LL:INFO:Thorne VS Northern TAFE
The case of Alison Thorne versus Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE has been adjourned until Monday 21 June when the hearing will recommence for a further five days. The case is being heard by tribunal member, Ms Fran Millane, from the Anti-Discrimination Panel of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal. At the end of the first four days of hearings, the presentation of the complainant's [Alison] case alleging unlawful discrimination on the grounds of industrial activity is almost complete. Left Linkers can support the case in numerous ways: [1] Show your interest by attending court. Hearing commence at 10 am from 21 - 25 June on the 6th floor of 55 King Street. [2] Help publicise the case. If you have any offers or leads please contact the campaign publicity coordinator Peter Murray on 9386-5065 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] [3] Help with fund raising. The No More Intimidation of Teacher Unionists Campaign has just launched a "guessing competition". If you'd like to sell tickets @ $2 each or 3 for $5 please e-mail requesting tickets. There are great prizes for the SELLERS as well as the buyers of winning tickets! [4] Send a donation! Make cheques payable to NMIT Unionists Campaign Committee. The NMIT Unionists Campaign is also supporting the case of Barbara Morgan, the former AEU sub-branch secretary whose contract was not renewed in the middle of an industrial dispute. Barbara's hearing is currently scheduled to commence on Tuesday 1 June. No More Intimidation of Teacher Unionists Campaign Committee PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 LL.VF Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: Tassie to debate risks of genetic engineering
The Sunday Tasmanian http://www.news.com.au/headlines/ Tassie to debate risks of genetic engineering By LIBBY SUTHERLAND 23may99 WIDESPREAD debate on the controversial issue of genetic engineering is set to erupt in Tasmania. In an effort to enlighten the State's population on the rapidly growing science, its applications and implications, the Tasmanian Environment Centre will hold a forum in Hobart on June 5. Dubbed "Genetic Engineering - Opening the Debate", the forum at The Friends' School Meeting House will be followed by two scientific symposiums this year organised by the Royal Society in conjunction with the CSIRO and the University of Tasmania. Environment centre co-ordinator Margaret Steadman said the forum - coinciding with World Environment Day and supported by the local United Nations Association - was needed to promote knowledge and information instead of hysteria. "There is a lot of diffuse anxiety about genetic engineering and it needs to be aired," she said. "I think it is happening to a much larger degree than we are aware. "There has been very little discussion about it in Tasmania. "There are some really big questions to be asked. We need evidence and facts and knowledge. We should be making decisions based on knowledge." Geneticist and CSIRO researcher Stan Robert agreed. "I think that this term 'genetic engineering' is very broad," he said. "There is not one type of risk that will apply to everything. "A lot of the health risks and environmental risks have been blown out of proportion. "It is unfortunate the debate is so polarised. A balanced type of debate is needed." Guest speaker at the Hobart forum will be Bob Phelps, director of the Melbourne-based GeneEthics Network and perhaps the nation's most vocal opponent of "mutant food". This month Mr Phelps accused the Australia New Zealand Food Authority, health ministers and the food industry of betraying public trust on the issue of genetically modified food. New laws that took effect on May 13 require companies to seek safety assessments for GM foods and label those which are substantially different from their traditional counterparts. But companies were so slow to lodge assessments that Australian and New Zealand health ministers decided to permit foods with modified ingredients to remain on supermarket shelves while tests were conducted, provided applications were lodged by April 30. Mr Phelps accused the authorities of effectively giving GM food producers a regulation-free year. In Hobart, he will discuss the contentious area of food labelling, crop and food modification, ethical issues, environmental impact, plus the health and medical benefits and risks. Ms Steadman said many of the questions raised would be passed on to scientific experts at the Royal Society's events, to be held on September 7 and October 5 at the university's Stanley Burbury Theatre. Symposium organising committee member and CSIRO marine biochemist Shirley Jeffrey said the first event would focus on genetically modified plants and animals for use in food. The second symposium will discuss medical aspects and bioethics. "There is a lot of jargon associated with the development of the science," Dr Jeffrey said. "We are aiming to introduce all the facts so people can decide for themselves." * This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART:Feed back from Union Members Required
SMH Unions gun for labour hire ring-ins Date: 22/05/99 By HELEN TRINCA The Australian Services Union is trying to strike agreements with labour hire firms for members it doesn't yet have. It is an alternative approach forced on unions in an age when they are struggling to recruit members from an increasingly fragmented labour market. "We're trying to organise, but you strike problems in this area for obvious reasons," Mr Brian Sullivan, the union's national executive president, said yesterday. "People are scattered all over the city and there is no consolidated workplace. For some unions it goes against the grain dealing with the employer ahead of the employees, but we believe we have to do it." The union is trying to recruit members in one of the fastest growing areas of labour hire - the phone call centres - where about 30 per cent of workers are employed via labour hire firms. The Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, which has 300 member companies in NSW, has been unmoved by the pressure. Instead, the association wants the union to negotiate directly with the hire companies. Labour hire companies estimate they employ fewer than 2 per cent of Australian workers but the sector has been growing at 16 per cent each year since 1980. The number of agency workers doubled in Australia between 1990 and 1995. The labour hire firms now cover the so-called blue, white, pink and gold collar workers - everything from manufacturing workers in blue to to managing directors in gold class. Pink is for the clerical area dominated by women and white covers professionals like information technology workers. The industry has an annual turnover nationally of $4.5 billion with about 40 per cent of that in NSW. The big unions, such as the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, are dismissive of the "body hire companies" and the CFMEU is pushing for clauses in enterprise agreements to limit the use of these workers. Mr John Buchanan, a researcher with Sydney University's Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, says the labour market is being reconfigured by outsourcing. Between 1990 and 1995, 35 per cent of employers had outsourced at least one function. In the early 1980s, about two-thirds of workers were in companies of 100 workers or more, whereas a decade later this had dropped to about 50 per cent. The NSW Labor Council is campaigning to regulate contractors and is behind a push to change laws so the State Industrial Commission sets minimum rates for contractors and to ensure that labour hire firms do not undercut other site workers. The ideas are in a discussion paper from the NSW Industrial Relations Department. The Premier, Mr Carr, dumped on the paper after it was leaked to the Herald but this week, his office said he was ruling nothing in or out. He just wants normal consultation to be followed. The Labor Council secretary, Mr Michael Costa, says: "We're concerned at the undermining of the notion of full-time employment. All of the statistics show very clearly that full-time employment is declining and one of the reasons is the artificial contracting to avoid the employer-employee relationship." The NSW Employers Federation accused the council of trying to turn back the clock but the labour hire companies say they have no problem with paying the same money paid to unionists on site, arguing they sometimes pay more already. The real issue in this style of work is not so much money but job security. But the trend is likely to be hard to break. Mr Jim Dingwall, a management consultant with PA Consulting Group, said the European experience showed that forcing labour hire firms to maintain parity with site wages did not dampen the enthusiasm for outsourcing. Employers were using contract workers for flexibility and to implement cultural change in the workplace, not as a way of cutting wages, he said. This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
