
Issue No 97		25 May 2001

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News

BHP Forced to Back Off Kembla AWAs

A push to introduce individual contracts into BHP's Port Kembla steelworks has been rebuffed after a week of all-out industrial warfare.

Four thousand steelworkers spent three days on strike this week over the company's offer of emergency services staff employed through SERCO.

While management figured the general workforce would stand by while members off staff were forced onto AWAs, the entire workforce took swift action, setting up 24-hour pickets on seven separate entrances to the plant/

By the week's end, the workers had secured a recommendation from the NSW Industrial Relations Commission that the AWAs be placed on hold while BHP and SERCO revisit their strategy.

Australian Workers Union official Andrew Whilley says the outcome is a win for the workforce and a message to management that they would not be able to bring in individual contracts by stealth.

"There was a clear strategy to establish an AWA beach-head inside the plant," Whilley says. "It's not the end of the road, but the swift action by workers has one this battle anyway."

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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 Governmentï¿½s 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 youï¿½re 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 HIHï¿½s WorkCover Link

» Construction Industry Faces Safety Crisis

» Statewide Strike Off But Della on Notice

» David and Goliath Battle at IBM

» Natashaï¿½s Democrats Face Senate IR Test

» Howard Abandons Working Families

» City Councils Recognise Birth ï¿½ 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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