First class tax-payers, second class citizens

Last week, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) published their findings from a national inquiry into the discrimination against people in same-sex relationships, writes CPSU deputy National President Lisa Newman.

The report Same-Sex: Same Entitlements details the systematic discrimination of same-sex couples. It found that 58 federal laws deny at least 20,000 same sex couples and their children financial and work related entitlements, entitlements that are freely available to opposite-sex couples and their children.

These laws include Commonwealth Superannuation, Occupation Health and Safety legislation as well as a large number of Acts including the Income Tax Assessment Acts, Social Security Act, Health Insurance Act and Workplace Relations Act.

In July last year the CPSU made a submission to the HREOC enquiry, addressing the use of the 'spouse' definition in agreements, awards and legislation which excludes same sex partners from accessing entitlements.

We expressed our concern at the increased push for terms and conditions to be moved from highly transparent and legally enforceable collective agreements into less transparent and unenforceable policy.

We also identified that the increased use of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA's), which are not subject to public scrutiny, could increase the risk of discriminatory arrangements.

CPSU's submission also exposed the discriminatory provisions in the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme and the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme which do not allow an interdependent person, including a same sex partner and their children to receive a reversionary superannuation benefit.

Last week, the Government announced a Senate Inquiry into the provision of the Superannuation Amendment Bill. The Bill does establish a number of changes to Commonwealth public sector superannuation which the CPSU supports.

However, if a few additional simple amendments to the Bill were introduced, it would be possible to prevent same-sex couple discrimination entirely and the CPSU will raise these in the Inquiry.

This Bill is the Government's last opportunity to address Superannuation discrimination before the Federal election and they need to do it right.

After the HREOC report was published, the Prime Minister stated that while his government did not support discrimination, it would not be rushed to act to rectify the situation.

CPSU has formally raised these issues on behalf of affected members many times over the last few years. We support the fair treatment of all parts of the community, and do not condone the discrimination of any minority group.

And it seems that most Australians agree. A recent galaxy poll, commissioned by GetUp! found that 71% of Australian support equality for same-sex couples.

The community has moved forward on this issue. The question is how long will it take the federal government to catch up?

Read the HREOC report here Read CPSU's submission here

Access Card - what does it mean to your work and privacy?

The Department of Human Services has announced an eight month delay in the launch of its controversial $1.1 billion welfare Access card.

The Department previously planned to begin registrations for the card next April, but now says this will not happen before late 2008. The Access Card is intended to replace the Medicare and other benefits cards, supposedly simplifying access to a wide range of Government health and welfare services.

Aspects of the plan, which has already cost $41 million, has been questioned by the CPSU, opposition political parties and privacy groups.

“This issue has the capacity to profoundly change the way public services are delivered in Australia,” said CPSU National Secretary Stephen Jones.

“There are implications in this for CPSU members both in their work and in their rights as citizens. Regardless of the outcome of the election, the challenges new technology presents for the delivery of public service is not going to go away.

“We will consult with CPSU members and both sides of politics about about the Access card over the coming months to ensure the voice of those tasked with administering the card is heard and noted,” said Mr Jones.

Prior to the recently announced delay the Department said it would register 32,000 residents a day between 2008 and 2010. CPSU has already raised concerns about a number of potential issues such as Sunday opening, how to manage the increased workload, training, and the short term nature of this work.

Once the relevant legislation has been enacted the card will be compulsory for federal welfare and health benefits recipients. For this reason some privacy and civil rights organisations maintain the Access card amounts to a de facto national identity card.

More information
http://www.accesscard.gov.au/

Telstra bullying staff: Tough Call

In a program called Tough Call the ABC's Four Corners has exposed widespread management bullying, punishing performance targets and relentless monitoring of individuals’ time and movements in Telstra.

These are issues that members in Telstra - and many other CPSU workplaces - have been campaigning around for many years. We are encouraging members and supporters who have seen the program to post a comment below.

UNION TALKS TO MEMBERS... SHOCK!

If you want proof that the Your Rights at Work campaign is working, look no further than Howard Government hysteria this week around a leaked ACTU's phone polling document, writes CPSU National Secretary, Stephen Jones.

Over the last two years union members and supporters have been campaigning hard against WorkChoices.

We've conducted surveys and polls, put out emails, press releases and bulletins, held workplace and community meetings, worn tempory tattoos, baked orange cakes, organised massive rallies and even funded prime-time TV ads.

Despite this highly visible approach, the Howard Government claims the Your Rights at Work campaign is a secret, sinister and undemocratic plot by "union bosses" to "steal control of the country" and "ruin the economy."

Incredibly, the Government is arguing that union representatives shouldn't even be talking with their members about the most profound change to their workplace rights in 100 years.

So as the pre-election rhetoric heats up, it's important to remember what this campaign about... unfair workplace laws.

WorkChoices is an attack on the working conditions of millions of working Australian families. Despite the Government's theatrics, the fact remains that under WorkChoices:

• overtime and penalty rates are being cut;
• workers are being dismissed unfairly;
• collective bargaining is being undermined;
• the independent umpire is being sidelined;
• new starters are being forced onto AWAs.

Because we talk with them, we know most CPSU members oppose WorkChoices and want fairer, more balanced laws. We also know that if we want to change these unfair laws, we'll have to change the government.

This is why we'll be talking with CPSU members who live in key marginal seats. What happens in those seats will determine the outcome of the election.

The overwhelming majority of members we've contacted so far have been more than happy to have their say.

If people don't want to talk about WorkChoices - for whatever reason - we fully respect their decision not to participate.

Fair workplace rights will be a key election issue. Which means the CPSU has an obligation to find out what our members think, and argue for it passionately.

It's called democracy. It's a union thing.

Push It – campaign for paid maternity leave

CPSU members and staff were in a crowd of about 200 people who braved heavy winter rain in Sydney today to rally in support of paid maternity leave.

Australia is one of only two developed nations – the other being the USA – that does not provide paid maternity leave. Ironically Australia once led the world on this issue, having introduced a maternity allowance in 1912.

Today’s rally was organised by Marie Claire magazine and speakers included the NSW Minister for Women Verity Firth, Democrats Senator Natasha Stott—Despoja and Marie Claire editor Jackie Frank.

In an impassioned speech Ms Firth pointed out that under WorkChoices the situation for women wanting to have children is even more difficult than ever before.

See here for further information.

Have your say: Most CPSU members are already entitled to paid maternity leave but this is not the case in the wider community, with two-thirds of women having no access to any paid maternity leave. Should the Government extend paid maternity leave to all women in the workforce? Post a comment below.

What's so fair about that?

With a tough election looming, the Howard Government is trying to neutralise community concerns about its WorkChoices laws by introducing a new so-called 'fairness' test.

The changes have been rightly dismissed as cynical pre-election window-dressing.

We reckon if the Government is really serious about fairness in the workplace, there are plenty of issues to tackle... and we've put together a short list.

Compensation: Recent Government changes mean over 100,000 staff have lost workers compensation coverage for journeys to and from the office. The change does nothing to make workplaces safer and simply shifts the costs and risks from employer to employee.

Unfair dismissals: The Howard Government’s laws exclude over four million Australians from unfair dismissal protection, simply because their employer has fewer than 100 employees. Under WorkChoices employers with more than 100 staff can use the 'operational grounds' loophole to sack workers and avoid an unfair dismissal claim.

Working Hours: According to ABS figures, almost a third of Australian employees work unsocial hours - between 7pm and 7am - and most have no say about when they start or finish. About half of the 37 per cent of employees who work overtime do so for no extra pay. None of which will be a surprise to the tens of thousand of CPSU members already struggling to balance their work and home lives.

Collective bargaining: Under WorkChoices, employers hold all the cards. Even where a majority of employees vote in favour of making a collective agreement, employers can ignore your wishes and offer individual contracts, or simply refuse to negotiate. Ironically the Government are now spending big money promoting collective bargaining to small businesses as way to ensure they are not disadvantaged by larger and more powerful businesses. So collective bargaining - sticking together to get a fair deal - is a good idea for small business, but somehow not for employees.

AWAs: In a growing number of public service agencies, new employees are denied the opportunity to choose between collective agreements or AWA individual agreements. And in some workplaces AWAs continue to be used to undermine collective agreements, not to improve pay and conditions.

Have your say:Is the Government doing enough to address the issues that matter to you? Are there other issues they need to address? Post a comment