1. Foreign Owned and Anti Australian

Why doesn't Steve Bracks do something with those foreign owned power companies, you ask? We're asking the same question. On the very day the ETU signed a new EBA with the ALINTA Power Company guaranteeing workers a 36-hour-week, wage increases and greater income protection, Victoria 's largest power company, Powercor/Citipower could only say it wanted to end the bargaining period and go to arbitration.

Despite the ETU agreeing to pay for a 36-hour-week and Powercor/Citipower offering office staff a similar agreement the company refuses to countenance a 36-hour week. Don't we have ever right to expect Mr Bracks or Mr Howard to pat us on the back for trying to give young people a job and allow members to spend more time with their family?.

As secretary Dean Mighell put it:

The fact that the ETU doesn't want one cent more than what Powercor/Citipower has offered engineers and office staff seems to have gone over the head of the media. As many people are saying, it's time Mr Bracks stood up for ordinary Victorians and told these foreign owned power companies to stop walking over ordinary Victorians and end the dispute.

'I defy anyone to show me that what we have put on the table isn't fair and reasonable. This Friday a group of ETU members handed over $7,500 to the Children's Hospital because one of their mates lost a child to leukaemia. If only Powercor/Citipower had the compassion and commitment to young people as those workers, what a different world it would be,' said Dean Mighell .

On 29th May 2004 Di Thomas from the Border Mail wrote the following article.

THE Electrical Trades Union has rejected claims its work bans had delayed work at Wangaratta's Big W project and had lengthened an electricity blackout at Rutherglen last month.

The union's State secretary, Mr Dean Mighell , said it was an "absolute disgrace" both electricity supplier TXU and member for Mur ray Valley Mr Ken Jasper had cited the work bans as responsible for the delay at the new Big W building.

"The Wangaratta site has never been banned by us," he said.

"The reason TXU can't complete the work there is that they haven't maintained the switching gear for the past 10 years and it is now inoperable."

Mr Mighell said TXU would be unable to connect the Wangaratta site to electricity without switching off the power in the whole area.

Mr Jasper had said the bans were threatening to delay completion of the building because the union had refused to remove high voltage cable under the Ford St site.

He said the effect of the bans had been highlighted by the Rutherglen blackout with the town waiting for union members to complete an automatic switchover of supply from the Wangaratta to the Wodonga line when a breakdown occurred.

However, Mr Mighell said the Rutherglen blackout had followed storms in the region and staff had worked significant amounts of overtime in appalling conditions to get the power back on.

He said the situation had highlighted the reasons why the union had undertaken bans which limited overtime.

Members were also refusing to do high voltage live work and had limited commercial work unless a severe impact would result on the public.

"TXU has slashed workforce numbers to ensure its returns to shareholders and they are training very few apprentices," Mr Mighell said.

"Because staff numbers are down, 18-hour days for our members are the norm.

"We are calling for the increased employment of apprentices to reduce the number of hours existing staff are working and better safety standards."

The ETU needs stories like the above. You can help.

LETTER WRITERS NEEDED

As we all know there's more than one way to skin a cat. If you have time to write a letter to a metropolitan or regional newsletter or live in the country and would like to help with the campaign please email me - phil@etu.asn.au - and I'll suggest what you can do.

2. What does the Ordinary Punter think about Work and Play?

On 2 June, 2004 ACTU Secretary Greg Combet delivered a speech Beyond the Budget: Building the Nation at the National Press Club.

The following is an excerpt from that speech:

But for many other employees the biggest problem can be long working hours, stress, and dissatisfaction with the pressure work places on family life.

Peter Costello thinks the work-family issue can be fixed by throwing billions of dollars at people. Tax cuts for the better off and an increase in family payments was the centre pieces of what can only be described as the biggest vote-buying Budget in living memory.

What this Government doesn't understand is that it's not just money that's the issue for working families - it's also about time. Unions have surveyed thousands of working parents. People told us that balancing work and family is their number one employment and life concern. Sure they will accept increased family payments, but what they also want is time - time to look after sick kids, time to get to childcare, time to cover school holidays, and time to spend with children and partners.

The rules at work don't allow people this flexibility, this capacity to manage their working hours, when they need it. That's why the ACTU is running the first ever work and family test case in the Industrial Relations Commission.

We aim to win substantial new rights for working parents. A week ago the ACTU commissioned Newspoll to compare people's support for the work-related rights we are seeking with the Government's family payments. The measure nominated as most useful by all those surveyed was an obligation on employers to provide family flexible working hours. Full time workers rated an increase in family payments by Government as their last preference.

Eighty seven percent of full time workers identified flexible working hours, the right to time off work for family emergencies, a choice for part time work, and more help for child care as more useful than an increase in Government family payments.

The ACTU would not deny working families a dollar of what the Budget offered. But the fact is that the things the ACTU is seeking in the work-family test case are rated higher by voters. And yet the Government has foreshadowed that it will oppose our case. The union focus on work and family though is only part of our new workplace agenda. The plight of casual workers is also emerging as a key industrial issue. Overall, what we are developing is a more contemporary agenda - an agenda which is more responsive to people's concerns.

Greg Combet's speech only confirms what the ETU is trying to do in the power industry and elsewhere. The 36-hoour week is the best way to begin the task of balancing the work/family issues. It's no surprise that the ETU's membership has grown and that the vast majority of workers surveyed identified the following as the best strategies for balancing work and family:

•  AN OBLIGATION FOR EMPLOYERS TO PROVIDE FAMILY FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS and

•  A RIGHT TO TIME OFF WORK FOR FAMILY EMERGENCIES

•  MORE GOVERNMENT HELP FOR CHILDCARE

Instead of threatening to use the Essential Services Act Premier Steve Bracks should be congratulating the ETU for making a commitment to the family by way of a 36-hour working regime in the power industry.

ou'll be glad to know that Average Weekly Earnings for union members is approximately 15 per cent higher than non-union wages, with union members earning $807 per week on average while non-union members earning $701 per week on average.

3. The Profile of the Future

My name is Chris Putnam and I am a member of the newly formed Electrical Trades Union Apprentice Committee along with a number of other apprentice ETU members. The committee has been formed to help deal with problems affecting apprentices. One of these arising problems is that of profiling.

As I am sure most first and second year apprentices are aware, we are supposed to be filling out profiling forms on a weekly basis, wether it be in written form or via the internet. What I, along with the majority of the apprentice committee was unaware of are the severe repercussions of not filling these out.

At a recent committee meeting we were lucky enough to be joined by Michael McNabb, Deputy Director of EPIC, the electrical industry training board which oversees the whole profiling system. Michael pointed out that profiling is now as important a part of our apprenticeship as passing trade school is. As with trade school the failure to adequately complete your profiling requirement you will not be eligible to sit your LEM. Michael assured the committee that this is the case and as of the end of 2004 will be rigorously adhered to. Already in NSW there are apprentices engaged in extensive legal battles because they have been denied the opportunity to sit for their licence because of profiling deficiency.

This news shocked the hell out of a lot of the committee, as we, like I'm sure a lot of the other members have been a bit slack in keeping up to date with profiling.

We will be doing a special project on profiling to gather information and to stress the real importance of filling out these forms. Should you have any further queries on this topic they should be directed to your trade school as it is by the most part, their responsibility to provide you with assistance and guidance on profiling. Should they deny you this opportunity please do not hesitate to contact the ETU office for advice.

4. Lifting the Spirits

As Dean Mighell has said in this edition of the online magazine, on Friday 4 June at 11 am representatives of the Lift Industry handed over $7,500 - raised during the recent EBA bargaining period - to the Children's Hospital. The decision to donate the money came via a motion moved by Trevor Pennington. Trevor had been at the funeral of Chris and Desley Pinsent's 6-year-old daughter Samara who tragically died of leukaemia. The ETU is proud of those members who through their generosity hoped to bring some relief to a grieving family. The ETU does hope this gesture reminds Desley and Chris that their friends are thinking of them at this difficult time.

5. Blake Street Victory

As we reported on the website last week the protracted battle at Blake Street , Reservoir has come to an end. As reported, a number of electrical contractors were chasing money from the owner of the Nursing Home being built in the street. It's instructive that the Federal Government was of no help in sorting out the problem. Instead it was left to the CFMEU and the ETU to ensure that members working on the project received the money thewy were chasing.

And in typical comradely fashion Organiser Howard Worthing was quick to congratulate CFMEU president John Cummins, who, said Howard, was instrumental in giving us a financial settlement agreeable to all unionists on the site.'

The support we received from John Cummins, Howard Worthing, Mick Powell, and the work of the members was instrumental in us getting a good outcome. I wrote to John Lender and Consumer Affairs about the problems created by shonky builders. I haven't heard back from Mr Lenders (State Minister for Consumer Affairs), despite him writing in the Age saying he was going to crack down on shonky builders in the domestic field. I hope he has a serious look at them,' said ETO member Robert Bassetto

6. A Right Royal Stunt

State Secretary Dean Mighell and organiser David Mier cut a picture of poise and elegance by comparison with the tawdry performance of Liberal Senator David Albert Lloyd Johnston. Johnston, who comes from West Australia and describes himself as a barrister and solicitor, was no match for the two union boys as he plodded through a series of questions about union activities on building sites. It was very amusing hearing David Mier explain to him that under a lawful EBA the union had the right to discuss the appointment of a shop steward. About the only thing Johnston had going for him was that he was decked out in a pinstripe suit.

So what did David make of Senator Johnston, you ask? 'He was ill-prepared and knew nothing about the construction industry,' said our man on the spot. That, we think, about sums it up.

It's disgraceful that so much public money can be wasted on Royal Commission stunts. Watching the likes of Johnston dragging the chain in an attempt to reveal some scandal or rort is really the icing on the cake. Even Democrats Senator Andrew Mur ray was smart enough to acknowledge that 'pattern bargaining creates a level playing field.'

7. Eureka Under the Stars

Don't forget about our special night under the stars in Ballarat. On Thursday 2 December night we'll be holding a twilight picnic alongside the Eureka Centre. We've spoken with Shane Howard (of Solid Rock fame) and other performers about the night. There's some cheap accommodation in the caravan park next door and if you bring a tent you can camp right where the miners stockade was built 150 years ago?

On Friday morning 3 December we'll gather for the dawn commemoration in the park. The 150 th commemoration of the struggle of miners for democratic rights and the abolition of the unjust license fee is attracting interest around the world. It's an event that will bring many public figures to Ballarat. The dawn commemoration will be a moving and historic event.

Ivan Bolta, Omar Merhi , Joseph Youseff, Vanessa Garbett, Mike Symon, David Hayes, Rob Barby, Mark Farrell, Rick Conduit, David de Graaff, Dean Mighell and Alex McCallum are among those who've attended Eureka Committee meetings. Look out for them if you want to find out more, want to join the committee or have some ideas. Otherwise just email me on phil@etu.asn.au

8. Next edition eTU online

Thanks for reading this issue of eTU online. You'll receive your next issue in July 5, 2004.