Mission & Justice

Brad Norington; 17/11/08; (2 Items)

The Rudd Government’s decision to bring back a central wage umpire with the power to settle pay claims was a return to the “bad old days” and could fuel rising unemployment, an influential business leader has warned. Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout expressed concern yesterday after Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard said Labor’s new industrial umpire could arbitrate on union pay claims for workers in low-paid industries. In a policy reversal on Friday, Ms Gillard confirmed that Labor would give the umpire power to rule on union pay claims when employers persistently refused to bargain in good faith. Ms Ridout, who is close to Kevin Rudd and sits on key government committees, is bitterly disappointed Ms Gillard bowed to union pressure for Labor’s proposed umpire, Fair Work Australia, to regain the lost arbitration powers.

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Brad Norington; 15/11/08

The Rudd Government has bowed to union pressure by agreeing that a central wage umpire will decide pay claims for workers in low-paid industries who fail to reach agreements in bargaining disputes. In a remarkable policy U-turn, Julia Gillard confirmed yesterday that childcare workers, security guards and cleaning staff could have their wage claims arbitrated when negotiations with employers reached a stalemate. The Acting Prime Minister and Workplace Relations Minister will also give all workers access toarbitration of pay claims by Labor’s new industrial umpire, Fair Work Australia, if rogue employers refuse to negotiate. Since last year’s election campaign, Ms Gillard has consistently rejected “last-resort arbitration” that would involve a return to court-style decision-making by an industrial umpire.

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Bassma Al Jandaly; 14/11/08; (2 Items)

A Bangladeshi labourer who spent the last 16 months on a hospital bed here was flown home yesterday, after receiving his dues at the last moment before travelling. Murtaj Ali, 32, father of one son has been lying paralysed and unable to speak in the Kuwaiti Hospital after being seriously injured in a construction site accident. Ali fell from the fifth floor of a building under construction while at work. He suffered brain damage and other severe injuries that left him disabled. An official from Kuwaiti hospital told Gulf News yesterday that the company finally paid Ali Dh30,000 (600,000 Bangladeshi takas) as compensation money for his injuries which was transferred to his wife’s bank account in Bangladesh.

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Paul Maley; 14/11/08; (2 Items)

Temporary skilled workers earning less than $100,000 will be guaranteed market wages as part of a major overhaul of the troubled 457 visa program. The recommendation was one of 66 contained in the long-awaited 100-page report by industrial relations commissioner Barbara Deegan, which was released by Immigration Minister Chris Evans late yesterday afternoon. Among the report’s other recommendations was that prospective employers be profiled according to the risk of exploitation or abuse, that 457 holders be limited to a maximum of eight years in Australia, and that employers make greater use of labour agreements to prevent exploitation.
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11/11/08

A crowd of over 200 workers who have accused their employer of not paying their wages, not issuing their work/residency permits and harsh treatment descended upon the labor court on Saturday to expedite their case. The judges decided the case in their favor and ordered the employer, Al-Hasana Contracting Company, to start paying the workers immediately. “A three-member panel of judges, in a unanimous decision, facilitated an agreement with the company to pay salaries and renew iqamas of the workers,” said R. Muraleedharan, president of the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA).

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Yuko Narushima; 11/11/08

Another temporary migrant working on a 457 visa has died from injuries sustained on the job after attempts by the union to visit his worksite were repeatedly thwarted, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says. At least nine migrants on the visa scheme have died in work-related accidents in the past two years, at almost double the workplace mortality rate of the general working population. Lian Ron Xia, a welder from China, died in September from a head injury sustained in an industrial accident at Byrne Trailers in Wagga Wagga. This follows three 457-worker deaths in remote areas revealed by the Herald last year.

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7/11/08

The Chinese company, Ramu Nickel, has hit back at reports claiming there may be another racket of corrupt officials admitting Chinese, for a fee and stating “Ramu project” as their destination, and “engineer” as their occupation. The response comes after recent reports of last week’s tally of 46 Chinese entering PNG and out of this figure 36 were listed as engineers. The Post-Courier has copies of entry cards into Papua New Guinea for the months of September and October for Chinese coming in as engineers and managers for Ramu Nickel, which indicate more than 200 came into the country in a month (on four flights) and in two months about 400 of them were recorded. Last week, serious concerns were raised by security agencies responsbible for the security of the nation that the Government should not turn a blind eye on these issues as it is a major threat to the security of Papua New Guinea.

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6/11/08; (2 Items)

Another 41 non-citizens, all from mainland China were apprehended yesterday at Malolo Lodge outside Madang Town and Basamuk area yesterday for breaches of Papua New Guinea labour and immigration laws. This brings the total number of illegal miners confirmed to be in the country working with the Ramu nickel mine to 104, together with those that were apprehended on Monday and Tuesday at the mine site. Madang police criminal investigation division also confirmed that some of the 84 apprehended earlier were released after the company produced certain documents on their employment contracts while 63 were charged for breaching labour and immigration laws. The mine workers are out on police bail after the company paid K189,000 (K3000 each). They are expected to appear at the Madang District Court tomorrow.

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Md. Rasooldeen; 3/11/08; (3 Items)

A housemaid has sought refuge in the Sri Lankan Embassy here, claiming she has not received her salary for 18 years. The maid, who has run away from her employer, came to the mission with only SR1,500 in her possession. She was brought there by a Sri Lankan driver who had recently come to work for the same employer. The driver told embassy officials that he helped the maid because he felt sorry for her. “She was not in sound mental health when she arrived at the mission,” an official from the embassy said, adding that she might have lost her memory because of an absence of contacts with her family for a long period. “She might have been driven into this mental state by what she suffered at her employer’s house,” he said, adding that the mission does not know whether the last house where she worked was that of her original sponsor.

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Ben Schneiders; 3/11/08

Women still earn far less than men — even when they do similar jobs — and deep-seated prejudice appears the most likely reason. Differences in productivity, education and experience play only a small role in the pay difference between the sexes. Professor Richardson says that overall, women earn only two-thirds as much as men do, but much of that difference is because men work many more hours, the paper presented to an Australian Fair Pay Commission forum on Friday says. However, when women and men are compared in full-time non-managerial jobs, women earn only 89% of their male counterparts.

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