Additional New Role - FEDERAL SECRETARY

At the Federal Council meeting held in Townsville in September 2008 I was elected to the position of Federal Secretary.  I will be performing these duties in conjunction with my current duties of Assistant Secretary of the Queensland Branch and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead.  There are certainly major issues on the horizon - but most importantly will be to ensure the Rudd government delivers on their election promises to get rid of WorkChoices in total so as to restore fairness and balance in the workplace.

There is one aspect of the new legislation that needs serious attention and that is the Right of Entry section.  For this provision to have any teeth at all a paid official of the Union must be able to have access to employees in the lunch room during their breaks.  To believe that a paid official of the Union can service their members if they are put in a room near the manager's office or in a room some forty or fifty metres from the dining room and expect members to visit them during their lunch break is, to put it simply, off with the fairies. Access to our members at the workplace should be a fundamental right to any paid official provided they comply with the rules and the trade union movement can't give up the fight on this issue.

JOBS BEING EXPORTED

The export of live cattle/sheep has always been a bone of contention for meatworkers.  However, it has definitely come under the spotlight as processors complain of the shortage of livestock.  Emotive issues aside, I believe that this problem needs to have a bipartisan approach from the meat industry in general and have input from all parties affected by this unsavoury practice.  As Federal Secretary I was able to secure a meeting with the Hon. Tony Burke, Minister for Primary Industries, in relation to this very important matter.  I was accompanied by Grant Courtney, Federal President, and Russell Carr, Queensland Branch Secretary.

How any government, Labor or otherwise, can sit back and watch jobs being shipped overseas in these difficult times is somewhat bewildering.

ENTERPRISE BARGAINING SHOULD MEAN SECURITY NOT UNCERTAINTY

There have been a lot of concerns raised by our Queensland members on the number of stand-down days which have occurred throughout the industry in 2008.  I believe these concerns are well and truly justified and I say so for the following reasons;

When the enterprise bargaining process began in the early 1990s employers entered into EBAs with some cosmetic changes to working conditions and annual wage increases.  Then came the big push to extend the working day from a 6.5 hour working day (AWT) to an 8 hour working day with other flexibilities in their agreements - their reasons being that their plants were under utilised and there needed to be more productivity to be profitable.

As history shows, this move developed into a long and bitter dispute which ultimately meant massive changes to meatworkers' working conditions.

Not satisfied with these changes there has been a further extension of the working day with the 4 out of 5 day roster/4 day fixed roster/4 out of 6 day operation/7 day operation - some of which have night shifts, all with the express purpose of maximising plant utilisation and increasing productivity.

I suppose it is fair to say that employers are entitled to expect maximum returns for their investment; however, employees are also entitled to expect full-time employment given the changes they have negotiated through the enterprise bargaining process over the last 12 years.  Therefore, does it come as any surprise that workers are furious that their employer would expect them to share the poverty by being subject to these regular stand-downs?

There is a view that some employers take that if the wage rates in their collective agreements incorporate the 10% regular daily hire (RDH) component, then that gives them the unfettered right to stand their employees down, if and when they choose.  Strictly speaking this is correct, so as a consequence whenever there is a shortage of stock or some other reason that does not allow a plant to operate at maximum throughput levels, then the employees are stood down.

Employers cannot expect to retain staff where there is this element of uncertainty on full-time employment.  Discussions have taken place with the major employers surrounding this issue and fortunately some employers accept that employees should feel that their service with the company is recognised and have put in place mechanisms that give their employees a degree of security.

There needs to be a clear understanding that this Union and its members did not enter into EBAs that contain extended working hours, increased productivity, flexible rosters etc without any consideration given to long serving employees gaining full-time employment when situations like this occur.

I am hopeful that this issue will be resolved with a common sense approach when determining production levels with due consideration given to employees' job security.

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