1.Ban on Union Advertisement in Footy Record

For more than 130 days Smorgon Steel has tried to bury from the public gaze its disgraceful treatment of members of the Electrical Trades Union. But suddenly the ETU's campaign for a 36-hour-week is centre stage following articles in the Melbourne Herald Sun and the Melbourne Age.

Despite an in-principle agreement with their employer, the electrical contractor, IES Australia, twenty-five members of the ETU are being refused employment at Smorgons Steel in Laverton. Why? Because of their in-principle agreement with IES to work a thirty-six hour week.

The plot thickened when the ETU took out a two-page advertisement in the Australian Football League’s Record. When Smorgons saw the advert, they hit the roof. The upshot is that the AFL banned the ads from any subsequent Record and offered some half-baked explanation about not wanting to be political. What a joke! Is banning free speech political?

Funny, isn't it? There we were thinking that Australia went to war in Iraq in the service of democracy.

On July 3, The Age followed The Herald Sun in running a story about the banning of the ads. We can only say ‘Serve yourselves right, Smorgons’.

http://realfooty.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/02/1056825456960.html

2. Win Tickets to the Footy thru Members Equity

As a member of the ETU, you enjoy access to a number of low-cost banking products through Members Equity, including:

Home Loans with low rates and no application fees

A combined savings and transaction Account that pays a high rate of interest on every dollar over $3,000

A market leading credit card, awarded the Money Magazine Best of the Best Award 2003

One of Australia’s lowest fixed rate personal loans*

Brendan Westworth (03) 9605 6181 bwestworth@membersequity.com.au

Brad Scanlon (03) 9605 6149 bscanlon@membersequity.com.au

Paul Wingrave (Geelong) (03) 9605 6167 pwingrave@membersequity.com.au

alternatively contact Members Equity direct on 1300 654 990

or visit www.membersequity.com.au

Win Axcess One Tickets for Collingwood v Adelaide

To go in the draw to win one of two sets of double passes for Axcess One at the Telstra Dome to see Collingwood vs Adelaide on Friday 15 August 2003, simply answer the following question:

What is the application fee on a Super Member Standard Home Loan?

Simply email your answer to alex@etu.asn.au by 10 July 2003.

*Source InfoChoice for the lowest available fixed rate for a general purpose unsecured loan.

Fees and charges apply. Terms and conditions are available on request. Applications for credit are subject to approval.

# Draw will take place on 11/8/2003 at 3pm at the ETU offices in Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000. Winners will be notified by email.

3. Tragic Deaths in the Workplace

The Victorian Trades Hall Council is demanding the immediate implementation of WorkSafe ‘prevention of falls’ regulations following the deaths of three Melbourne workers in less than two weeks.

Two of the deaths occurred on non-unionised construction sites, with a 59-year-old man falling through the roof of a cool room on Saturday 14 June, and a 20-year-old apprentice falling three metres through the ceiling of a house on Wednesday 11 June. A third worker, from the Maritime industry, died in a fall from a container ship on Monday 23 June.

VTHC Secretary Leigh Hubbard said all deaths from falls were preventable.

"Employers cannot plead ignorance on this matter. It is vital that risk assessment procedures be carried out on all work that is potentially dangerous in this area. Any employer who doesn't do this is simply putting workers’ lives at risk."

WorkSafe regulations are due to be released in August this year and implemented by February 2004, but the VTHC argues that the regulations should become operational immediately.

"This is not rocket science - it simply requires some attention to the detail of safety when you send someone to work in a potentially very dangerous situation. "

Mr Hubbard said WorkSafe should implement the regulations immediately to force employers to improve their performance and prevent further loss of life.

"It is clear that employers are not taking this issue seriously. It is not enough to encourage them to listen to employees' concerns or to place the onus of safety back on to individual workers. Unfortunately, in many cases, employers need to be actively pursued on these issues before they take them seriously, and that usually requires a reminder that they are required by law to maintain a safe and healthy workplace."

Meanwhile on June 25 in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, electricity supplier United Energy and labour hire firm Skilled Engineering were convicted and fined a total of $100,000 for safety breaches after a man was electrocuted as he worked on power lines.

United Energy was also convicted and fined $25,000 over a second incident where a linesman suffered third-degree burns to half his body from an electric shock.

4. Shop Steward Training Course

The majority of our members work under enterprise agreements (EBAs) that entitle our Shop Stewards to receive Trade Union Training Leave.

Stewards and members have a vital interest in making sure stewards have completed the training courses.

The next course is coming up next month. If you are a steward and have not completed the Level 1 training course, then you should make use of the Trade Union Training Leave clause in your EBA.

If you’re a member, make sure your steward has done the training.

Course Dates are Tuesday 12th - Friday 15th August , 2003.

Call Tanya on 03 8341 5555 and reserve your place in the Level 1 course.

5. ETU ‘Heaters for Winter’ Campaign

The 2003 ETU ‘Heaters for Winter’ campaign is now on.

The campaign aims to help underprivileged people get some winter warmth with a heater.

Last year, ETU shop stewards and members were able to source hundreds of heaters for the winter appeal.

See last year’s story http://www.etu.asn.au/nletter/3_7newsletter.html#heat

Many people are using dangerous heaters that can cause house fires and lead to deaths. This campaign encourages the donation of column heaters as the safe alternative.

Please assist in this campaign by getting your workplace to donate a couple of heaters this year. Drop them off at the ETU Melbourne office as soon as you can.

ABC radio 774 Drivetime host Virginia “Trigger” Trioli, The Salvation Army and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade are promoting the “Heat Drive” campaign.

More details are available from the ABC website.

http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s878388.htm

6. Colombian Human Rights Defender receives Martin Ennals Award in Geneva

Alirio Uribe Muñoz, of the Colectivo Jose Alvear Restrepo (Colombia), received the 2003 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders at a ceremony in March 2003 in Geneva, in the studio of TSR. The ceremony, for the first time, was broadcast live at a Special Zig-Zag Café, with the participation of the famous singer Barbara Hendricks and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The award is a clear message of recognition and hope for all the human rights defenders, who - like Alirio - risk their lives every day in denouncing grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law and by fighting against impunity that is rampant in their country. The work of human rights defenders is indispensable in the light of massive violations of human rights in Colombia: in 2001 alone, there were 3366 political killings, 775 cases of disappearances and over 300.000 forced displacements, while the situation during 2003 continued to deteriorate.

The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) is a unique collaboration among the leading non-governmental human rights organizations as the Jury is composed of: Amnesty International, Defence for Children, German Diakonia, Human Rights Watch, HURIDOCS, International Alert, International Commission of Jurists, International Federation for Human Rights, International Service for Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture, where the secretariat of the MEA is also based.

Martin Ennals (1927-1991) was instrumental to the modern human rights movement. A fiercely devoted activist, he creatively pursued ideas ahead of his time as the first Secretary-General of Amnesty International and the driving force behind many other organisations. His deep desire was to see more cooperation and solidarity among NGOs: the MEA is evidence that this is possible.

http://www.martinennalsaward.org

Read Alirio’s acceptance speech

http://www.martinennalsaward.org/en/winners/2003/speech.html

7. Workplace Skill Monitoring System for Apprentices

The Electrotechnology, Printing, Information and Communications Industry Training Board (EPIC) will be providing the national electrotechnology electronic workplace skills monitoring system for electrical apprentices, known as Profiling, in Victoria, from July 14, 2003.

Profiling is the means by which a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) providing the training is able to monitor the developing competencies of an electrical apprentice at the workplace. EPIC, with the support of the Victorian RTOs, the ETU and the Notional Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), will be using the national Profiling system and will be providing this data collection service via the web.

EPIC’s web-based facility will provide a cost-effective and efficient method of processing information whilst ensuring the utmost in privacy and security of its users. RTOs will be able to access forms, documentation, reports and information pertaining to Profiling all via the EPIC ITB Profiling web site, accessible through: www.electroskills.com.au

All parties (apprentices, RTOs and later on, employers) involved in Profiling will be issued with a logon account (username and password) once release of information form has been completed, signed and returned to EPIC ITB.

It is expected that all RTOs will provide employers and their apprentices with quarterly profiling reports.

Employers who wish to find out more about Profiling should visit: www.electroskills.com.au

Employers should also contact their RTO to ensure that their apprentice is logged onto the EPIC Profiling system and that they will be receiving quarterly reports.

The EPIC ITB Profiling service will be up and running from July 14, 2003.

8. Electrical Contracting EBA Rate

“E-Class” (A-Grade) electricians working under the Electrical and Communications Contracting EBA should receive a wage increase as of July 1.

The new rate for members in this classification is $942.30 per week or $24.7974 per hour in construction.

Copies of the EBA are available from your organiser or your nearest Union office.

You can also download a Copy of the EBA as a pdf from the union website homepage. www.etu.asn.au

9.Work Dead – Stay Live

The Union has long condemned the practice of working on live installations.

Unfortunately the practice does occur and at times with unfortunate results.

Recently an apprentice contacted Ray Crampton, the ETU Apprentice Officer. He intended to resign from his employment because not only was he, as a second year apprentice, required and expected by his boss to work alone at different sites but he was also working on live installations.

Although there was an unfortunate outcome on the job front, the apprentice’s future will be better served with another employer.

The Union is now aware of the practices of a certain contractor in the Werribee area and will be keeping an eye out for future transgressions.

In the meantime, members must avoid becoming an incident statistic and not work live.

The Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector has issued a code of supervision guidelines for apprentices working on electrical installations. These guidelines provide that the only occasion that an apprentice can work on live circuits is for the instruction in basic fault finding and then only in the immediate presence of the supervising electrician.

Makes sense for all.

Don’t work live, Don’t work alone.

10. Mr Puntila & His Man Matti

Terra Incognita presents the Bertolt Brecht play Mr. Puntila and His Man Matti at the Trades Hall between July 10 and 26.

Mr. Puntila comprises some of the best comedy that Bertolt Brecht wrote for the theatre and contains one of his great characters.

It is political comedy dealing with the hypocrisies of capitalism and the need for workers to stick to their principles. Puntila is a hard-drinking landowner who suffers from a split personality: when drunk, he is friendly and humane; when he sobers up, he is intolerable--ruthless, surly, and self-centered. Oscillating between these two poles, he plays havoc with his workers, his women, his daughter’s marriage, and the loyalty of his sardonic chauffeur and valet, Matti.

Written in 1940 during Brecht's brief exile in Finland, Mr. Puntila is one of his greatest creations.

Venue: New Ballroom
Trades Hall
Cnr Victoria and Lygon Streets
Carlton
Victoria

Dates: July 10 – 26 (Weds – Sat)

Time: 7:30 pm

Cost: $24.00 / $17.00
Union members at concession rates

Bookings: 03 9537 3844

11. Ski Report – Heaps of Snow - No Lifts

Organisers Wes Hays and Rick Conduit (yep, that’s his real name) report that the outlook for the ski season in the Victorian snowfields is not good.

ETU members in these regions maintain ski-lifts and snow-making equipment. The organisers have found that members have no EBA, they are underpaid, working under sub-standard conditions including not being paid for overtime.

Meetings with members from Mount Buller to Falls Creek report the story is the same. Members are not going let another season go by without getting a better deal.

Industrial action is highly likely if the operators of the snowfields do not improve employees’ conditions. The action is likely to affect lifts and snow-making equipment operating on all Victorian ski-fields.

12. Next edition eTU online

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