Labour Notes
The Labor Council of NSW (NSWLC) and the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) have registered "strenuous objections" to NSW government moves to flog off public school cleaning contracts to the "lowest bidder". Recent campaigns have highlighted the exploitation of migrant women paid less than $10 an hour. Secretary of the NSWLC John Robertson said the government's failure to insist school contractors retained existing workers, or even applied the award, was evidence that NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca had embraced a "race to the bottom". "This Minister and his department are threatening the job security and earnings of some of the lowest paid people in NSW", Mr Robertson said. LHMU Secretary Annie Owens, said contractual "standards" had been spelled out at a meeting with senior departmental officials.* * * After years of undermining awards, union negotiated collective agreements and trade union representation as head of the Office of the Employment Advocate, Jonathon Hamberger has been appointed to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. In his job as Employment Advocate, one of Hamberger's main tasks was to promote individual work contracts (Australian Workplace Agreements — AWAs) as against collective bargaining. "As head of the Office of the Employment Advocate he has consistently approved AWAs in breach of the no-disadvantaged test. The direct result of this has been that the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers are being paid below award rates of pay", said Dave Kelly, Secretary of the WA Branch of the LHMU. No prizes for guessing what Hamberger's role will be on the Commission.* * * Cluttered desks, poor posture and hours spent in front of a computer are damaging the health of office staff, with increasing numbers suffering "Irritable Desk Syndrome", according to a report in the UK-based safety magazine Hazard. Researchers at NEC- Mitsubishi say that regular breaks and making desks more personal could reduce the symptoms of this condition. Their survey found 67 percent of office workers said that they are more tied to their desk than they were two years ago and around 40 percent said they were infuriated by too much clutter on their desks. The CPSU has been disappointed by Federal Government moves to abolish the country's peak safety body, the National Occupational Health and Safety Council (NOHSC). "The Federal Government is also moving to abolish the automatic role of unions to police this area", said Mr Browne. Private call centres have also been singled out for forcing workers to "grab whatever desk is available". The CPSU supported the report's call for workers to have regular breaks, but pressure from performance targets often stymied workers' ability to take such precautions.