 6pm on the two evenings her husband lectured at nights, she would have to be given notice so other arrangements could be made to care for her child. In April last year, while the woman was on annual leave, Gillies advertised for a new personal assistant and interviewed applicants. Both sides later agreed that by then they'd had at least one discussion about her performance, including her inability to work late. In June, the managing director offered the personal assistant's job to another person, with the woman still unaware it had been advertised. Three days later she told him that she was pregnant and proposed to take maternity leave from December 1999 until July 2000. That afternoon, she realised she was going to lose her personal assistant's job when she opened a thankyou note from an unsuccessful applicant for her position.
The Downer Group argued that it was an inherent requirement of the personal assistant position that the employee be available to work when required beyond 5.30pm without prior notice. But Justice Moore disagreed. While accepting that "whether a requirement is an inherent requirement is not simply answered by referring to the terms of the contract of employment", in this case the woman's contract implied that working beyond 5.30pm would be the exception rather than the rule and, as a corollary, "the work the position entailed could ordinarily be completed by that time". He continued that: "In the present case there was no body of evidence demonstrating any of the following; firstly that there had been work (significant either in its quantity or quality) that should have been done by the applicant after 5.30pm, secondly that it was not done by her on the day in question, thirdly that her failure to do it had a consequence of substance whether for Mr Gillies or the company more generally and fourthly notice could not have been given that the work was required. "While it is probable that the failure of the applicant to work beyond 5.30pm or even 6.00pm was, on occasions ( an perhaps may occasions), a source of irritation to Mr Gillies (to be inferred from his complaints about the matter) I do not consider that this fact can found a conclusion that the inherent requirement identified by Downer in these proceedings was, in truth, an inherent requirement of the position."
Laz v Downer Group Ltd [2000] FCA 1390 (11 October 2000) http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au/alert/00105.htm
Knowledge Nation: a Field of Dreams?
Stephen Long
The ALP and the Liberals talk a lot about education and lifelong learning as a key to solving unemployment. However, Canadian and Australian research indicates that most workers already have more skills and education than needed for their jobs.
Dr Livingstone of the University of Toronto shows that in the USA the number of people with more skills and education than their jobs required rose from 16% in 1972 to 60% in 1990. In Ontario, Canada the figure rose from 44% in 1990 to 60% in 1996. SO now we have underemployment of learning.
Mark Cully has reached similar conclusions for the Australian workforce. At the high skill end, some appear underqualified because they have learnt on the job over a number of years. Increasingly however, there is over-qualification in the middle and low skilled sectors. The taxi-drivers and fast-food workers with doctorates thesis.
Cully fears that the knowledge nation will simply rearrange the job queue, not shorten it.
http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au/
Attitudes Towards Trade Unions: Sources of support and opposition in Australia
Jonathan Kelley and M.D.R. Evans
The authors try to make a scale of an overall measure of attitudes towards unions. On their analysis factors affecting attitudes include:
Young people appear more sympathetic than older people, confirming findings of Labor Council's own polling, and indicating the importance for unions reaching young people.
In the private sector, those at the top and bottom of the income scale rated similarly in their attitudes to unions, whilst in the public sector, those towards the top of the public sector hierarchy were much more strongly in favour of unions than those in the lower echelons.
(Australian Social Monitor; vol. 3, no 2, October 2000)
Women's Participation in the Labour Force: ideals and behaviour
M.D.R. Evans
(Australian Social Monitor; vol. 3, no 2, October 2000)
Deconstructing Casual Work: what do statistics really tell us?
The Productivity Commission released a paper arguing that the ABS classification of casual work was seriously overstating the extent of casualisation. This article looks at what various researchers have been saying about measuring casualisation and how categories of non-standard work should be constructed.
Some have said that fears about precarious employment are overstated but not only ABS figures have indicated that work arrangements have altered drastically for many in Australia in recent years. The Productivity Commission argues that casual jobs that are long term (as many are) should not be considered precarious. However, that begs the question: if the majority of casual jobs are of long-term duration, why do employers hire people on a casual basis? Perhaps because this avoids the entanglements of "permanent employment" ie its easier to get rid of people when necessary.
Attitudinal surveys also indicate that the experience of casual work affects employees. They do feel as integrated as permanent employees and training and career paths are uncertain.
(IR Intelligence Report; issue 8, 2000)
AWAs as a Bargaining Tool?
Kristin van Barnveld and Betty Arsovska
With the Commonwealth bank threatening to offer AWAs to 22,000 employees following negotiations with the FSU, this article discusses recent federal Court cases relating to AWAs being used as a bargaining tool. The Burswood Resort case, Employment National case, Peerless Holdings case, G & K O'Connor case and the Burnie Ports case are examples of this trend.
The Peerless case is the example discussed in detail.
(IR Intelligence Report; issue 8, 2000)
OHS and the Labour-hire Industry
Ballanda Sack
The changing nature of the employment in recent years has seen the increasing use of labour-hire agencies in many industries. There has been an associated growth in the number of accidents and injuries to labour-hire workers. This article looks cases where the issues of who is an employee and who is responsible for OHS and training have been examined.
Labour-hire agencies seek to avoid liability by establishing that:
(Occupational Health and Safety Update; newsletter 9, 12 October 2000)
For some time conspiracy theories have been rife at Workers Online about Jonathon Shier. Does Jonathon Shier actually exist? Is Jonathon Shier a real person or is he a post-modernist simulacra, a cyberspace concoction, a faceless, voiceless, Tory hatchet automaton causing carnage by email and run by remote from Richard Alston's office.
Paranoia you say. But let's look at the facts. He's been in the job eight months but before yesterday he had only faced up to staff once in that time. (You could hire an actor for a half day for a couple of hundred bucks to play the role.) He's Australian but has conveniently been living overseas for seven years. Memories seem to be very hazy about the pre-European Jonathon. What you can say is that if he was involved in broadcasting he didn't leave much of a mark.
Shier's last gig was flogging advertising for obscure Nordic/Baltic cable TV companies. Now tell me if I'm wrong but I always thought salemen were gregarious, social, slap-your-back-and hail-jolly-fellow types. Blokes that could talk under water with a mouth full of weetbix. Everybody's best mate.
From all accounts this guy completely lacks social skills. ABC insiders tell the tale of Jonathon's recent birthday. Staff organized a cake and were all lined up to sing 'Happy Birthday Dear Jonathon' when they were informed gruffly by intercom that he was too busy and could they just send him in a slice!
At yesterday's staff meeting journos were asking him about 'his vision thing'. He was asked which would he put more value on: the common commercial tripe - breast implants as current affairs - or something in-depth about East Timor. His paternalistic English school master reply was to berate the questioner for not listening.
Errol Simper describes his performance in today's Australian as incoherent, embarrassing and without substance. Simper describes how he went from Peter Meakin (the director of News and Current Affairs at Channel 9) to Mongolia, eskimos, the Olympics to a falling dollar, all within a couple of sentences.
Till now Shier has been able to bluff his way through with the say nothing but appear wise modus operandi of a Chance Gardener. Now he's opened his mouth he looks more like the small tragic salesman of Arthur Miller's play -a man completely out of his depth.
Unfortunately the tragedy could be all ours.
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