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| Issue No 96 |  |
18 May 2001 |
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NewsAngry Musos Aim Riffs at Della
Angry musicians are planning to unleash a shock industrial tactic against the Department of Industrial Relations - by vowing to play covers of former Top 40 hits until it moves to protect them from unscrupulous agents. Musicians Union of Australia stat e secretary Shirley Smith says her members have been waiting nearly three years for government action to stop the exploitation of booking agents. Cover bands playing the club circuit are among those worst effected by the lack of proper regulations and policing of the industry. They are planning direct action with a lunch-time concert in Hyde Park - directly across from the DIR's Oxford Street offices - on Monday June 4 - where they will play cover songs to raise awareness about their plight.. The DIR commenced a review of the Entertainment Industry Act in March 2000 that was due for release for public comment last October. But Smith says she's been told my departmental officers the review is still not completed and is not a priority of the Industrial relations Minister John Della Bosca. She says this leaves her members exposed to gross exploitation from agents, including forcing them play un paid 'trial gigs' and pocketing more than 50 per cent of the takings. "Musicians are under pressure from agents to form a company r partnership structure to avoid adopting the responsibility of superannuation, tax, public liability insurance, long service leave, carers', leave and annual holidays," Smith says. "The main complaints are under-award wages, unpaid wages, with-holding of money (sometime for up to six months), double dipping and work on a trial basis for no pay," she says. Smith fears that far from strengthening protections, the Carr Government has an agenda of deregulating agents altogether.
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   Interview: The EnablerOn the eve of the release of his latest book, Beazley�s brain on the back-bench, Mark Latham, talks about putting the social back into socialism. Unions: Flogged To DeathOne third of Australian workers now work in conditions that would be deemed illegal in Europe. While in our workplaces so much is being done by so few with so little the Howard Government leans on its shovel reports Noel Hester. Corporate: Nike's Six Broken PromisesA new international report on the labour practices at Nike have placed their stated commitment to ethical employment under the microscope. International: Jagath at the Solidarity CafeWhen the brave workers at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta marched on May Day, a Sydney unionist was by their side. Education: The Battle for Free ThoughtThe recent sacking of Dr Ted Steele at the University of Wollongong has focused attention on the need for vigilant defence of employment rights and academic freedom. History: Federation and LabourThe labour movement�s role in the 1897 Federal Convention and the subsequent referenda process has been largely forgotten. Satire: Addict Stops Using Smack After Talk With ParentsA 21-year-old heroin addict has agreed to give up his habit after his parents told him that using drugs was wrong. Review: Rouge or Red?Mark Hebblewhite argues that the new Baz Luhrmann blockbuster isn't without its class analysis.
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