Bosses reveal: Union miners earn more

Mineworkers on collective agreements typically earn more than $100,00 per year, while those on AWAs typically earn far less than that. Yesterday’s statement by mining industry bosses that the new ALP threshold for non-Award employment contracts is too high confirms that mineworkers are better off when they are in a union.

On Tuesday 28 August Steve Knott from the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) and Mitch Hooke from the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) both stated that two thirds of mineworkers earned less than $100,000 per year, and so would not be able to be frog-marched onto non-Award employment contracts under the new ALP policy announced yesterday.

Meanwhile, over in the highly unionised coal industry, where ABS statistics show that most workers are on collective agreements, and AWAs are virtually non-existent, mineworkers workers earn an average of over $2,045 pr week, or over $106,000 per year.

Their colleagues on AWAs and inferior common law contracts in metal ore mining earn an average of $1,624 per week, or $84,450 per year. They get paid far less for doing the same job.

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Employer Group Rejects Howard's Individual Contracts

At last an employer-backed study into the Australian Construction Industry has rejected the Howard Government's individual contracts and concedes the benefits of trade unions in making the industry more productive, the CFMEU said today.

Despite the spin by Leighton's CEO Wal King, the study from the Australian Construction Association reinforces the CFMEU view that strangling unions out of the industry will be counterproductive.

'This report is actually a slap in the face for the Howard Government and their union-busting agency, the Australian Building and Construction Commission,' CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan said today.

The ACA study 'Four Years On' of insights from personnel in the building industry, following reforms from the Building and Construction Industry Royal Commission overwhelmingly found:

• There is a continuing role for unions in the industry,
• Many union officials are reasonable, if tough to deal with,
• Moving to individual contracts could cause instability in the industry.

'This report shows the heavy handed tactics of the ABCC will ultimately be counterproductive and it should be immediately disbanded. 'In an industry where a worker dies every week, the union has an important role to play,' said Dave Noonan.

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Rich pickings for the richest!

James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting is not only not paying any tax on last year's media sell-down to private equity - it even managed to get a tax credit.

Announcing its full-year profit yesterday, PBL posted a $1.53 billion gain from selling a half stake in most of its media businesses, including Nine Network and ACP Magazines, to buyout firm CVC Asia Pacific. Tax experts and analysts were mystified how PBL managed to book a $3 million tax credit from the sale, rather than having to pay capital gains tax of 30 per cent.

"It's surprising that when they make a gain of that magnitude, they don't appear to have a tax liability," said Ann O'Connell, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne's Law School, who teaches courses on capital gains tax.

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Don't sign AWAy your redundancy pay

At least 30 workers who were recently laid off when a Queensland abattoir went into receivership will not receive redundancy payments because they signed Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).

The Queensland president of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union (AMIEU), Russell Carr, says anyone who has signed an individual workplace agreement now should be rushing to check the fine print.

South Burnett Beef went into receivership in May, with a debt of $16.5 million.

The company has been forced to lay off around 350 workers at the Murgon abattoir.

Mr Carr says that when about 30 of the workers lodged claims for their entitlements, they were dealt another painful blow.

"These people came up to us and explained that they've been told they weren't going to receive any redundancy because they signed an AWA," he said.

"We got those people to give us a copy of the AWA and we've had two different sets of legal opinions and both of them said that those employees had lost their entitlements through signing the AWA."

Mr Carr says the meatworkers who chose to stay on their collective agreement will receive their full entitlements.

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Court orders restoration of Haneef's work visa

The Federal court today quashed the government's controversial decision to cancel the work visa of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef on character grounds after terror charges against him over the foiled UK terror plot were dropped.

In a major loss of face for the Australian government, federal court judge Jeff Spender in a decision in Brisbane ordered restoration of Haneef's visa, allowing the Bangalore doctor to return to this country, work as a doctor and resume his studies -- unless the authorities contemplate further action.

Haneef, 27, who worked as a junior doctor at the Gold Coast Hospital, was charged with "recklessly" providing support to a terrorist organisation on July 14, following 12 days in detention under anti-terror laws. A Brisbane magistrate granted him bail on July 16.

But his detention continued as Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews Andrews cancelled his work visa saying he had a reasonable suspicion that Haneef had "associated" with terrorists, specifically his second cousins Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, both allegedly involved in failed car bomb plot in the UK in June.

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