Meeting held : 03 July 1997
Chair of Meeting: The President, Com. J. Whelan
LABOR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
MEETING HELD 3RD JULY, 1997 IN THE
TRADES HALL AUDITORIUM
AT CORNER GOULBURN AND SUSSEX STREETS, SYDNEY, AT 6.05 P.M.
The President, Com. J. Whelan, occupied the Chair.
PRESENT:- P. Sams (Secretary), M. Costa (Assistant Secretary)
M. Lennon (Executive Officer).
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, moved:-
"That the minutes as circulated be received."
Com. B. Plain seconded.
CARRIED
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, moved:-
"That the minutes as circulated be adopted."
Com. J. O'Brien seconded.
CARRIED
CREDENTIALS:-
There were no credentials for this evening's meeting.
APOLOGIES:-
Apologies were received and accepted from: M. Ferguson, J. McCarthy,
F. Belan, S. Moait, G. Donnelly, M. Ferguson, L. Poleson, J. Lemair, B.
Sexton, B. Johnson.
MOTION OF CONDOLENCE:-
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, advised it was his sad duty to report the
passing of Com. Betty Ibberson, formerly of the Electrical Trades Union,
New South Wales Branch.
Com. Ibberson had been a member of the Union for in excess of 40 years
and was also an Executive Member of the Union. Whilst employed by Alcatel
Australia she served as a Shop Steward, Secretary of the Combined Shop
Committee and held the position of Treasurer of the NSW Branch of the ETU.
Com. Ibberson also held the distinction of being the first female delegate
to the ETU's Federal Conference and was selected as a delegate to the 3rd
Duke of Edinburgh Commonwealth Study Conference.
The Secretary moved a Motion of Condolence to the family and friends
of the late Com. Betty Ibberson.
Com. B. Schmidt seconded.
CARRIED BY DELEGATES
OBSERVING A MINUTES SILENCE
EXECUTIVE BUSINESS
CORRESPONDENCE:-
1. From the Premier's Department of New South Wales - advising
that as part of the Government's Public Sector Reform Strategy, a comprehensive
review of the merit selection processes operating in the New South Wales
Public Sector would be conducted, with the primary purpose being to ensure
that the processes are effective, equitable, timely, transparent, cost
efficient and ensure probity. The review would be conducted through a Working
Party with a variety of agencies represented, and the Department requested
the participation of Labor Council's Industrial Officer, Gail Gregory,
on the Working Party.
Com. Sam moved Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Labor Council nominate
Industrial Officer, Gail Gregory, to the Working Party on merit selection
in the Public Sector.
Com. B. Jardine seconded.
CARRIED
2. From the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services
Union - advising of a resolution it had passed at its recent Annual
Conference, in the following terms:
"The MEU requested Labor Council of NSW pursue a claim for 13
weeks paid Maternity/Paternity Leave for Union members."
It requested Labor Council to pursue such a claim for all Union members
in NSW.
Com. Sams moved Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and referred to a meeting
of affiliates for consideration and further advice to Council."
Com. A. D'Amore seconded.
CARRIED
3. From the Premier's Department of New South Wales - advising
that draft Competition Guidelines had been developed which set out the
policy and advice on implementation and which would, when finalised, replace
the `Competitive Tendering and Contracting Out Guidelines' and the `Contracting
and Market Testing Policy' produced by the Premier's Department. The Premier's
Department provided a copy of the draft guidelines for Council's information
and comment and requested Council circulate the draft to Public Sector
Unions for their information and comment.
Com. Sams moved Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and referred to a meeting
of public sector affiliates for comment."
Com. B. Plain seconded.
CARRIED
4. From the Transport Workers' Union of Australia - advising
of a dispute with the NSW Corrective Services Department, and Waste Services
NSW, over the use of minimum security prisoners performing work previously
undertaken by full time employees. Six employees had been retrenched by
Theiss Environmental Services at its new waste recycling plant at Chullora
and had been replaced by 13 prisoners through the Corrective Services Industry
program (CSI). The Union understood that a total of 40 prisoners were to
be employed and further redundancies were planned. This project was in
direct contravention to the Review of Prison Industries undertaken by the
Labor Council in November 1992 which proposed the factoring in of award
wage costs, to ensure fair competition, in all future work activities of
Corrective Service Industries. However, clearly this was not the case as
workers employed through the CSI program at the Chullora plant were being
paid $48 a week. The Union requested Labor Council and affiliates support
it in its opposition to this attempt to exploit chain gangs as a source
of cheap labour.
Com. Sams moved Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and referred to a meeting
of public sector affiliates for comment."
Com. S. Hutchins seconded and spoke to the resolution.
CARRIED
REPORTS:-
1. CENTRAL COAST RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN
Industrial Officer, Com. J. Roberston, gave a report on the Central
Coast Recruitment Campaign which had taken place during the week beginning
Monday, June 23. The Campaign had been a success by all accounts and involved
a number of affiliates including the ASU, Clerical and Administrative Division,
HREA, FSU, LHMU and several others. He reported that there was to be a
debriefing of all unions on Wednesday, July 9 to analyse the activities
associated with the campaign. He made special thanks to Jennie George for
her participation in the first two days of the campaign, Peter Sams and
the Australian Workers' Union for the use of their Gosford Office during
that week.
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, moved:-
"That the report be received."
Com. J. Murphy seconded.
CARRIED
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, moved:-
"That the report be adopted."
Com. J. Bennett seconded and spoke to the resolution.
CARRIED
2. ELECTRICITY SUBMISSION
Executive Officer, Com. M. Lennon, reported on the Labor Council's
submission to the Hogg Inquiry. He briefly detailed the aspects addressed
in Labor Council's submission. Those areas highlighed related to environment,
regional employment and industrial issues. Com. Lennon advised that there
would be an ongoing campaign opposing the Government's proposal. The Campaign
would focus on forums in various regional centres in New South Wales.
Executive Officer, Com. M. Lennon, moved:-
"That the report be received."
Com. V. Higgins seconded.
CARRIED
Executive Officer, Com. M. Lennon, moved:-
"That the report be adopted."
Com. B. Schmidt seconded.
CARRIED
3. STATE WAGE CASE
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, reported that the State Wage Case would
proceed next week, over three days, where Labor Council would be pursuing
the ACTU's Living Wage Claim for New South Wales award workers. He futher
added that, as a consequence of a request from the New South Wales Government,
part two of the case dealing with pay equity, and associated issues, had
been withdrawn.
This was done to allow a Ministerial Reference on pay equity to be filed
with the Commission. It was agreed that those matters Labor Council intended
to raise in the State Wage Case would be covered in the Ministerial Terms
of Reference and that Labor Council would be consulted about those terms.
A Ministerial Reference would also raise the profile of the issues and
require the employers to respond to each of the Terms of Reference.
In respect to costs, the Secretary said that Labor Council had received
funding for a Researcher to prepare matters for the case and that the case
would be conducted from the internal resources of the Council.
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, moved:-
"That the report be received."
Com. C. Bosworth seconded.
CARRIED
The Secretary, Com. P. Sams, moved:-
"That the report be adopted."
Com. G. Childs seconded.
CARRIED
COUNCIL ADJOURNED AT 6.38 P.M.
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