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  Issue No 89 Official Organ of LaborNet 23 March 2001  

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News

Abbott and ‘Drinking Buddy’ Under Microscope


Grenadier Coatings workers want to know what advice federal workplace relations minister Tony Abbott gave to an Administrator dealing with a liquidation which has been referred to the NSW police.

 
 

Abbott made an unannounced visit to the Grenadier picket line at Matraville last week where 41 workers are demanding they be repaid in full the $650,000 in unpaid entitlements they are owed.

On the way in to meet with Giles Woodgate from Woogate and Co, Abbott urged the workers to abandon their picket and return to work - where they have been offered four days' pay if they work for seven days.

They were later told that Abbott was "an old drinking buddy" of the Administrator. Woodgate this week told workers they would need "to take a haircut' and accept much less than the one hundred cents in the dollar they are owed.

Unions want the Administrator to take a similar haircut on his own fee. He's told union officials that after the sale of the remaining stock and assets, only $80,000 will go to the workers with the balance absorbed by other creditors and his own fees - subject to the workers going back to work.

The TCFUA says it seems there's currently only two ways of ensuring workers entitlements are protected: a national comprehensive scheme as proposed by the ALP or having Stan Howard sit on the board of every Australian company.

Pay Allegations Referred To Police

Meanwhile, claims that an employer failed to make child support and private to superannuation deductions before his company went into liquidation have been referred to the NSW Police.

The allegations were referred by NSW Premier Bob Carr to Attorney General Bob Debus earlier this week after he visited the picket last week..

Carr was told that workers had discovered they had not only lost their legal entitlements, they had been robbed of private superannuation payements and, in one case, child support payments that had been garnisheed from his wages.

NSW Labor Council assistant secretary John Robertson says he had been informed that the allegations had now been referred to police to investigate whether there had been breaches of criminal law.

The Attorney General had also written to Federal Financial Services Minister Joe Hockey asking him to refer allegations of insolvent trading to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).

Robertson says it's important that these allegations were fully investigated. "If true, the directors and management of this company should face the full force of the law," he said.

Cricket on the Picket - The Ultimate Test

The Grenadier workers are maintaining their spirits on the picket line and digging in for a long fight.

They have begun conducting regular cricket games, with Maritime Union of Australia members from nearby Port Botany providing spirited Opposition.

The picket cricket went international this week when the eight Indian temple workers, also on strike from their $45 per month job, turned up to challenge.

While the Indians claimed they couldn't play, at least one had more than a passing resemblance to the bowling action of the great Kapil Dev.

The teams were mixed up and after one hour's play the match was declared a "negotiated draw", with TCFUA state secretary Barry Tubner stranded at the non-striker's end..

The match ended with a barbeque as the Grenadier workers and the Indian temple workers bridging the language barrier to share their stories.


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 89 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Paddy Takes the Helm
Irish, internationalist, republican, socialist & seafarer - Paddy Crumlin intends taking the old traditions of the labour left into the 21st century, the community and cyberspace.
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*  Unions: Breaking the Mould
Mark Hearn looks at how women union delegates are helping to change the culture in the traditionally male bastion of glassworking.
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*  Legal: Washing Their Hands
Mark Morey outlines how Liberal neglect of the working visa system has led to exploitation of guest workers.
*
*  International: Violence Betrays Shangri-La
Shangri-La hotel union members carrying a coffin marked Robert Kuok have been assaulted and beaten by police in Jakarta.
*
*  Economics: Corporations: Different Than You and Me
Corporations are fundamentally different than you and me. That's a simple truth that Big Business leaders desperately hope the public will not perceive.
*
*  History: The Steel Octopus
Be prepared for a flood of Nostalgia from the media about the “Big Australian”, as it prepares to flee our shores and finally internationalise its digging operations. Workers won’t forget BHP’s less than worker friendly past and present (and no doubt it’s future).
*
*  Review: Mean Nation
John Allen charts the fall and fall of philanthropy in Australian society.
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*  Satire: Ryan 'A Big Wake-Up Call For Me': Beazley
The narrow victory to Labor in the Ryan by-election has delivered a big slap in the face to Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley.
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News
»  Abbott and ‘Drinking Buddy’ Under Microscope
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»  Working Visas: Ruddock Sells Dump to Abbott
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»  Tourist Guides Bussed In
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»  Fair Wear Holds Breath as Carr Celebrates
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»  Labor to Restore Public Sector’s Dignity
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»  Its Time for Carr to Act on Safey on Building Sites
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»  Bread Maker Slices Workforce
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»  Workers Show Grace Under Pressure
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»  Engineers Win BHP Redundancy Case
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»  Transport Drug Pushers Not Charged
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»  Training Body Needs $150 Million to Cope with Growth
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»  HIH Urged To Safeguard Employee Entitlements
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»  Carr Proposal For Public Schools Flawed
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»  Human Smirk Returns to Spiritual Home
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»  McGauchie Appointment Draws MUA Fire
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»  Bove Loses McDonald's Raid Appeal
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»  James Hardie Called to Account
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»  Australasian Union Organising Conference
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»  Activist Notebook
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Columns
»  The Soapbox
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»  The Locker Room
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  AXA Has Form
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»  Leichhardt Debate Hots Up
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