
Issue No 97		25 May 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Trades Hall

Neale Towart's Labour Review

The man whose personal budget address this week detailed spending on a new pair of flares, some Selson blue and a weekly packet of Twisties is back to unveil the craziest developments in the whacky world of IR.


	The Man with the Answers

Bridging the Digital Divide

The global employment picture remains "deeply flawed" for workers in many parts of the world, according to the ILO World Employment Report 2001. Increasing numbers of workers are unable to find jobs or gain access to the emerging technological resources needed to ensure productivity in an increasingly digitalized global economy. Women are on the wrong side on the digital divide.

Key features of the report:

� as much as one-third of the world's workforce of 3 billion are unemployed or underemployed, 20 million more than before the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

� The global economy will at least have to maintain its current pace of expansion in order to generate the 500 million new jobs needed during the next decade just to accommodate new entrants to the labour market.

� In the OECD countries unemployment has declined sharply since the mid-1990s and long term unemployment has dipped in recent years.

� Information and communications technology provides enabling potential for women's lives. However the digital gender gap is apparent within countries, as women often find themselves occupying lower-level ICT jobs while men rise to higher paying, more responsible positions

(World of Work; no. 38, January February 2001)

The High Road to Teleworking

Mobile working, home-based working and the use of satellite offices and temporary touchdown bases are becoming more common. The ILO has done a report on the trend, and is trying to promote a human friendly way of developing this trend, rather than having people forced to conform with technological demands. Some countires have taken big steps to help workers. Ireland for example, has produced a Code of Practice and a model teleworking agreement.

(World of Work; no. 38, January-February 2001)

Qld "Contractors" are Employees

The QLD IR Act has a section (s275) giving the Industrial relations Commission the power to declare a class of persons who work under a contract for services to be employees. In its first decision under this section, it has declared that a group of "subcontractors" providing security services were more appropriately classified as employees. Some workers were subcontractors, while others doing similar tasks were covered by a certified agreement. The hourly rate for the subcontractors was below the base rate under the certified agreement. The employees got other benefits too, such as annual and sick leave that the subcontractors were not entitled to.

In its ruling the commission took into account the dependency and lack of bargaining power of the subcontractors. It also said that the subcontractor agreement was designed to avoid obligations of award agreement coverage.

ALHMWU, Qld Branch &Ors v Bark Australia Pty Ltd; QIRC Full Bench, no B1064 of 2000, 28/2/01

(CCH Recruitment and Termination Update, newsletter 28, 14 May 2001)

Informal Economy: Trade Unions Need to Recapture Lost Territory by Cecilia Locmant

Young people, the informal economy, gender equality are being addressed as part of a far reaching debate being undertaken by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The international trade union movement aims to rethink its role to enable a better response to the economic globalisation process and also exert a greater influence over the international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank the WTO and multinational corporations. Informal workers are in many jobs but one overriding problem faces them all - precarious employment.

(Trade Union World; no. 5, May 2001)

Dramatic increase in inequality' by John Buchanan

Enterprise bargaining has had a devastating effect on the metals sector, traditionally regarded as the pacesetter industry when it comes to Australian wages and conditions, leading to a dramatic increase in inequality, according to one of Australia's leading industrial researchers.

John Buchanan, deputy director of the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, told a conference evaluating 10 years of enterprise he chose the metal industry as a case study as it was Australia's leading sector and 'if enterprise bargaining doesn't succeed here, it will have implications generally'.

What he found was a story of 'paradise lost', saying it was 'spine-chilling and depressing' to realise that the problems of the late 1990s were identified as early as 1982 and 1983. Far from promoting integrated career paths supported by training, wages policy contributed to growing labour market fragmentation within the metals sector, he said.

(http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au)

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Issue 97 contents

Interview: The Big Bribe
ACTU president Sharan Burrow emerges from the Federal Budget lock-up to ask where is the Howard Government�s vision for the future?

Compo: Where To Now?
As the dust settles in the WorkCover war, we look at what's been achieved and what still needs to be resolved.

Unions: The Real Big Brother
Have you ever got the feeling someone is watching you? If you work in one of the 4000 Call Centres in Australia then you�re probably right.

International: The Not-So Shakey Isles
NZ Council of Trade Union secretary Paul Goulter looks at life for the workers under a Labour Government.

Corporate: BHP: The Bit Australian
The BHP Billiton merger was an act of corporate tyranny. And, as Zoe Reynolds report, humanity does not figure on a corporate balance sheet.

History: A Proud Tradition of Mediocrity
Budgets always generate hype and a media circus, especially in the lead up to elections. This one is no exception and the Coalition consistency in panic and lack of ideas is reassuring in its lack of ideas.

Review: Ideologically Sound
Mark Hebblewhite trawls through the CD rack to dispel the notion that there's no politics left in pop.

Satire: HIH Recovers Own Losses
The collapsed insurance company HIH has lodged a claim with another insurer to be reimbursed for its $4 billion loss.

» Spotlight on HIH�s WorkCover Link

» Construction Industry Faces Safety Crisis

» Statewide Strike Off But Della on Notice

» David and Goliath Battle at IBM

» Natasha�s Democrats Face Senate IR Test

» Howard Abandons Working Families

» City Councils Recognise Birth � Now for the Bush

» BHP Forced to Back Off Kembla AWAs

» Impulse Bores Workers Into Submission

» Coach Drivers Win Permanency

» Boss Pockets Compo Payment

» Union Wins Battle in AWA War

» Publicans Want to Reduce Bar Pay

» Abbott Agrees to Ban Asbestos

» Union Acts to Save Leichhardt Refuge

» Trade Union Choir Turns Ten

» Activists' Notebook

» The Soapbox

» The Locker Room

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Thanks from Indonesia

» Hester Spot On

» Fuelling Voter Anger

» May Day - The Debate Continues

» Not a Chaser Fan

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