Tuesday’s rallies in support of CFMEU and AMWU members were a great success — well over 1000 supporters attended the early-morning rally in Perth, with 500 in Sydney, 300 in Adelaide, 200 in Melbourne, and hundreds more in regional centres. In court, about a hundred workers and their union representatives packed the public gallery, and [...]
This week, Australian Story featured ACTU secretary Greg Combet in an episode called Man of Steel — a play on his resemblance to Clark Kent as well as his personality. It’s a very interesting exposition of Combet’s background, his home life, his commitment to working Australians, and his possible future in politics. A large part [...]
On Tuesday, 29 August, there will be two rallies in Perth to support workers who are being attacked in court under the Howard Government’s new IR laws. 107 construction workers and about 40 metalworkers will appear in the Federal Court to defend themselves. Both groups are calling for support at early-morning rallies in the CBD: [...]
If you thought my post yesterday about Queensland Labor’s focus group research was wishful thinking (punters were raising IR unprompted, and were “pissed off”), it’s been confirmed by independent research (read it at LP) conducted by the National Forum: Right at the start of the focus group, before any issues or leadership images had been [...]
Queensland’s election campaign is well under way, and industrial relations is dogging the Liberal and National campaigns. The Coalition was yesterday forced to promise not to subject public servants to WorkChoices. Opposition education spokesman Stuart Copeland said, “We value our teachers and we will not do anything to erode their pay or conditions.” Copeland’s promise [...]
While the uncertain fate of car-parts supplier Ajax continues to attract daily media attention, the Government has announced changes to its General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS). It will be increased to protect 16 weeks’ wages (up from the previous eight) when a company is liquidated. This is certainly an improvement, but it still [...]
Construction giant Baulderstone Hornibrook and seven of its managers will be prosecuted in the NSW Industrial Court over a workplace death. Several related companies are still under investigation. The multinational faces a small fine — $825 000 is a pittance to a company of its size — while the . However, The bosses have escaped heftier [...]
Senator David Johnston, a member of the newly-appointed backbench IR committee, has revealed the group’s strategy to the West Australian: “Maybe we are (losing the PR campaign on IR), we’ve had things on our plate, but I’ve got to tell you, we’re going to start winning it very shortly,” Senator Johnston said. … Senator Johnston [...]
When these workers came forward with their stories to support the ACTU’s campaign against the extreme WorkChoices legislation, it was inevitable that they would be sledged by the Howard Government. Sure enough, the Government and its supporters in the Murdoch press have been saying that the workers have “nobody to blame but themselves for being [...]
The Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, Kevin Manning, has been attracting some media coverage — in the church press and elsewhere — with his comments about the ways WorkChoices contravenes Catholic social teachings. The full text of his 28 June speech is available, and in it Bishop Manning argues that WorkChoices constitutes an “inherent affront to [...]
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