June 2005 Rail and Road - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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*Rail and Road JUNE 05 7/9/05 12:05 PM Page 24FEDERAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CHANGES– BE ALERT AND VERY VERY ALARMED!!!In the last edition of Rail and Road, an outline of the attack the federal government iswaging on people’s rights at work was outlined. In this edition, we continue to keepmembers updated about the campaign being waged by the RTBU, together with every otherunion in Australia, against these changes.Members will be aware that from theJuly 1, when the federal governmentgains control of the Senate, it willintroduce sweeping changes toworkplace rights. These changeswill be introduced into the Senatesome time in August, and are likelyto become law in October.Why are we runninga campaign whenthe government cando what it likes on1st July?The ACTU, together withUnions NSW and everyunion in the country isdetermined to involve thewhole community in thecampaign. The purpose ofthe campaign may besummed up as follows:-• To educate thecommunity about theimpact of the federal governmentchanges on their rights at work.• To involve the community in thecampaign around those issues thatwill have the greatest impact onpeople and their families.• To ensure that workers and theirfamilies are able to take make theirviews plain to those politicianswho failed to advised the electorateprior to the last election that theyhad these changes in mind.We should all remember, the onlything that politicians fear is losingtheir jobs. We need to make sure thatthey feel the same heat that 96% ofworkers will feel, once thegovernment takes away peoples’rights to appeal against unfairdismissal.What are the worst aspectsof these changes for RTBUmembers?...We should all remember,the only thing thatpoliticians fear is losingtheir jobs. We need to makesure that they feel the sameheat that 96% of workerswill feel...Like all other workers who workunder federal awards andagreements, we will be immediatelyaffected. The first thing will be ourrights to access the Commission toresolve disputes. The governmentwill abolish the jurisdiction of theAustralian Industrial RelationsCommission to deal with disputesvia arbitration.The second thing that our membersin the private sector will face, will beattempts by some employers to forcenew employees onto individualemployment contracts (AWAs) evenwhere we have an enterpriseagreement in place.The third thing that will affect us isthat each new enterprise agreementwe negotiate will have to include allthose matters that will be strippedout of awards by the new legislation.However many of our members havefamily and friends whowork in small companies inthe private sector. Up tonow, they have enjoyed theprotection that a strongaward system and anindependent umpire hasprovided to employees insmall and mediumbusinesses, even wherethey were not members ofunions. The Howardgovernment is going tostrip this protection awayand lower the safety net toa level of a single minimumwage, ($484.00 per week) amaximum number of weekly hours(unknown at this stage), unpaidparental leave, sick leave and fourweeks annual leave. People will beforced to sign for this or find anotherjob.Unfortunately, many people havenot understood how the system hasworked in the past. Right nowhowever, they are about to find outwhat they thought they had as ofright, is easily taken away by agovernment that only wants to dowhat the big end of town wants.24Rail and Road - June 2005
*Rail and Road JUNE 05 7/9/05 12:05 PM Page 25Members across the union arecalling meetings and inviting RTBUrepresentatives to explain thechanges in detail and to carryresolutions and sign petitionsagainst these changes.If you would like to hold a meeting,or want a copy of the action kit, callyour organiser, or ask your delegatefor the material. Every RTBUdelegate has a copy of the material.Our members employed incompanies of 100 employees or lesswill have no rights of Appeal to theCommission if they are sacked. Inthis instance of course, the unionwill consider taking action in thecivil courts should an employerbreach a member’s employmentcontract by sacking them orrepudiating their contract ofemployment.Date:- 24 June 1992HansardIndustrial RelationsLegislation Amendment Bill1992-Second readingJohn Howard “I actually think theway the government has treated themembers of the Commission hasbeen to say the least, uncivil”Arch Bevis. You’re going toabolish it, JohnJohn HowardAs I have said before, we will stabthem in the stomach……We are upfront about it. I have had discussionswith the President of theCommission and to his credit, hehas said, ‘At least we know wherewe stand with you.RTBU MEMBERS SHOULD CONSIDERINCOME PROTECTION INSURANCEDuring the recent RailCorp-RICEnterprise negotiations the RailUnions log of claims included anincome protection scheme to befunded by the employer.The RTBU was aware that arecent study found 77% of peopleaged between 25 and 49 who arecurrently employed would needto rely on government welfare ifan outside working hours injuryprevented them from working.It is an alarming fact that 77% ofpeople in this age group have noform of Income ProtectionInsurance. This means only 23%are covered. If we take a look atfemales, 86% of them in this agegroup are not covered.We know that most workingAustralians have less than onemonth’s income in reserve. Haveyou ever stopped to think whatimpact on your life being offwork for an extended period oftime would have?Did you know that WorkCoveronly covers you for 22% of yournormal week so that means 78%of the time you are not covered?Unfortunately, the employerwould not agree to include afunded income protection planinto the Enterprise Agreement.The RTBU went to the marketplace to see if a cost effectivesolution could be developed forMembers.WageCover Australia Pty Ltd wasgiven the job to design a productthat best suits our Membersneeds. WageCover developed aproduce that provides a flexiblecover at a cost effective price.To date the Australian ServicesUnion (ASU) and the MaritimeUnion of Australia (MUA) haveagreed to participate in this newincome protection plan.The RTBU believes that incomeprotection is important forworking families and weencourage all Members as part oftheir consideration for incomeprotection insurance to examinethe WageCover IncomeProtection Insurance.We have negotiated payrolldeductions with all the majoremployers in the Rail, Tram andSTA Bus industry.WageCover representatives areavailable to attend meetings ofMembers to explain the newincome protection package.Further information onWageCover is contained in thisRail & Road.MUA Secretary Robert Coombs, ASU Secretary Sally McManus,Brendan Mockford from WageCover & RTBU Secretary NickLewocki discuss the details of income protectionRail and Road - June 2005 25
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June 2005 Rail and Road - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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