Issue No 79 | 24 November 2000 | |
NewsWe Don't Want Your Blood Money!
Centrelink staff are horrified by revelations the agency will receive a $6 million funding boost if it 'breaches' enough unemployed people.
Peter Reith's Employment and Workplace Relations department revealed yesterday that secret contracts between the Government and Centrelink reward or penalise the welfare agency according to the number of clients breached for failing to meet mutual obligation commitments. The Community and Public Sector Union's Mark Gepp said "It is nothing more than blood money for preying on the misfortune of people who are out of work. We don't want any part of it." Mr Gepp said Centrelink workers have become increasingly frustrated by Government's attempts to claw back welfare payments. "Our members work in Centrelink because they are committed to helping people. To fund Centrelink on the basis of cutting people off payments is a perversion of what welfare is about. Centrelink workers believe Government's approach is preventing them properly considering the unique circumstances of each person's case." The union also warned that if Government outsourced or privatised Centrelink clients would receive less support. "Imagine what would go on if Centrelink services were sold to unregulated private sector providers. Details about how and why people are breached would be lost behind 'commercial-in-confidence' contracts. God help the elderly, the disabled and the jobless in those circumstances" Mr Gepp said.
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Interview: Back on Track After blowing the whistle on rail privatization, NSW Transport Minister Carl Scully is rebuilding bridges with the trade union movement. Unions: The Problem with Organising It may be the new mantra, but Brisbane Institute director Peter Botsman argues that organising may be the wrong to go for a movement attempting to attract a new breed of workers. International: Burma: Workers Act on ILO Ruling Energy workers' trade unions across the Asia-Pacific have urged Western oil and gas companies to "cease investment in Burma while the use of forced labour continues". Economics: Rethinking Incomes Policy While many have thrown incomes policy out with the Acoord bathwater, Graham White argues it still has a role to play. History: What Goes Around Comes Around Labor Council's Mark Lennon argues that while trade unions - and labour history - might be unfashionable, there's life left in both of them. Education: Peas in a Pod Both sides of politics must take blame for funding levels in our public schools, argues NSW Teachers Federation president Sue Simpson. Satire: Hurley Rebukes Actors' Guild: I'm No Actor! Liz Hurley has responded angrily to claims by actors that she crossed a picket line by filming an Estee Lauder ad. Review: It's Only a Job In a stunning new book, author Phil Thornton and photographer Paul Jones have combined to portray working life in all its diversity through the eyes of ordinary people like process worker Sharonak Shannon
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