frogblog » Union

‘Together’ an innovative new union launched

Keith Locke — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:18:04 +0000

An innovative new type of union organisation was launched today, known as ‘Together’. The new union is designed to allow thousands of otherwise isolated workers to find out what rights they have. This includes someone in a small shop, a farm labourer, taxi driver, IT worker or casual labourer. It will connect isolated workers with others facing similar challenges, and to offer expert advice on workplace issues. It is open to any worker whose workplace wouldn’t otherwise have union representation. Members will also be able to participate in campaigns, such as the fairness at work movement. Already the Together website is active, up and running. There are a good deal of excellent tools included advice sheets, available courses to attend, and an 0800 MY UNION (0800 698 6466) to call for confidential advice.

Stop bullying Parliament’s workers

frog — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:06:49 +0000

Parliamentary Service has been trying to force the hard working, poorly paid support staff of Parliament to take cuts to their pay package. These are not the ‘political’ staff – they are the people who do things like security, messenger services, and building maintenance at Parliament.

As is only fair, the staff have been resisting cuts to their entitlements, and yesterday held a perfectly legal stop work meeting. Catherine Delahunty and Kevin Hague went along to support them.

Now their employers have responded by threatening a lock out! This is an unreasonable bullying tactic which needs to stop.

Parliamentary Service need to start playing fair and get back to the negotiating table and work out a reasonable settlement.

Spotless and PSIS not giving employers a good name

frog — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:15:11 +0000

Occasionally employers get up to some very strange things.

First we have Spotless Cleaning company which last year had to be compelled to accept a nationwide deal that everyone else in the health sector had signed up to, to raise the living wages of cleaners and cooks in our public hospitals. Nine months after that dispute it is back saying it has changed its mind and is not going to increase its workers pay after all. So 800 hospital workers from around the country who are on or close to the minimum wage have been back on strike again for pay rise they have already been promised.

Then we have little PSIS. At the moment PSIS workers are paid significantly less than workers in doing the same or similar jobs in big foreign-owned banks. Union member workers and the bank are currently in pay negotiations and one of the things PSIS is seeking is a claim that all future pay increases in PSIS be limited to the level of inflation only. This means PSIS staff could never negotiate wages that are in real terms higher than their current rates of pay. The workers and their union have launched an online petition which basically just seeks the right to be allowed to ask for a higher than inflation pay rise.

Pay rises are easy if you use monopoly money

frog — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:08:49 +0000

Bunnings workers trying to negotiate a new collective agreement with their Australian employer were apparently offered petrol vouchers and a Monopoly board game to go with their 0% pay offer. The workers have been protesting the pay offer since last week, with workers at the company’s Newtown store becoming the eleventh store to take action when they held a short strike and picket this morning.

Workers who belong to the National Distribution Union and their boss have been negotiating now for 8 months to reach this offer of 0%. I wonder what offer the company had been making at the start of the 8 months?

Luckily for Bunnings, not all its negotiations have been so poorly received. Richard Goyder, CEO of Australian parent company, Wesfarmers, managed to negotiate a 61% pay increase to $6 million per annum. Not bad given 49% of his pay is related to his performance and this year Wesfarmers had a belt tighteningly tough year. Its profit shrunk by over $100 million from the previous year to only make $786.3 million for the year ended 30 June 2007.

I assume the monopoly gift is to give Bunnings’ workers some empathy for the type of lifestyle problems Goyder faces.

The Bunnings collective agreement is now the only national collective retail agreement with minimum wage starting rates and youth rates.