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: [...]
The ACTU has launched its next round of television advertisements. This ad features real people who have suffered the effects of WorkChoices. Running these ads is not cheap, and the ACTU is seeking donations to keep the ads on the air as long as possible. As I publish this post, they’ve reached almost $10 000 of [...]
Last week the headmaster at Newington College told his 40 senior staff that they would have to reapply for their own jobs — according to staff, on AWAs instead of the existing collective agreement. In some cases, teachers would be paid less despite working an extra four weeks a year. The teachers — including junior [...]
A swanky Sydney private school — the kind that still teaches Latin — has been accused of “putting itself up as the WorkChoices school” by forcing senior teachers to reapply for their jobs and agree to work longer hours, or face the sack. Newington College wants its teachers to work an extra four weeks per [...]
When news broke that the SDA had defeated a juice bar’s attempt to slash the pay of a 16-year-old girl and her colleagues, I was concerned that it was a phyrric victory: because she was a casual, the company would just stop offering her shifts. Sadly, that prediction has been confirmed by Amber’s father in [...]
Do you remember Juice Bar Amber, the 16-year-old girl who stood up to her boss’s attempt to force her onto an AWA that cut her pay? The SDA took her case to the AIRC this week, and the company gave an undertaking to pay her under the pre-existing collective agreement — a nice win for [...]
A couple of weeks ago, Finlay Engineering sacked three workers. The press has picked up on the idea that they were sacked for “smirking” at their boss — which is true, but that’s just an excuse. What the men had in common was that they were union members who opposed management’s attempts to slash wages. [...]
The Government has been forced to retreat from its attempt to prosecute Queensland’s flea pit strikers. The group of 75 mining workers stopped work for two days because they refused to live “knee-deep in shit and infested with fleas and feral cats”. The company cleaned up their accommodation and they went back to work. Months [...]
As more detailed reports about the Cowra 29 come to hand, it is clear that my initial assessment was correct. The Office of Workplace Services had very little to do with the company’s backdown — it was the union campaign, which placed significant political pressure on the Government, that forced the abattoir to retreat. Brad [...]
Twenty nine sacked abattoir workers have their jobs back — for now — thanks to public outcry, union pressure, and a desperate government bid for a political fix for a political problem. The Cowra abattoir, which had for some time been negotiating with the meatworkers’ union about a proposed restructure, wasted no time exercising its [...]
