Winter Issue 2009 - cfmeu

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U N I O N N E W S with Kevin Reynolds It’s time for entitlement/wages protection We are pushing for workers to have all their entitlements and wages guaranteed in the event employers go broke. We want an insurance type scheme to cover this as part of union collective agreements. We are out to stop employers dipping into their workers' entitlements, using them as a loan. For far too long worker’s have been shafted when their employer goes bust. It is gut-wrenching to see long time loyal employees who have devoted their life to a company then get absolutely zip, through no fault of their own. This form of social insurance would be right up there with the likes of Medicare and Superannuation as a major social achievement in providing workers with greater protection and security, especially in situations where we have an economic downturn. We also have a view that corporations laws should be amended to put employee entitlements, such as holiday pay and superannuation, ahead of unsecured creditors. Workers should come before banks in terms of getting paid. Countries such as Germany, Denmark and South Korea have similar systems in place where a substantial percentage of workers' wages are guaranteed to cushion the effects of job losses. It’s early days yet, but the CFMEU has been at the forefront of public policy changes and advancements to workplace conditions over the years and we see no reason why this type of system cannot be achieved. Stay tuned! If the boss goes broke workers should get paid! WA IRC tosses out electoral case. A retuning officer’s alleged provision of an electoral roll to candidates in a union branch election was NOT an irregularity as defined under the WA Industrial Relations Act, the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission has ruled. Dismissing an application for an inquiry into the roll’s use in the postponed CFMEUWA C&G state branch election, acting Commission President Mark Ritter has found he had no jurisdiction to hear the matter. The alleged irregularity did not fall within the scope of S69 of the WA IR Act, Mr. Ritter found. Even if the matter was covered, the allegations would almost certainly have been found ‘moot’ because a new election had been called, he found. The State Election of the CFMEUWA C&G has since been held with the ballot ending on June 19th. Construction Worker – Winter 2009 Page 41 CFMEU
W O R K E R S R I G H T S with Jack Nicholas FAIR WORK ACT 2009 What Does It Mean For You? The Rudd Government’s Fair Work Act 2009 (FWA) comes into operation on 1 July 2009 and replaces the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WRA). Here’s a summary of what the transition to the FWA means for CFMEU members. If you’re covered by an agreement under the “old” WRA (eg Union Collective Agreement, Employee Collective Agreement, AWA, ITEA)... All agreements that were made under the WRA (old agreements) will continue to apply and operate as they have done up to now. Your employer must continue to provide all the pay and conditions it has promised to under the old agreement. Old agreements will continue to apply past their expiry dates until terminated or replaced by a new agreement. If you’re covered by a federal or state award and employed by a corporation... A new modernised award (e.g. the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010, Joinery and Building Trades Award 2010, Mobile Crane Hiring Award 2010, Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010) will replace it on 1 January 2010. You can view the modernised awards at http://www.airc.gov.au/awardmod/fullbench/awards.htm. What about minimum conditions of employment? The FWA includes an expanded set of minimum conditions, the National Employment Standards (NES) that will apply to all employees of corporations from 1 January 2010. The NES provides basic standards covering maximum working hours, requests for flexible working arrangements, parental leave, annual leave, personal/carers and compassionate leave, community service leave, long service leave, public holidays and notice of termination. The NES will apply even if an old or new agreement or an old award provides for something less. If you’re dismissed... New unfair dismissal laws will apply that remove many of the old restrictions that stopped many members getting access to the system (see related article in this issue). If you want your CFMEU organiser to visit your workplace... Your organiser will still have to comply with similar procedures as they did under the WRA. The major change is that the old rules that stopped organisers getting on site because the employer had refused to negotiate an agreement with the CFMEU will go. Your organiser will now be entitled to exercise a right of entry whenever there are employees who are eligible to be members of the CFMEU. What about the ABCC? The FWA has not made any changes to the operation of the ABCC. Despite the recent Wilcox report failing to identify any evidence of the need for this anti-union agency, the Rudd Government has said it will retain the ABCC until 31 January 2010 and then replace it with a specialist division of Fair Work Australia’s Inspectorate. The CFMEU will continue to fight for the removal of laws that unfairly targets building and construction workers. Note: You can access fact sheets on the operation of the FWA at: http://www.deewr.gov.au/WorkplaceRelations/NewWorkplaceRelations/Pages/FactSheets.aspx Construction Worker – Winter 2009 Page 43 CFMEU
Page 1 and 2: INSIDE: May Day souvenir lift-out p
Page 3 and 4: S E C R E TA R Y ’ S A D D R E S
Page 5 and 6: D AY O F M O U R N I N G R A L LY B
Page 7 and 8: U N I O N N E W S with Kevin Reynol
Page 9 and 10: A C T U C O N G R E S S with Kevin
Page 11 and 12: continued from previous page OHS pr
Page 13 and 14: C I T Y R O U N D U P with Mick Buc
Page 15 and 16: L E G A L M AT T E R S with Matthew
Page 17 and 18: O F F C U T S with Joe McDonald Kee
Page 19 and 20: Pyramid Constructions. “Even the
Page 21 and 22: MayDay’09
Page 23 and 24: TA K I N G A C T I O N with Joe McD
Page 25: T H E S O U T H W E S T R E P O R T
Page 29 and 30: U N I O N B E N E F I T S YOUR REDU
Page 31 and 32: W H E R E A R E T H E Y N O W ? wit
Page 33 and 34: M E M B E R ’ S M E E T I N G S w
Page 35 and 36: U N I O N B E N E F I T S with Rod
Page 37 and 38: I N T E R N AT I O N A L N E W S wi

Winter Issue 2009 - cfmeu

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