Labour notes
Strike action by Western Australian public servants continued on November 27 after the State Government failed to improve its latest pay offer. Branch Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Toni Walkington said that the government's position hasn't changed and that she expected 10,000 public servants to take part in the stoppage. Under the Government's offer most workers will only receive a ridiculous three percent pay increase, with the lowest paid receiving ten percent over three years — a mere one percent increase. According to the union the revised offer fails to address issues of job security and disadvantages workers in regional and rural WA. Toni Walkington says that "With 740 jobs being slashed over the next few years our members' ability to deliver critical community services is becoming increasingly difficult". The union is conducting a radio advertising campaign calling on Premier Geoff Gallop to start listening to government employees and the community or face the prospect of being a "one term Premier".* * * The ANZ Bank has being fined $156,000 by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission for failing in its duty of care to employees involved in armed hold-ups. Justice Boland of the NSW IRC imposed the fine under the NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act for the bank's failure to provide a safe working environment. In his judgement Justice Boland said, "I detected no sense of urgency on the defendant's part to take appropriate steps to endeavour to fulfil the absolute duty it has under the legislation to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees".* * * The Australian Writers Guild's Megan Elliott met the Prime Minister on November 28 along with other industry representatives and actor Geoffrey Rush, to put their position on free trade negotiations and to ask him not to trade away the Australian Identity. Ms Elliot says: "It's been a very big, very hard and very long campaign. Australian Writers' Guild members have been fighting to get culture taken out of the Australian-US Free Trade Agreement for more than 12 months. We have even managed to get our colleagues in the US on side, a point of information that the negotiators and politicians are taking very seriously". Australian writers are holding a "muster" on December 5-7. "This is the weekend that the fifth round of negotiations [on the FTA] finish — it is our chance as Australian writers to get together to send a big message to the Prime Minister and to the Australian negotiators: Australian Identity Is Not For Sale", said Ms Elliott.