An employer in the film industry has admitted paying his staff illegal, below-award wages, and has been caught on tape making threats of violence against a union official. Film producer Brad Diebert rang the MEAA’s Simon Whipp: How dare you say we have the money to pay actors more money… fuck you, spreading shit like [...]
Alexander Downer has suggested Australian Labor should look to the Tony Blair’s industrial regime for inspiration. Downer says the British ex-PM …saw the modernisation of his national economy as the key to job creation, fairness and equality for all workers… [and] set a strong example for future Labour leaders, both in Britain and around the [...]
As you might expect, the Government has been ramping up a campaign about so-called “dirty tricks” being employed by the unions. First John Howard slammed an ACTU document as “a dirty tricks manual”, but couldn’t explain how unions phoning or visiting their members is a problem. Howard’s complaint to the electoral commission went nowhere, as [...]
The remaining workers at Tristar are still turning up and doing nothing in a tin shed with no machinery: The 30 workers in Marrickville continue to wait. At the beginning of the year Tristar’s large factory was shut down and the workers were moved next door to a small, congested, hot warehouse with a tin [...]
When you’re reading the flood of commentary that will follow this morning’s High Court decision, it is important to remember that it was not a ruling on the merits of the legislation. Just because the law is constitutional does not mean it is good or worthwhile. In fact, the High Court majority went out of [...]
A CEPU organiser noticed that postmen were listening to iPods while doing their rounds, and the union realised that this was a great way to provide their members with information about the current Australia Post EBA negotiations. So far, three episodes of the EBA7 podcast have been produced: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] [...]
… apart from my return to the blogosphere. Union membership is on the rise, thanks to WorkChoices and the union movement’s excellent response to the Beaconsfield disaster: Tasmania’s unions are experiencing a surge in popularity, with an upswing in membership for the first time in decades. The union movement had been steadily losing members since [...]
The Exclusive Brethren is a secretive Christian organisation that attracts a great deal of controversy over its involvement in politics. Although its members are forbidden from voting, the group spends enormous amounts of money running advertisements smearing left-wing political parties — and the families of left-wing politicians. Their support for conservative politicians has paid off, [...]
The ACTU delegation’s A Fair Go at Work report, launched on Wednesday, is a very important document. It represents a turning point in the union movement’s campaign against WorkChoices — as well as highlighting the bad effects of the current legislation, unions need to explain how their alternative system is an improvement. During this new [...]
If further confirmation of The Australian‘s anti-worker bias was needed, it is amply provided by Thursday’s editorial. After presenting recent jobs figures as the product of WorkChoices — experts disagree — it goes on to deny that workers have a right to take industrial action: The industrial dispute involving Melbourne company Heinemann Electric represents the [...]
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