Labour notes
Tabcorp staff in Victoria are planning to hit the privatised betting agency where it hurts — in the Melbourne Cup. Call centre staff at Tabcorp's telephone betting rooms are demanding the company reinstate work shifts it has cut. Tabcorp used the introduction of new voice recognition technology to dump the shifts. The Australian Services Union says that Tabcorp has cut shifts by about 45 per cent. The new technology is also unpopular with punters. The union also wants to know why the salaries of the company's directors have risen by up to 50 per cent while workers' incomes have fallen by about the same amount.* * * The Construction Division of the CFMEU has criticised the poor safety standards in regional NSW following the death of two workers in the town of Lake Cargelligo, in the State's west. The two men were killed when scaffolding on a water tower under construction collapsed. The union is calling on the Carr Government to increase inspector numbers in regional areas and is campaigning for the re-introduction of WorkCover's specialist Demolition Inspectorate, which was disbanded last year. The double fatality follows the death last month of a demolition worker in Newcastle.* * * Queensland teachers have launched a major television advertising campaign highlighting the importance of their profession and the quality of state schools. Two 30-second commercials produced by the Queensland Teachers' Union are showing on Queensland television. The advertisements were aimed to run immediately before and after World Teachers' Day on October 25. "State schools and teachers are an essential part of hundreds of communities throughout the state and deserve all the support the public can give them", said the union's President Julie-Ann McCullough.* * * The ACTU has welcomed the Northern Territory Government's decision to increase paid maternity leave entitlements to 14 weeks for all women employed in the NT public service. The decision sets a new national benchmark for public sector maternity leave in Australia. The Federal Government currently provides 12 weeks paid maternity leave for public servants and entitlements in other States vary from nil to 12 weeks. The NT' s new standard is in line with ACTU policy, the International Labour Organisation's maternity leave convention and the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.