
Issue No 80		01 December 2000

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Reith Isolated on Workers Entitlements

The Howard Government today failed to win the support of a single state for its scheme to protect worker entitlements, with even Coalition states saying it is inadequate.

Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith hit the brick wall at a meeting of federal and state IR Ministers in Melbourne today.

Instead, the Ministers from the Labor States - NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania, plan to release a discussion paper on the issue next week.

It will flesh out proposals raised in a Five-Point Plan devised this week by NSW Industrial Relations Minsister John Della Bosca.

The five points are:

- Establishing a national entitlements scheme based on contributions by employers, not taxpayers. The schemen would also allow the recovery of entitlements owed to an employee. The scheme would need agreement from and application in all States and Territories.

- Urging the Federal Government to reform Corporations Law to (a) make directors personally liable for unpaid employee entitlements; (b) make employee entitlements rank first in the order of priority following any liquidation or administration fees (c) deem redundancy payments to be a debt for the purposes of insolvency; (d) treat related companies a s a single entity for the protection of employee entitlements.

- Calling on the Federal Government to reform the Wokrplace relations Act to prevent corporate restructuring designed to deny employees their entitlements.

- - Working with the federal Government and the other States to draft complimentary legislation requiring notification of staff prior to nay transfer of employees or major assets from a company.

- Developing a framework with the Federal government and the other States to require companies to set aside funds in an industry trust fund or pay entitleme3nts as their accrue.

Labor Council secretary Michael Costa backed the plan's broad direction and called on federal minister Peter Reith to work with the state's to deliver real protection for workers entitlements.

Reith's Tries Again on Dismissals

Meanwhile, the reintroduction of Peter Reith's Unfair Dismissal laws amounts to little more than a sham, according to the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Arch Bevis.

"The laws have already been rejected by both Houses of Parliament, so their reintroduction can only mean that the Government is desperately looking for a Double Dissolution trigger.

"We should not forget the Minister has already once tried sneaking them past the Parliament, when he enshrined his laws in Regulations and lodged them just before Christmas 1998, Mr Bevis said.

"Minister Reith has not come up with any new justification for the proposed laws, preferring instead to trot out his already discredited claims.

"As was clearly demonstrated by last year's Senate Inquiry into these laws, the Government has relied on bogus surveys and even dodgier guesses from business friends claiming their proposed unfair dismissal laws would create jobs.

"It's about time Minister Reith came up with some real policy options to help Australian workers - not rehashing laws to strip rights away," Bevis says.

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Issue 80 contents

Interview: Chewing the Fat with Della
In a rare extended interview, NSW 's new industrial relations minister State John Della Bosca outlines his vision for the new workplace.

Unions: Organising - There Is No Choice
LHMU national secretary Jeff Lawrence responds to Brisbane Institutue director Peter Botsman's attack on organising.

Corporate: The Riddles of Democracy at Telstra
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne explains how the big guys ran roughshod when he and trade union activists attempted to stand for the Telstra board.

Education: Training for Change
Labor Council's Michael Gadiel outlines a traiing agenda for the 21st century.

History: A Stack of Hypocrits
Ballot rigging, sanctioned by the courts, sponsored by the government were a Liberal Party and Bob Menzies speciality - and they introduced legislation to legalise it.

International: African Unions Go To War Against AIDS
The war on AIDS is now the number one priority of the ICFTU's African Regional Organization (AFRO), which has launched an ambitious five-year action plan in nine of the most severely afflicted African nations.

Satire: Teenage Hackers Behind Shock Cabinet Reshuffle
Seasoned front-benchers and political greenhorns alike were joined in stunned surprise today, as a sudden Cabinet reshuffle radically altered the shape of the Federal Government.

Review: Manufacturing Dissent
A new production explores Australian's approach to refugees and their experiences coming to a strange land.

» It's Official: Union Leaders More Trusted than Bosses!

» Reith Isolated on Workers Entitlements

» Light for Shafted Woodlawn Miners

» ATO Workers Stand Up to Bullying Bean-Counter

» Schweppes Lockout Bubbles Internationally

» Online Registration Takes Hold

» Bush Apprentices Face Breadline

» ALP Council Faces Workers' Wrath

» Local Action to Back Burma Sanctions

» WorkCover Needs First Aid Help

» Shier Under Fire � At Your ABC

» Social Charter Puts Heat on Howard

» Wattyl Make 'Em Fair Dinkum?

» International Union Aid Jobs on Offer

» The Soapbox

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Botsman Off Beam

» Botsman Off Beam II

» Fatherly Advice

» Concerns on Fundraiser

» Let's Be Frank about Frank!

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