Tag Archive for 'trade unions'

CPD: Thinking Points on Climate Change

Published
by
Mark
2 months, 4 weeks ago
in Climate change
. 11 Comments

The Centre for Policy Development has released a new edition of its Thinking Points newsletter, on the topic of climate change.

Miriam Lyons argues that “climate change is a problem which requires us to marshall the best of science and faith, simultaneously”, while Paul Gilding believes it’s not too late to fight for 1 degree warming. By contrast, Ben Eltham isn’t sure the political will exists to act in time, and Mark Diesendorf from UNSW’s Institute of Environmental Studies highlights the gap between rhetoric and reality in the Rudd government’s climate change policy.

Turning to Copenhagen and its aftermath, Rupert Posner from the Climate Group is in the glass half full crew, and Peter Colley of the CFMEU provides a trade unionist’s perspective.

Wrapping up the edition, Rob Salter pens some more lengthy ruminations on the role of cooperation, community and equality in responding to the climate change challenge.

Embedding the economy II

Published
by
Mark
1 year, 1 month ago
in Activism, Markets, Politics and Sociology
. 37 Comments

Apropos of my post the other day on Karl Polanyi and “embedding the economy”, Andrew Crook has an excellent essay at New Matilda on the phony war over neoliberalism sparked off by Kevin Rudd’s musings in The Monthly.

Continue reading ‘Embedding the economy II’

Guest post by Senator Rachel Siewert: Award modernisation – what’s going on?

Published
by
Guest Poster
1 year, 8 months ago
in Howardia, Industrial Relations, Poverty and Women
. 9 Comments

This issue is something I’d planned to write about but have lacked time to do so. Some very important changes to the legal regulation of working conditions are being made in this country largely beneath the radar of media scrutiny – outside the business press. So I’m happy to post this contribution from Greens Senator for Western Australia, Rachel Siewert. – MB

Senator Rachel Siewert is the Australian Greens spokesperson on Industrial Relations.

Massive upheaval is occurring to Australia’s standard employment conditions and minimum wages, with little to no understanding or public attention.

The ‘award modernisation’ process currently underway in the AIRC, following a request from the Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, will impact on all Australian workers … either directly through loss of conditions or indirectly through lowering the base from which agreements can be made.

While the Rudd Government likes to compare its IR policy with Work Choices (…so it can say things are slightly better than they might have been), a better way of evaluating their policy is to look at the industrial relations system that existed in Australia before the aberration of Work Choices. On this test the Government is failing to provide adequate protection for workers.

Continue reading ‘Guest post by Senator Rachel Siewert: Award modernisation – what’s going on?’