Meeting held : 27 July 2006
Chair of Meeting: The Acting President, Comrade Annie Owens
Location of the meeting : Trades Hall Auditorium, 4 Goulburn St Sydney
UNIONS NSW MEETING MINUTES
MEETING HELD THURSDAY 27TH July 2006
IN THE TRADES HALL AUDITORIUM
AT 4 GOULBURN STREET, SYDNEY, AT 6:00 PM
The Acting President Com. A. Owens occupied the Chair.
PRESENT: - M. Lennon [Acting Secretary], C. Christodoulou, A.Peters (Deputy Assistant Secretaries).
MINUTES: -
The Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon moved: -
"That the minutes as circulated be received".
Com. B. Tubner seconded.
CARRIED
The Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon moved: -
"That the minutes as circulated be adopted".
Com. B. Parker seconded.
CARRIED
CREDENTIALS
From The Australian Workers' Unions, Greater NSW Branch appointing: - C. Bodnar in place of R. O'Neill and M. Wilmore in place of N. Allen.
From The New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union appointing: - G. Mitchell, C. Perrin and G. Mathews as delegates.
From The Textile, Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia, NSW Branch appointing: K. Price in place of J. Owen.
The Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon moved: -
"That the credentials be received and the delegates welcomed".
Com. B. Parker seconded.
CARRIED
APOLOGIES
Apologies were received and accepted for: - J. Robertson, M. Thistlethwaite, S. Moait, F. Barnes, J. Irving, C. Game, M. Stuart, M. O'Halloran, J. Diamond and B. Kruse.
The Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon moved: -
"That the apologies be received and accepted".
Com. M. Want seconded.
CARRIED
QUESTION WITHOUT NOTICE:
Com. B. Riordan, Electrical Trades Union asked the Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon if he had seen the report regarding the ACTU advertisements and the criticism by the Howard Government that the advertisements were misleading.
The Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon said that he had seen the report in yesterday's Daily Telegraph. He said that the report emphasised what was wrong with the WorkChoices legislation. The workers in the advertised stories are claims that are being contested by their employer. Prior to WorkChoices, the competing claims of the worker and employer would be tested in the Industrial Relations Commission. That is no longer available under the unfair WorkChoices laws.
GUEST SPEAKER:
The Acting President, Com. A. Owens, introduced Virgilio Gura Colandog from the Philippines. Com. Colandog sent fraternal greetings from unionists in the Philippines. He reported on a five year dispute between auto workers and Toyota, where Toyota sacked workers who were trying to organise and improve their working conditions. Notwithstanding decisions by the Philippines Supreme Court which supported the workers reinstatement and a recommendation by the ILO that management recognise the auto worker's union, the company had refused to resolve the dispute. Com. Colandog requested that unions in Australia send messages of support to the auto workers.
Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon thanked Com. Colandog for his address. He said that the experience of the Toyota workers is a lesson for all workers in Australia, and the sort of environment we face under WorkChoices. He assured Com Colandog of our support.
EXECUTIVE BUSINESS
CORRESPONDENCE
1. From Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, NSW Branch: requesting the opportunity for Ms Angelina Ladera a Philippine Trade Union leader who is visiting Australia to address the Unions NSW meeting on 3rd August 2006 and that the issue she wished to speak about was the killing of trade unionists in the Philippines. The Union said that Ms Ladera was a member of the National Executive Committee of KMU, and Secretary-General of the KMU Regional organisation for Central Luzon. They said that Ms Ladera would be accompanied by Mr Joel Virador who is a member of the Philippines Parliament. The Union said that the objective of their visit to Australia was to expose the massive human rights problems in the Philippines with hundreds of extra-judicial killings of unionists and other progressive people. The visit was being co-ordinated by Philippines Australia Union Link. Ms Ladera would provide delegates with the opportunity to be informed of the extreme difficulties confronting the union movement in the Philippines as well as strengthening the relationship between Australian and Philippine unionists.
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Ms Angelina Ladera of the KMU in the Philippines be invited to address the Unions NSW meeting on August 3rd."
Com. C. Drane seconded.
CARRIED
2. From the Constructions Forestry Mining & Energy Union, Construction & General Division NSW Branch:- advising Unions NSW that they had resolved their dispute at the Sydney Opera House. The union said that earlier this year the Sydney Opera House had awarded the site maintenance contract to a non-union contractor who sought to victimise union members and force workers onto individual contracts. The Union said that following a long protest campaign, lobbying and negotiating, the maintenance contractor United Group Services had signed a collective bargaining agreement with the CFMEU on Tuesday 25th July and that the agreement would cover their employees on site. The CFMEU thanked Unions NSW for their assistance in this dispute.
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and the CFMEU be congratulated on achieving a collective agreement with the United Services Group at the Opera House."
Com. A. Ferguson seconded.
CARRIED
3. From the Rail Tram & Bus Union, NSW Branch: - advising Unions NSW of the ongoing anti-union behaviour in RailCorp. The Union had previously informed affiliates of several disputes including arguments regarding the rights of RTBU members having the right to union representation at interviews with management. The Union advised that with the assistance of the NSW Industrial Commission they had been able to resolve the dispute and restore their members' right to have a support person when giving statements, however RailCorp management were endeavouring to start a new dispute. The RTBU said that at a recent hearing before the Transport Appeals Board where an RTBU member was appealing RailCorp's decision to dismiss him, RailCorp had formally objected to the Chairperson and had made submissions that the RTBU officer acting as an advocate should not be allowed to do so, on the basis that their member had been represented by the officer during the investigation process. The Union said that their advocate made submissions that this was the first time in the history of the Transport Appeals Board that this type of objection had been raised and that he believed that it had more to do with RailCorp's industrial relations attitude rather than their actual submission. They said that the Chairperson correctly ruled that there was no basis to the objection. The Union said that RailCorp's ongoing anti-union behaviour had no bounds and that they are now attempting to force their attitude, unsuccessfully, on to those who are external to RailCorp. The Union thanked Unions NSW for their support.
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and that Unions NSW condemn RailCorp's ongoing anti-union behaviour. In particular, its ongoing attempts to deny members the right to union representation at disciplinary hearings."
Com. N. Lewocki seconded.
CARRIED
4. From the Australian Workers' Union, Greater New South Wales Branch: - advising Unions NSW of their concerns regarding a company titled Complete Traffic Services Pty Ltd. The Union said that the company had informed them that they had a non-registered Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) and that the reason the agreement was not registered was obvious and that they would not pass the "no disadvantage" test. This agreement which included 83c per hour less than the award, overtime rates less than the award, no wage increases for the next three years, a 40 hour week and all employees would be casuals, was registered in April 2006 after the WorkChoices Industrial Legislation came into effect. The Union said that the AWU then proceeded to recover the underpayment of wages prior to April 2006 for five of their members. The Union said that as they were commencing to recover the underpayments, the employer then had five union resignation letters typed, all addressed to local organiser David Lyons who is based in Grafton. These letters were not pro-form and that the company had individual employees' names typed in the letter of resignation to the union and that members were approached by the employer of Complete Traffic Services, Gerard O'Niell and were told to sign these letters or risk their employment with the company. The AWU said that since this intimidating behaviour by the company had occurred, "Complete Traffic Services" had been awarded a contract to supply traffic controllers on RTA sites. They said that Mr O'Niell had also been issuing Traffic Contractors Tickets to employees without the Construction Industry Occupational Health and Safety induction certificates which is unlawful but more importantly was putting their members at risk. The Union said that the RTA was aware of this but had still approved the contract with Complete Traffic Services and RTA Road Services Division for a period of one year. The Union believes that the behaviour of this company and the RTA is outrageous and that Gerard O'Niell was an unfit employer and should be "named and shamed".
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW condemn the actions of Complete Traffic Services Pty Ltd with respect to their use of AWAs to substantially cut wages and conditions and add them to the list of companies to be named and shamed.
Further, Unions NSW expresses its outrage at the RTA for engaging this company, particularly after being made aware of the company's past unlawful practices.
Accordingly, we call upon Minister Eric Roozendaal to remedy this matter immediately and address a future Unions NSW meeting about the matter."
Com. R. Collison seconded.
CARRIED
5. From the Constructions Forestry Mining & Energy Union, Construction & General Division NSW Branch: - advising Unions NSW of Sydney's new free-to-air community television channel TVS which provided a new forum to promote the causes of the trade union movement. The Union said that whilst the market share was presently limited, it was anticipated that in future years TVS would become a significant player in the Sydney media. The Union advised that on the June long weekend, TVS had screened the CFMEU DVD "A Walk In Our Boots" and they believed that consistent with TVS' objectives of diversity of content, that there were more opportunities to promote trade union media initiatives.
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW inform affiliates of the opportunities to promote trade union activities through community TV Station TVS."
Com. R. Mallia seconded.
Laurie Patton, CEO, TVS addressed the meeting.
CARRIED
6. From the Ethnic Communities' Council of NSW Inc: - advising Unions NSW that as part of their ongoing commitment to ensuring the preservation of the rights and welfare of their communities, they have set up a research team to look into the state of collective knowledge amongst their communities about WorkChoices and workplace rights. They said that they were increasingly concerned about WorkChoices and its potentially nefarious impact on the most vulnerable in their communities. They said that they were also very concerned about the high number of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who are injured or at risk of injury at work and who have difficulty accessing and navigating their rights and responsibilities. The Council advised that they would like to open dialogue between themselves and Unions NSW and invited a representative to address a meeting of their Board and Executive, to further develop an understanding of each other and to move towards a working relationship between Unions NSW and the Ethnic Communities' Council of NSW. They said that in turn they requested the opportunity to attend a meeting of Unions NSW to share issues and concerns about WorkChoices and how we could work together in other areas.
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW take up the offer to open up dialogue with the Ethnic Communities' Council over the impact of WorkChoices on its members and that a representative of the Ethnic Communities Council be invited to address and upcoming meeting of Unions NSW."
Com. C. Gambian seconded.
CARRIED
7. From the Police Association of New South Wales: - regarding advice provided to the Workers Compensation and Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Council this week that the State Government was reviewing benefits payable to injured workers under the NSW compensation scheme. The Union said that they were keen to see improvements to benefits paid to injured police officers and other workers as a consequence of the review. They said that as predicted by the union movement, the draconian reforms introduced by the government had seen compensation and legal rights for injured workers reduced had resulted in the financial performance of the scheme being significantly better than the actuarial predictions. The Union said that injured workers who had borne the brunt of the so called reforms in the past few months, the state government had announced premium reductions for employers. They said that it was high time that the benefits for injured workers were similarly improved and that lump sum compensation and weekly benefits as well as other entitlements were increased. The Union requested that Unions NSW demand that the NSW Government engage in a genuine consultation process with the union movement with respect to this review in order that the needs of injured workers were properly addressed.
Com. M. Lennon moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW seek assurances from the State Government that there will be genuine consultation with the union movement as part of the upcoming workers compensation benefits review."
Com. J. Lemaire seconded.
CARRIED
REPORTS
1. Campaign Report
The Acting Secretary, Com. M. Lennon reported on the bus tour. He said that the tour to Broken Hill had been going well from all reports. He reminded delegates that the last tour would be to the South West of the state from August 7th - 11th.
Com. M. Lennon moved:-
"That the report be received and noted"
Com. S Bali seconded.
CARRIED
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. The Industrial Relations Society of NSW
Annual General Meeting & Luncheon
Friday 4th August 2006, From 12 Noon.
NSW Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney
Guest Speaker: The Hon. John Della Bosca, MLC
NSW Minister for Industrial Relations
For further information and to RSVP 9630 5211
2. Philippines Human Rights Tour Public Forum
Date: Friday, 4th August 2006
Time: 4.30p.m.
Venue: AMWU Auditorium, 133 Parramatta Road, Granville
Speakers: Filipino Member of Congress, Joel Cirador
KMU Union Leader, Angelina Ladera
Cost: Free
For further information contact Peter 0418 312 301 or Margaret 98979133
3. Parramatta Your Rights At Work Campaign Committee
A meeting is being held to establish a Your Rights At Work Committee in the Parramatta Area.
Date: Monday, 14th August 2006
Time: 6p.m. - 7.30p.m.
Venue: Charles Byrne Room, Level 1, Parramatta Town Hall,
Church Street Mall, Parramatta.
4. Trade Justice Dinner
For the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
Date: Wednesday August 16, 6.30 pm for 7pm start
Where: Marigold Restaurant, Level 5, 683 George St, Sydney 2000
Cost: $55 per person
COUNCIL ADJOURNED AT 6: 57PM
President: ____________________________________
About Unions NSW
