Fair Work Australia? Still going strong!

Ever since conservatives smelt blood in the Canberra air they have been racheting up complaints about Fair Work Australia (FWA), with a bring back WorkChoices subtext.

Well as far as I’m concerned the bl@@dy thing isn’t broken and an Abbott-led Coalition can’t be trusted anywhere near industrial relations policy.

Why do I think Fair Work Australia is getting a bad rap?

See this FWA press release on 7th September 2011 for starters……

“The operators of a Gold Coast shooting range have been fined a total of $30,000 for asking employees to sign an Individual Flexibility Arrangement (IFA) removing their penalty rates.

Australian Shooting Academy Pty Ltd, which operates a public indoor shooting range at Centro Surfers Paradise shopping centre, has been penalised $25,000.

Company director and part-owner Michael Joseph Murphy, who manages the shooting range, has been fined a further $5000.

Australian Shooting Academy was also ordered to pay compensation of $7146 to one worker.

The fines and compensation order, imposed in the Federal Court in Brisbane, are the result of a prosecution by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

They were imposed by Justice John Logan after Mr Murphy admitted he was involved in Australian Shooting Academy breaching workplace laws in 2010 when asking six employees to sign an IFA.

The IFA removed their entitlement to Modern Award penalty rates for overtime, weekend and public holiday work. Five of the six employees ultimately signed the IFA.

However, the adverse action, coercion, undue pressure and duress provisions of workplace laws were breached when one of the employees signed only after he was threatened that there would be no work for him if he did not sign.

Further, the adverse action provisions of workplace laws were breached when the one employee who refused to sign the IFA was subsequently given no further work. This worker was the subject of the Court’s compensation order.

It is the first time the Fair Work Ombudsman has taken legal action over alleged contraventions relating to IFAs.

It is unlawful for employers to force employees to agree to an IFA and it is unlawful to make an IFA a condition of employment.”

And this one on the same day…..

“The Fair Work Ombudsman is prosecuting the owner-operator of a Sydney truck company, alleging he was involved in sham contracting activity and underpaying a worker more than $13,000.

Facing court is Sydney man John Mineeff, who owned and operated Fairfield-based company Villtruck Pty Ltd, before it went into liquidation last year. Villtruck was involved in purchasing, repairing and selling second-hand trucks.

It is alleged Mr Mineeff was centrally involved in his company breaching the sham contracting provisions of workplace laws in relation to an employee who performed panel beating and vehicle detailing duties.

It is alleged the employee, aged in his 30s, was dismissed in early 2009 and immediately re-hired as an independent contractor.

However, it is alleged the employee’s correct classification was as an employee because he continued to perform substantially the same duties at his employer’s direction.

Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson says under the sham contracting provisions of workplace laws, it is unlawful to dismiss an employee in order to engage them as an independent contractor to perform the same duties. “It is also unlawful to misrepresent an employment relationship as an independent contracting arrangement,” Mr Wilson said.

Mr Mineeff was allegedly also involved in underpaying the employee $13,592 in annual leave entitlements and breaching workplace laws relating to keeping employment records and issuing pay slips.

Fair Work inspectors investigated after the employee lodged a complaint.

The Fair Work Ombudsman cannot prosecute Villtruck because the company is in liquidation.

Mr Mineeff was allegedly involved in multiple breaches of workplace laws. He faces maximum penalties ranging from $1100 to $6600 per breach.”

And yet again…..

Court fines couple over underpayment of security officers

2 Sep 2011

The operators of a NSW security company have been fined for their involvement in failing to back-pay 22 underpaid workers.

WA’s Rottnest workers get $24,000 back-pay

31 Aug 2011

The Fair Work Ombudsman has recovered more than $24,000 back-pay for workers on Rottnest Island as part of an education and compliance campaign.

Almost $55,000 back-pay for regional Tasmanian workers

26 Aug 2011

A number of workers in regional Tasmania have been back-paid a total of $54,700 following intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Deniliquin sales assistant back-paid $6400

22 Aug 2011

A sales assistant at Deniliquin in regional NSW has been back-paid a total of $6400 following intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Let Teh Rabbit, Erica Abetz, Poodle Pyne, Don Argus and the rest of the Serfdom Rules1 mob decide policy? We’d hafta have a death wish!

1 Voices from Working Australia: Findings from the ACTU Working Australia Census 2011

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

An I cans spellz and knows grammar musing: In a local newspaper this gem appeared recently - the girls appeared to be rifling through teachers' draws looking for money. Draws? Ooopps! Repeats afta meez. D*R*A*W*E*R*S . A noun not a verb. An item of furniture usually found in a desk or cupboard, not an action. Around my house draws is also slang for an item of clothing the two-legged people first pull on in the morning, so at first reading I wondered if the school teacher was Miss Moneypants. (Big thanks to Rex the German Shepherd's Dad for this tip)

A snail mail musing: My little canine friend Veronica Lake tells me that many of the good folk living in Cox Street, Yamba, are about to revolt. They are insensed that a letter sent by post to Clarence Valley Council remains unanswered after two months and an email reminder (that the road surface at the eastern and western ends of their street is breaking up) received a cursory response. #COUNCIL FAIL

A false claims & poor punctuation musing: Hear that the Pacific Hotel at Yamba is beginning to get phone calls about its advert in the Coastal Views community newspaper on 5 August 2011. With so many absurdly false advertising claims attached - and the phantom apostrophe distracting the eye - the entire piece is an exercise in how not to attract patrons to a pub.

A reminder that the love/loyalty goes both ways musing: July 2011: A man has died while trying to rescue his dog from water at Lake Cathie on the New South Wales mid-north coast. The dog got caught in a rip as it frolicked off the beach, south of Port Macquarie yesterday afternoon. His 42-year-old owner, from Bellbird in the Hunter region, plunged into the sea when he realised his pet was in trouble but soon got into difficulty himself. A surfer managed to drag the man to shore and attempts were made to revive him but he was declared dead at the scene. It is understood the dog survived.

An Underdogs Rule musing: Loukanikos the doughty Greek canine shows the world how it's done - try your best to shout your protest but don't bite if you can help it. See him in action at YouTube. He even has a dedicated Facebook site.

Local meat co-op brings home the gravy

A win for local meat co-op

Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin said she is very pleased that her lobbying on behalf of the Northern Co-operative Meat Company has paid off.
The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig has come up with a $25.8 million package to support the meat processing industry with the implementation of the new Australian Export Meat Inspection System (AEMIS).
“I have been lobbying the Minister this year on behalf of the Northern Co-operative Meat Company Ltd and the meat industry in general, calling for a funding package to cover the extra market access costs, such as additional meat inspectors.
 “The General Manager of Northern Co-operative Meat Company, Garry Burridge, who is also head of Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC), has done a great job in his advocacy.  He put up the strong industry arguments.
“I was able to champion his just cause for the local workers and all involved in the meat processing industry.
“The minister has agreed with me that the meat processing industry needs extra support to change over to the new meat inspection system which starts in October.
“The package accepted by the AMIC is for $25.8 million in rebates for the industry. 
“Persistence had paid off.  I knew it was hard to lobby on this, particularly when a scheme had been agreed to that would cut out at a certain point.
“I’ll be speaking on this in Parliament when the legislative instruments for the new certification system, along with the new fee structure, are introduced.
 “Minister Ludwig once he’d made the decision was keen to tell me. 
“I have now invited the Minister to come to the electorate again and visit the meatworks,” Ms Saffin said.
[Janelle Saffin MP for Page Media Release 5 September 2011]

U.S. Embassy in Canberra brings forth a LOL

The do you know the truth or do you read Telegraph gets the thumbs up:

Reference ID 09CANBERRA335
Origin U.S. Embassy Canberra, Australia
Cable time Fri, 3 Apr 2009 00:41 UTC
Classification CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN

“The Murdoch-owned tabloid, "The Daily Telegraph", Sydney's largest selling newspaper…often an accurate gauge of what Labor's core working-class voters are thinking.”

Haven’t laughed so hard in weeks.