A very public servant

Unless you've been living under a rock in the Pilbara for the last few weeks, you would have seen, heard or read one of the Howard Government's new 'Know Where You Stand' advertisements, fronted by Barbara Bennett from the Workplace Authority.
Are you concerned at the use of a public servant in such a political marketing campaign?
Does this sort of advertising damage the independence and integrity of the public service?
Tell us what you think about the Government's ads.

Young workers burnt by Chili's individual contracts

Teenagers on AWAs at a restaurant chain are being required to fork out their own money to cover customers who skip away without paying the bill.

In addition to picking up the tab of customers who do a runner, the young workers were expected to kick in $50 of their own money at the beginning of each shift for cash floats.

Employees would only start to get paid once customers arrived, with some waiting up to 45 minutes after clocking on before the $13.44* per hour started to kick in.

Many were often only offered shifts that lasted two hours in total. "Most of the time I was given only two-hour shifts, meaning I got just $26.88 a night," former employee Alice McCarthy told the Daily Telegraph.

"I was excited to land a job at Chili's...(but) sadly, my enthusiasm and excitement over my new job was quickly dampened by the harsh realities of the conditions of my employment," she said.

"I didn't really understand the implications of the AWA at first, " Alice said. "I thought it would not really make a difference to my working conditions. I also believed that the whole fuss about the WorkChoices laws was created by politicians wanting votes. But I was wrong because the AWA I had signed really did make a difference to the job."

The ACTU described the situation as "further evidence of how vulnerable young workers have lost rights under John Howard's IR laws," as they launched a new advertisement highlighting the growing concerns of older Australians and working parents.

The ad portrays three generations of the same Australian family, with a grandfather character explaining that his generation 'fought for things like regular working hours, penalty rates and redundancy pay' while his daughter and grandson worry they are losing their rights at work.

"There are very strong concerns about the IR laws among older Australians and parents who are worried about how their children are being treated in the workplace under the new IR laws," ACTU President Sharran Burrow said.

* Following a recent decision by the Fair Pay Commission, the minimum wage will jump to $13.92, effective 1 October 2007.

• What you can do: Tell Chili's what you think by sending them an e-mail.
• ACTU advertisement: Watch the latest ACTU ads online here.
• More information: Read the Daily Telegraphs report here.

Your say on new ACTU ads

As the election draws closer, the ACTU has launched a new series of hard-hitting Your Rights At Work television commercials.
In the first ad, Annette Harris talks about her experience at Spotlight where she was offered an AWA individual contract that removed penalty rates, overtime and meal breaks - all for an extra 2 cents an hour.
In the second ad, a grandfather talks about how - under WorkChoices - his children and grandchildren have lost the workplace rights his generation had fought so hard for.

Spolight on fairness: Annette Harris ad.

Grand dad ad.

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.

Working round the clock

As the Howard Government seeks to soothe unease about its workplace laws, a Bureau of Statistics survey reveals the deep incursion work has already made into family and community life.

The figures show 37 per cent of employees work overtime or extra hours - and about half of them do so for no extra pay. Three in five said they had no say about when they started or finished.

Download the ABS report here and please post a comment.

‘Our employees voluntarily choose AWAs' - Trujillo

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo appeared on CNBC Asia this week to talk about various issues to do with the company. Of particular interest to CPSU members was what Mr Trujillo had to say about Telstra AWAs.

Sol Trujillo: 'Our employees enter into these agreements voluntarily'
Not surprisingly, he's all for them and reckons everyone on one is too. "Our employees choose to enter into these agreements and they do it voluntarily," Mr Trujillo said.

So, has Mr Trujillo got it right? Do you like your AWA? Post your comments below

Read the interview with Sol here.

ALP's IR policy revealed

Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard fleshed out the ALP's proposed industrial relations policies at Labor's National Conference over the last few days.

Click here for Kevin Rudd's "Forward with Fairness" speech to ALP National Conference on 28th April 2007

Click here for Julia Gillard's "Forward with Fairness" speech to ALP National Conference on 28th April 2007

Click here for Kevin Rudd's and Julia Gillard's "Federal Labor's Fair And Balanced Industrial Relations Policy" joint statement released on 28th April 2007

Tell us what you think
What do you think about the ALP's proposed changes to industrial relations laws? Post your comments below.

Rudd reveals part of his IR agenda

In a major speech at the National Press Club yesterday, ALP Leader Kevin Rudd outlined some of his alternative workplaces relations plan.

It includes introducing a national IR system for the private sector, abolishing AWA's, outlawing strikes without secret ballots, and re-introducing streamlined unfair dismissal laws.

The ACTU says its "a good start". Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey called it a "donkey", while business groups remain "luke-warm".

But what do you think? Please post a comment.

Have your say on the new ACTU WorkChoices ads

New ACTU television ads launched at the weekend use the Howard Government's own official figures to demostrate how the new IR laws are hurting many Australians.

The new ads reveal how AWA's are being used to reduce many employment conditions including: overtime, penalty rates, annual leave loading, public holiday pay, shift allowances and rest breaks.

What do you think about the ads? Check out the ad on YouTube below and post your comments below.

Media report: ACTU probes details of AWAs (from ABC online)