NSW: O'Farrell - Privatisation Redundancy Scam

The NSW state government does not intend to offer redundancy payments to disability sector workers who decline to move to the private sector under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Legislation denying public servants the traditional redundancy payments offered during privatisations have stunned the union movement.

But the state government has defended the new laws, saying "the NDIS Enabling Act makes it possible for us to . . . plan for all aspects of transition to the NDIS over the next few years".

In a series of questions and answers posted on the Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) website, the government acknowledges passing legislation "that enables it to forcibly transfer ADHC employees to the not-for-profit/for profit sectors, without compensation".

Asked if anything similar had happened before, the government responded by saying there needed to be "continuity of support for ADHC clients . . . to ensure an experienced, skilled workforce is retained in the service system".

Public Service Association organiser Paul James said government promises to maintain the conditions of transferring workers were likely to prove hollow.

"While the government says conditions cannot be varied 'except in accordance with any applicable industrial law', the private disability services are already pushing to have the relevant laws changed," Mr James said.

The changes would affect more than 1000 staff at the Stockton Centre and another 13,000 or so people in other ADHC jobs set to go by 2018.

NSW Nurses Association Stockton delegate Michael Grant said Stockton Centre employees were "extremely angry".

It was morally wrong for the government not to offer redundancy payments to those who did not want to transfer to the NDIS, especially if their existing jobs were no longer needed and they were being forced to retrain, he said.

The government was even denying that the ADHC changes were a privatisation.

"They're saying a privatisation is where they sell a business to the private sector but because they are giving it away, it's not a privatisation. That is a ridiculous statement."

Redundancy would be one of the issues pushed by the unions at a consultative forum with the government in Sydney on Thursday.

Mr Grant said the nurses' association was holding a public forum on the NDIS at Newcastle Panthers on Tuesday, March 11, at 6pm.

Mr James said this would be preceded by a members-only PSA meeting at the same venue at 4.30pm.

CWU: Telstra Fibre Challenge

In a move that challenges the federal government to clarify its broadband policy, Telstra has been for some months trialling Fibre to the Basement (FTTB) services for residential areas.

In  September last year, rival provider TPG set a cat among the regulatory pigeons by announcing a plan to roll out fibre to half a million Multi Dwelling Units (MDUs), potentially overbuilding the National Broadband Network (NBN).

It didn’t take long for Optus to respond with its own “head-line grab” – as Optus’ managing director of networks Vic McClelland himself described it – with the company flagging its own interest in FTTB in mid-December.

The point, of course, is that the NBN is supposed to be a monopoly, at least within its own footprint, bounded by its 121 Points of Interconnection. And a good proportion of the MDUs that TPG is targeting would fall within that footprint.

Legislation designed to protect NBN’s monopoly from such cherry picking was introduced in 2011. This restricted the ability of carriers to offer infrastructure-based services in competition with NBN Co.

A carrier can now only extend its fibre within 1 kilometre of its existing assets and/or upgrade its network to speeds above 25Mbps if it is willing to offer a wholesale service on terms equivalent to NBN CO’s. (This last restriction has ensured the stagnation of the fixed broadband market, in terms of speed, since that time.)

It has never been clear just how TPG intended to get round these restrictions. But the company has no doubt been emboldened by Communication Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s enthusiasm for infrastructure-based competition.

The trouble with that competition, however, is that it will undermine NBN CO’s ability to fund services in the less profitable areas of its operations. And here lies the dilemma for the Coalition.

As Minister, Turnbull has the power to grant TPG an exemption from the anti-cherry picking laws.

But as the Prime Minister is becoming fond of saying, why should the government grant favours to one company and not to everyone?

Telstra’s move signals the fact that the industry will not wait forever for Turnbull to make up his mind on this question.

ACCOSS: End Funding Uncertainty

ACOSS calls on Commonwealth to end funding uncertainty over services for vulnerable groups

Amid growing budget speculation, the Australian Council of Social Service has today called on the Federal Government to end uncertainty about the future of key community services.

In a supplementary submission to the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Federal Government's Commission of Audit, ACOSS has highlighted its concern that many services are now being caught up in budget speculation, with no certainty about where the government plans to make cuts in the May Budget.

ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie said: "Services for people who are homeless, women and their children leaving violent situations, at risk young people disengaged from training and employment, and people in financial crisis are all up in the air.

"Funding for these programs is only secure until 30 June. Government departments have been unable to confirm the future of these services; those under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, the Youth Connections program and funding for financial services are all affected.

“Other vital community programs have already been cut, or are clearly in the firing line, including funding for the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), Aboriginal Legal Services, legal aid and community legal services, and community programs for people from diverse cultural backgrounds.  The recent open letter calling for funding to be restored to ADCA, signed by ten highly respected Australians, shows the level of growing community concern," Dr Goldie said.  

“The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH) supports adults and their children who are homeless. Whilst accurate figures aren't available, Mission Australia has estimated that about 180 services, 80 000 clients and over 3000 staff are covered under the NPAH.

"It would be extraordinary to pull the rug out from under these services when the Treasurer has promised that government funding will be targeted to those most in need.

“It would also be crushing for young people who can't get a job if their support programs were cut, when they should be expanded. The latest figures show youth unemployment is twice the general unemployment rate (12.2%) and as high as 20% among 15-24 year olds in some parts of the country.

Programs such as Youth Connections have helped many thousands of young people who had disengaged or were at risk of disengaging from education or employment. The program has achieved excellent results in an increasingly tough job market. Nationally, 67 organisations deliver Youth Connections over 113 service regions, assisting over 70,000 young people.

"The ongoing uncertainty is having a serious impact across the country, with service management unable to plan, and staff increasingly anxious. Valued workers are under pressure to start looking for new jobs, with many not knowing if they will be employed in just a few months.  Whilst we can’t establish the exact number of clients and staff who are affected, it is clearly in the thousands.

"Services are increasingly alarmed that the government may use the expiration of funding contracts on 30 June to deliver budget savings.  Whether this is intended or not is unknown. However, in the absence of new contracts being put in place, services are understandably concerned.

“We agree we have a budget challenge, and have supported a responsible audit of government expenditure.  However, we need to be looking for savings amongst the tax breaks, loopholes, rebates and payments which benefit people who already have significant income and assets: superannuation, discretionary trusts, private health rebates, the assets tests for the age pension, negative gearing and capital gains, as well as generous supplements and concessions to people already enjoying a well above average standard of living.

"Services and payments to support vulnerable and low income people should not be in the firing line in search of a budget surplus.

"This was the previous government’s mistake, one that Labor’s leadership now regrets in Opposition. Over 100 000 single parents and their children suffered the consequences, and are still waiting over a year later, for something to be done. Let us not make the same mistake again. The funds needed for these vital services are modest, and will save us far more in the future.

“The Government must put an end to all this uncertainty and urgently signal its ongoing commitment to funding," Dr Goldie said.

Abbott's "Green Army" - Abbott's Low Wage Economy

Tony Abbott's federally funded ''green army'' will enlist 15,000 young people in environmental work, striking young workers from official dole queue figures as youth unemployment soared in the year to January to 12.4 per cent.

The scheme - the cornerstone of the government's environmental policies - is modelled on John Howard's Green Corps, and will be an alternative to work-for-the-dole programs.

Under the legislation introduced by Environment Minister Greg Hunt on Wednesday, green army participants - who will be aged 17-24 - will work up to 30 hours a week. They will be given the chance to undergo formal training as part of their duties, but will lose their Centrelink benefits for taking part in the scheme and fall off official joblessness figures.

Mr Hunt's office stressed that the green army was ''an environmental and training program, not an employment program'', although the government has repeatedly described the army as Australia's largest ever ''environmental workforce''.

The government is aiming the scheme at indigenous Australians, people with disabilities, gap-year students, graduates and the unemployed. Enlistees will do manual labour, including clearing local creeks and waterways, fencing and tree planting. Green army members will not be covered by Commonwealth workplace laws, including the Work, Health and Safety Act, the Fair Work Act and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said the workers should be covered by the appropriate federal workplace protections.
''This is about taking away well-paid, well-protected jobs from people and replacing them with low-paid, unsafe jobs,'' she said. ''This is not about getting people on the margins of the workforce into work, this is about providing a low-paid workforce.''

Greens MP Adam Bandt said:
''Only Tony Abbott could create a 'workforce' where the workers aren't legally workers and have no workplace rights. If a green army supervisor and a worker under their command get injured while wielding a pick or building a lookout, the supervisor will have the same safety and compensation protections as ordinary employees but the worker won't.''

Pay Workers More, Executives Less - New Research

02 March, 2014 | ACTU Media Release

A new survey reveals that the majority of Australians believe executives are paid too much and that the minimum wage should be increased to ensure a ‘decent standard of living’.

ACTU President Ged Kearney said that what this research shows is that the community understands why the minimum wage is important and why we can’t allow an American style ‘working-poor’ to emerge in Australia.

“With a whopping majority, the survey clearly shows that people view the ballooning pay packets handed out to executives as excessive,” Ms Kearney said

“Working people are concerned that they are getting less and less of the economic pie despite dedicating 40 hours a week – often more – to work and contributing significantly to their employers success.

“Balancing the family budget such as mortgage, bills, petrol and childcare costs all in the face of rising unemployment and job losses in the news every day is making people anxious.”

Ms Kearney said the current push by the Abbott Government and conservative forces who want to see wages drop in Australia was not resonating with the public.

“People are not stupid. They know that lower wages will hurt them and will change Australia. They have seen what has happened in America with the emergence of ‘working poor’ and they are genuinely worried that this could happen here," Ms Kearney said.

“Nearly 60 per cent of people said that they are worried about Australia moving in the direction where working a 40-hour week would not give workers enough to live on. They don’t want a situation like in the US where people work two jobs in order to cover their costs.

“People appreciate what we have here and feel proud that we are a high wage, high productivity nation. They don’t agree that worker’s pay should be cut or that the minimum wage is too high.”

Submissions for the minimum wage case are due on March 26th.

Ms Kearney said the ACTU will be fighting hard to see an appropriate rise in the minimum wage and ensure it gives people enough to live on.

“Anything less is unacceptable. Working 40-hours a week and getting less than a living wage is a slippery slope to a kind of Australia working people do not want to live in," Ms Kearney said.