Unions NSW is holding a combined YR@W Groups Meeting:
Date: Wednesday 21st May at
Time: 6:30pm
Where: Unions NSW,
Trades Hall Auditorium
377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney.
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss:
The Maritime Union of Australia is calling on the Rudd Government to use part of the Building Australia Fund to support the revitalisation of Australian shipping.
The call is part of a five step plan to halt the decline of Australian shipping following a decade of neglect by the Howard Government which saw the fleet shrink by a staggering one third. MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin presented evidence to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Coastal Shipping Policy and Regulation in Canberra today and call on the Rudd Government to:
The AMWU joined with other unions in the construction industry last week to discuss a national campaign for the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) – a body set up by the Howard Government to restrict the ability of unions to do their job in the building industry.
The Rudd Government has pledged to scrap the ABCC by 2010, but unions are calling for it to be scrapped immediately.
The unions met after several workers were interrogated about what was said and took place at union meetings. An official of the CFMEU in Victoria is facing jail after defying an ABCC order to attend a meeting and answer questions relating to union activity.
AMWU Assistant National Secretary Glenn Thompson said that there was no reason for the Rudd Government to hang onto the ABCC since they had promised to scrap WorkChoices.
“The ABCC and the special laws for the building industry are part of Howard’s IR laws and they should not remain in place.
“The government should not be keeping laws that single out workers in the construction industry for restricted activity and harsh penalties. Construction workers are like workers in any other industry – there should be no discrimination.”
The AMWU has long been a critic of the ABCC and the special powers of the organisation.
“It’s totally unacceptable to us that any organisation has the ability to summon people to compulsory ‘interrogations’ with the threat of fines or jail and to make it illegal to discuss what was said there,” said Thompson.
“The laws have made construction workers nervous about raising health and safety matters or taking action to protect themselves.”
A number of workers around Australia have been questioned and fined by the ABCC for taking action on safety, for attempting to secure a placement for an apprentice and in one well known case, 107 workers in West Australia were threatened with $28,000 fines for taking industrial action in response to the sacking of their delegate.
Representatives from the International Labour Organisation have also intervened in this matter, calling on Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard to get rid of laws that contravene international workers’ rights.
more
Paid Maternity Leave Campaign at Penrith on Monday 19 May.
The launch will be held:
Time: 10:00am
Date: Monday 19th May 2008
Venue: South Penrith Neighbourhood Centre
Trent Street, South Penrith (behind Southland shops)
Parking is available.
Please contact Robyn Griffith if you have any further queries regarding the launch on 9881 5999.
Despite a humiliating defeat of his electricity privatisation proposal at ALP State conference last weekend, NSW Premier Morris Iemma insisted that the sell off would go ahead.
AMWU NSW Secretary Paul Bastian said despite the fact that 702 delegates voted against privatisation, the Premier was dogged in his determination to push on with the sale – the conditions of which do not address any of the issues of concern for workers in the industry. Only 102 delegates voted in favour of the sell-off.
Our State Government has a chance to save our nurses
Our nurses are at breaking point. Exhausting workloads, long hours, and unfair pay. Soon, our State Government will have a chance to save these nurses, and that means saving our hospitals. If our nurses get the fair pay and fair conditions they deserve, they will stay. If they are ignored, thousands could leave.
How can I do moreThe 13 May Budget will be the toughest in a decade. But what does it mean for public sector workers, asks CPSU National Secretary, Stephen Jones.
The 13 May Budget will be the toughest in a decade and is seen by many as the first real test of the Rudd Government's economic credentials.
With inflation and interest rates on the move and continuing global instability, there is growing pressure from commentators and business groups for large scale cuts to government spending and public services.
At the same time we are looking to the Rudd Government to use its first Budget to deliver the compassion and decency the Australian community voted for at the election.
We know the Government's 'razor gang' will be imposing a one-off 2% extra efficiency dividend on top of the 1.25% dividend already in place. These cuts were announced pre-election and are already locked in.
But this has not stopped us taking up the case for a new approach to PS finance.
In our view, blunt arbitrary measures such as the 2% extra dividend do nothing to improve public sector productivity and damage the capacity of public service agencies to deliver services effectively.
Arbitrary cuts inevitably lead to 'false economies' which cost taxpayers more in the long run.
Put simply, if you cut staff in Centrelink or Medicare offices you will effect the quality and timeliness of the service clients receive.
Is it really a saving to reduce the quantity, quality and scope of ABS surveys that are used by businesses and Governments to plan future developments? A reduction in ATO staffing undermines efforts to minimize tax avoidance and maximize revenue collection.
Our ability to respond to the challenges of climate change will not be enhanced by cutting programs in CSIRO or the Bureau of Meteorology.
At a time when the public service is struggling to attract and retain experienced and talented employees, short term measures won't help.
more
ABC Unleashed
Bob Ellis 05/05/2008
An employee of the Kuwait Oil Company looks at a Gathering Centre at the al-Rawdatain field, 100 kms north of Kuwait City, January 25, 2005.
Oil now costs $112 a barrel, up from $30 a barrel five years ago and this has caused inflation. The ARB has responded to this inflation in this past year by putting up the cost of living by $80 a week on average, thus causing more inflation. People are responding to this Reserve Bank-driven inflation by becoming 'stressed', becoming drunk, beating their wives and committing suicide. Noting this harmful effect, Glenn Stephens has signalled he won't put up interest rates any more.
Why did he put them up in the first place? Why did he and his Board do such harm to the economy, to shoe shops, toy shops, bookshops, bars, motels and cineplexes when they must have known ordinary working Australians don't put oil prices up, Americans Presidents and their Middle East wars do. They must have suspected what they should have been doing - the Bank of England and the Fed are doing it - is bringing interest rates down. But they've been putting them up instead and so increasing the cost of living and much adjacent suburban misery in order, they think, to 'fight inflation' - by raising the cost of things.
Why do banks and economists so often get it wrong when ordinary people queuing for petrol can see what the trouble is - the war, the greed of Big Oil, the shareholders, the CEOs, the banks, the craze for privatisation, the mania for water views - and usually get it right? Why are people better economists than economists? Why is it clear to them that putting the cost of living up causes inflation, but not clear to Glenn Stephens?
more
Enraged by the dramatic lose of support of the ALP conference NSW Treasurer Micheal Costa stormed across the room - his face flushed, his hands clenched - towards John Robertson, the secretary of Unions NSW. "You blokes can get f---ed," he screamed. "You're going to look like dickheads on Monday morning."
If any other delegate had behaved in such a manner no doubt they would have been ejected from the conference ... special license for upset ministers?
What Costa's behavior clearly shows is how much his ego is tied up with the proposed sell-off of NSW electricity. Having lost support of the unions, the NSW electorate (80% oppose the plan) the majority of ALP branches and now the ALP conference (85% oppose the plan), it appears that Costa now imagines that the belated support of newspaper editorials writers and various business leaders (who would be the main beneficiaries of the privatisation) will somehow help the plan get through.
Is Costa's behaviour a signal that he knows the plan is done for? Or did he swallow one too many hamburgers?
Dockside: Sydney's working harbour, 1840-1875
When: 5 May 2008 – 10 August 2008
Where: State Library of NSW - Picture Gallery
This exhibition will celebrate Sydney's once central, but now declining, role as a commercial harbour. A selection of watercolours, oils and photographs will reveal the animated fabric of Sydney's waterside. Drawn from the Library's collections, works by renowned artists such as Conrad Martens and Frederick Garling will be displayed.
Image: Patent slip belonging to the Australasian Steam Navigation Co., c. 1855, watercolour, Frederick Garling
Delegates at the New South Wales Labor Party Conference in Sydney have overwhelmingly rejected a State Government proposal to privatise the electricity sector.
Premier Morris Iemma wants to sell electricity retailers and lease power generators, but an amendment to Labor Party policy moved at the conference which rejected privatisation was supported.
The final vote was 702 against electricity privatisation and 107 for it. The vote came after a lengthy debate where speakers, including union officials and Government ministers, outlined their positions on the proposed power sector reforms.
The reception was hostile for all pro-privatisation speakers, but the most raucous response was reserved for Treasurer Michael Costa, who passionately argued the Government's case.
"This policy is sensible, we shouldn't allow a bunch of egos and a bunch of people that are looking at their future careers to de-rail a Premier that won the unwinnable election," he said.
Mr Costa has indicted the Government will push ahead with the plan, in spite of the conference decision.
Mr Iemma earlier told the conference that private sector involvement was necessary because the Government on its own could either fund electricity or services - not both.
It is an argument Unions New South Wales spokesman John Robertson rejected.
"We shouldn't have to make a choice. This Government should fund both," he said.
Former premier Barrie Unsworth urged conference to support the plans.
A spokesman for Mr Iemma says he will weigh up the views of 700 delegates against the future needs of seven million people.
A new report into welfare to work is calling on the Federal Government to make urgent changes to the policy in the May Budget.
The report was funded by the New South Wales Department for Women and looks at 70 single parent mothers and how they coped with the introduction of the policy in 2006 and 2007.
It found women were being forced to leave their careers and move into low-paid, unskilled work to meet the policy's requirement of working 15 hours a week, or having welfare payments cut off.
One of the report's author's, Eva Cox, says the Federal Government needs to make core changes to the system.
"I think what we should be looking at is not a 'one size fits all', not a rigidity - about 15 hours - but looking at people who can earn a reasonable amount of money in the time they're working, regardless of whether that's 10 hours or 15, or even eight in some cases," she said.
MUA news
ITF affiliates MUA and RTBU in solidarity with South African dockers and truck workers ban on arms to Zimbabwe as reports of voilence and repression under the Mugabe regime increase
Bans by South African dock workers in Durban have forced the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang to sail from the South African port of Durban without unloading.
The bans which have the support of the International Transport Workers' Federation have now spread to other African nations. The ship is reported to have bypassed Maputu were local unions were also mobilising against the weapons transfer.
Global union federation the ITF reports that the ship has switched off its transponder (which broadcasts its exact location), but is believed to be heading for Luanda, Angola next, and may be running low on fuel.
As well as mobilising workers in the region the ITF is calling on Cosco, the Chinese Government, the officially approved All China Federation of Trade Unions, and the Chinese Seamen's and Construction Workers' union to think of the safety of the ship's crew and return to its home port.
SATAWU,last week declared its port members would not unload the weapons from the ship. It also declared that none of its members in the trucking sector would move the cargo to Harare by road.
SATAWU, a member of the COSATU trade union national centre says a peaceful solution must be sought to the political instability in Zimbabwe.
Both ITF Australia affiliates Paddy Crumlin, MUA and Greg Harvey, RTBU have written letters of solidarity to SATAWU in support of the SA workers' stand.
The State Government's attempt to privatise NSW electricity is creating sparks with a Labor Party branch pushing to have Premier Morris Iemma and Treasurer Michael Costa kicked out of the party.
The Alexandria branch laid internal party charges against the Premier and Treasurer with the party's head office, alleging the two were breaching party rules over the planned sell-off.
These charges will not be dealt with until at least a month after the state Labor Party conference because the next meeting of the Administrative Committee is not until June. ALP members believe the Premier and the Treasurer are breaching party rules by committing to the privatisation without the agreement of the state conference.
The AMWU is pushing for safeguards for workers so that they are not disadvantaged by flexibility clauses in employment agreements.
AMWU National President Julius Roe said that flexibility clauses should not be allowed to ride roughshod over Award conditions.
“We don’t want a situation where workers are worse off than what they would be under an AWA. And if you had a flexibility clause that says you can agree to change anything in the award, that would be worse than an AWA.”
Mr Roe said there are some things that employers should not be able to change by individual agreement.
“Working hours and overtime are issues that shouldn’t be up for grabs. It’s easy to imagine a situation where a boss could find a vulnerable worker who will agree to work on Saturday.
“If none of the other workers want to work on Saturday, that flexibility disadvantages them because it undermines the collective view.”
In an historic alliance, industry, union and environment organisations today called on the Federal Government to establish a National Carbon Capture and Storage Taskforce to combat climate change.
The new taskforce, proposed by the Australian Coal Association (ACA), the CFMEU, The Climate Institute (CI), and WWF, would be charged with developing and implementing a nationally coordinated plan to oversee rapid demonstration and commercialisation of 10,000 GWh of carbon capture and storage (CCS) electricity per year by 2020.
ACA Executive Director Mr. Ralph Hillman said: "The proposed CCS taskforce will play a vital role in ensuring that Australia is CO2 storage-ready before 2020."
"The black coal industry is now funding a number of demonstration projects through its billion dollar Coal21 Fund with the aim of deploying commercial scale low emission coal technology in the power sector by 2020."
CFMEU National President Mr. Tony Maher said: "Rapid demonstration of CCS in Australia is essential to securing employment prospects in regional Australia – jobs in coal mining and jobs in new high-tech CCS power plants."
"Mineworkers know that their industry and their jobs only have a future if coal use – and gas use - becomes a low emission industry here and overseas. And with coal being Australia’s largest export industry, we need to lead the way in the development of that technology."
The Climate Institute CEO Mr. John Connor said: "Australia has a choice - it can be a technology maker or a technology taker. Ensuring all new electricity load is met by clean energy sources will position Australia at the forefront of the global boom in these technologies – and cut the long term cost of reducing emissions."
"Australia's leadership in the development of CCS can also contribute to emissions reduction in emerging economies such as China and India."
WWF CEO Greg Bourne said: "Rapid deployment of low and zero emission technologies, including CCS, is needed if we are to avoid dangerous climate change."
"Unfortunately market forces and emissions trading alone will be insufficient to overcome barriers to commercial scale deployment of CCS."
"We need to build demonstration plants now if we expect commercialisation before 2020. The only way we can ensure this will happen is through a coordinated effort by Commonwealth and State Governments and by industry."
The Chinese ship An Yue Jiang carrying a consignment of 77 tonnes of weaponry for Zimbabwe left South African waters yesterday after a court blocked the onward overland shipment of the cargo.
Why do workers who build this nation have less rights than other Australians?
(download flyer)
Construction workers fought hard to remove the Howard Government and its extreme WorkChoices laws at last year’s election. However, more needs to be done for a fair workplace relations system for our own industry.
Right across Australia, construction workers are still under attack from Howard’s IR laws, as the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) continues to use its draconian powers.
Over 50 ordinary men and women have been forced to attend secret interrogations by Howard’s ABCC enforcers. If they refuse to answer questions – about issues like what happened at a union meeting – they can be jailed for six months.
Many more are being threatened with $22,000 fines and loss of pay if they stop work for any reason – even over safety, in what is one of Australia’s most dangerous industries. These powers are bad for construction workers and bad for the industry.
Howard-employer scare tactic
Labor Party leaders were panicked by Howard’s and employer scare campaigns during the election and pledged to keep the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) until January 31, 2010.
So, 150 enforcers are employed, and 33 million taxpayers’ dollars are spent annually, to continue this intimidation of ordinary construction workers.
ABCC inspectors have no qualmsabout the tactics they use. Their aim is Howard’s agenda — to reduce support for unions and union membership on construction sites. They harrass construction workers at their job sites and with phone-calls and notices at their homes.
Howard’s construction laws have been condemned by the International Labour Organisation five times, for breaking conventions Australia has ratified. They offend every principle of fairness for working people.
The Rudd Government should not wait until 2010. They should give construction workers and their families back the same rights as other Australians by abolishing the ABCC and the laws that support it now.
more
The Close The Gap campaign calls on federal, state and territory governments to commit to closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.
The campaign is supported by more than 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, and seventy-five thousand Australians have already pledged their support to Close the Gap.
National Close The Gap day
National Close the Gap Day - Tuesday 22 April 2008 - gives Australians the opportunity to come together and show their support for closing the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians.
This campaign has come a long way in the past 12 months. Organise your own small-scale event to celebrate the gains that have been made and to remind our governments that you expect them to meet their recent commitments to Close the Gap.
Oxfam Australia is organising National Close The Gap day. Please go to the Oxfam website to register and get resources to promote your event.
more
Unions have responded to revelations of a secret cabinet document revealing a push within the NSW Transport Department for privatisation of Sydney ferries.
"This is a slap in the face for every Sydney Ferries worker and commuter," said Warren Smith, Sydney Branch Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.
"The Department's declaration goes directly against the goodwill demonstrated by workers and unions who first and foremost want to be part of delivering world class ferry services to Sydneysiders.
"Despite pathetic push polling trumpeted by the Government the community simply does not accept that privatisation is the best solution.
"In fact the evidence from elsewhere clearly indicates that privatisation leads to poorer services, job losses, higher fares and compromised safety standards.
"The Maritime Union of Australia and Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union have been working with management and Government since the Walker Report was handed down to implement changes that will lead to better outcomes for workers and commuters.
"But privatisation is not the answer - Sydney Ferries are an iconic part of our city and they should remain in public hands, not be flogged off to private operators.
"It's time this government stopped looking at Sydney Ferries as a problem to be sold off, and started seeking out smarter ways of making the ferry system work for Sydneysiders.
"On the issue of fleet replacement the last thing we want to see is another Cross City Tunnel style fiasco where the public pays for the problems while private enterprise reaps the profits."
Acting State Secretary of the AMWU, Tim Ayres said, "The Walker Report into Sydney Ferries said the workers are highly skilled and doing a good job to keep the service functioning.
"There is simply no evidence that a privatised ferry service would deliver the very high standard of service that Sydney passengers deserve.
"In our view the Government should respect the overwhelming view of the public, keeping this iconic asset in public hands, but it should also invest strategically in the infrastructure, training and equipment it desperately needs to make the best use of the service."
Mr Smith warned that handing control of Sydney Ferries to private owners had been tried twice previously and twice the State Government had been forced to come in and rescue the service - in 1951 and 1974.
"Rather than trying to make a quick buck this Government should be focussed on better service delivery including the coordination of ferries with other transport services; strategies to market ferry services in off-peak times; better ticketing based on the UK Oyster Card; and recognition of the environmental benefits of ferry patronage."
more
....................................
Download Blue Mountains Union News
