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           Shipping Stevedoring Port Services Hydrocarbons Diving  Sep-Oct 2008        |
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Extracts from the National Office Report27 September 2006By Mick Carr - Branch Secretary
Indusrial Relations Campaign MUA Stubbie Holders Now Available EXTRACTS FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE REPORT IR CAMPAIGN The Federal Government is apparently considering changes to its extreme IR Laws six months after they were introduced. This clearly demonstrates the extreme nature of the laws, the community outrage to them, and the effectiveness of the Union campaign to have them eliminated. The changes are minor ones and apparently will ensure that people who take sick leave cannot be sacked. However, the changes do not reinstate protection for workers from being sacked unfairly and they fail to prevent cuts to workers¡¦ conditions like penalty rates, overtime, public holidays and take home pay. What the government is saying to Australian workers is that under the IR Laws you are only guaranteed five minimum conditions ¡V everything else can be cut by an AWA Individual Contract. This point is highlighted by the fact that every new AWA Individual Contract registered since the new IR Laws were introduced on 27th March 2006 has removed at least one protected condition. The Government promised to protect Public Holidays but the official data shows that Public Holiday entitlements were cut in 40% of all new AWA Individual Contracts. Two thirds of AWA Individual Contracts remove penalty rates, overtime payments and leave loading, more than 52% cut shift loadings, and around a quarter of new AWA Individual Contacts contain no wage increases for the life of the agreement. The changes that Kevin Andrews has proposed is only a bit of window dressing and is designed in an attempt to take some of the heat of the public outcry out of the picture. They do nothing to address the weight of control that has so clearly shifted to employers, and done nothing to redress any balance of a fair and decent set of legislative provisions for Australian workers. In fact, under the new IR Laws, Australian workers have no legally enforceable right to collectively bargain for decent pay and conditions with their employer, and until this fundamental right is addressed the laws will remain grossly unfair and exploitative in their nature. In fact, there is no intention on behalf of the government to address this fundamental issue. Howard categorically stated the position of the government last Friday when he said 'Our position on collective bargaining is very clear, and that is it¡¦s for the employer to determine the nature of the Industrial Agreement in a work place ¡V and we also support the right of the employer to decide the nature of the Industrial Structure.' This shows that under WorkChoices the Federal Government has unashamedly handed employers the unilateral right to make all the decisions about how and on what terms Australian workers will be employed. This requires that we continue to participate in the National Campaign against these work laws. The next major Day of Action will be on 30th November and all Branches are organising for the best turn-out of members for rallies that have been organised in the major centres of the country. A number of States have also organised for television broadcasts to take place throughout suburbs and country and rural towns. This action has been supported by the establishment of support groups in different areas and the Union in conjunction with a number of State Labour Councils has targeted marginal seats to campaign in. Grass root campaigning in marginal electorates is important in respect to getting rid of the IR laws as there is only one way to get rid of these and that is to get rid of the Howard government and that includes work in the marginal seats that are essential to be won by the Labor party if they are to win government. But your Rights at Work campaigns also can and should be undertaken in all electorates as part of the campaign to raise the consciousness of the Australian community to the unfairness of Howard¡¦s WorkChoices laws. Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman with the Branches will be holding meetings in the marginal seats to seek our members¡¦ input and support for the campaign activities in those marginal seats and to encourage rank and file activity. The Union has undertaken polling of all of its members in the marginal seats. This has been arranged through the ACTU and a sample poll was done in the Seat of Corangamite in Victoria. The purpose of this polling is to identify the level of support for the Coalition government as it has been identified in the last elections that one third of trade unionists supported the Howard government. Once the information is collated the Union will continue the polling internally and seek to encourage those who are identified as 'swinging' voters or Coalition supporters to consider their vote carefully in light of the WorkChoices, leading up to the next Federal election. *********************************************************** MEETING WITH TOLL National Secretary Paddy Crumlin met with senior executives of Toll, Paul Little and Mark Rosethorne, to discuss a range of issues in regards to the takeover of Patrick by Toll. The company has undertaken to keep the Union fully informed and consult on any developments particularly with the sale of the Patrick¡¦s shipping assets. It is clear from general reports that the company is looking for a friendly purchaser of the rail and freight forwarding assets it is required to sell by the ACCC as well. The two senior executives indicated that they were looking for a consultative approach in stevedoring and expected there to be little change in management in the area of direct terminal and bulk and general management. The National Secretary expressed concerns in some areas over the bringing together of bulk and general operations, the operation of AAT and open and transparent understandings between the parties on issues in the lead up to the renegotiation of Patrick EBAs in 2007. The National Secretary and Mark Rosethorne, who has overall responsibility for stevedoring and ports, spoke about the possibility of jointly going around the various Patrick workplaces to discuss the takeover and deal with any questions that may be able to be answered at this early stage. Any joint initiative is likely to take place late this year or early next year, depending on availability. The National Secretary reports that the meeting was positive and the company gave assurances of their willingness to work constructively with the MUA in building an efficient and successful freight forwarding company. The National Secretary outlined his central role in the International Transport Workers and the close affiliation that the MUA has with the TWU and RTBU and transport unions in New Zealand. *********************************************************** Tas Bull Memorial International Aid Committee As part of the recent 41st ITF Congress in South Africa, the MUA Delegation visited APHEDA run and sponsored projects in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. In particular we visited: „« Rehoboth Children¡¦s Aids Orphanage - Durban „« Educompass Community Developments - Cape Town „« ONS Plek Project - Cape Town and „« Carl Sitiloe Orphanage (Salvation Army) - Johannesburg Due to the impact of the visits to these programmes, the MUA, along with other Australian ITF Affiliates have organised a Tas Bull Memorial International Aid Committee to raise awareness of the APHEDA Programme to our members, other union¡¦s members and the wider community. This will be an annual event. The Committee is currently organising a DVD for use at meetings, donations and a national raffle, which will be drawn this year at Standard¡¦s Christmas Function on December 22 at Balmain Leagues Club with tickets to be distributed to branches next week. There is also another project, the sending of a shipping container to South Africa filled with goods required by schools and orphanages to South Africa. This project will be promoted in the next few months. It is intended to update the members on these important projects through the Branch News and the next Maritime Workers Journal. *********************************************************** ¡§BASTARD BOYS¡¨ ABC Television is doing a four-part mini series called ¡§Bastard Boys¡¨. The mini series is about the Patrick dispute and will screen early next year. A number of high profile Australian actors have accepted leading roles including Colin Friels who plays John Coombs and Jack Thompson who plays a Melbourne wharfie. The union has been asked to provide material for the series and members and supporters for re enactments of the picket lines. Re-enactment filming has occurred at both Melbourne and Sydney were good turn-outs of members and supporters took place. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the re-enactments where it was obvious that the dispute still lives long in the memory of the thousands who participated in it. *********************************************************** MUA STUBBIE HOLDERS Stubbie holders are now available at the Union Office - $5.00 each. ***********************************************************
For further information
Public News: You can view MUA's publicly available news in a variety of ways. Please select one of our public news indexes. |
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