Red News Readers,
This is my Tribute to Bob Gould, read at his Funeral on Thursday 26th May 2011. For further Obituaries and Tributes, go to the Ozleft Website.
Jenny Haines
TRIBUTE TO BOB by Jenny Haines
BOB’S FUNERAL – 26.5.11
Thank you all for coming today. Bob would have been really pleased to see friends and foes, Labor, Green and Far Left supporters all in the same room and he would have been trying to figure in his head how it could all be turned in to a political force and not just a gathering at his funeral. One thing he wanted to see in his lifetime was a resurgence of the Left and he could only see it ever happening through supporters of all the parties and groups putting aside their differences and working on the commonalities.
You could go through the dictionary and the thesaurus pulling out adjectives to describe Bob. He was an Australian of Irish Catholic origin and very proud of his heritage, but he never drank beer, smoked cigarettes or went to the footy. Bob’s achievements were of the mind and the brain and the heart. One of his old school mates once told me that they tried to have him play footy at St Pat’s but he was so poorly co-ordinated they had to sit him on the sidelines where he read books, voraciously. Bob had a fierce intellect. He was reading the works of major Catholic intellectuals in his teens, then, as he moved past his faith into political beliefs, he moved into reading Marx and Lenin and Trotsky. Old compatriots of Bob who ended up in other factions of the ALP remember Bob coming to meetings of Young Labor in his school uniform and even then impressing many with his idealism and his commitment.
Bob had many friends and many alliances some of which lasted, some did not. He was an idealist in a post-idealistic world, particularly in his later life. We need more idealists. Bob worked in partnership with Jim and John Percy in setting up the Third World Bookshop in the City, an enterprise that had a stormy relationship with the law over censorship. I remember telling an art historian when I was travelling in Europe in 1987 that the police had raided a store in Sydney in the 1960s and taken away a picture of Michaelangelo’s David as being pornographic. She was stunned with disbelief.
The partnership with the Percys fell apart and Bob went on to take over the book business, building it into an empire. He opened 12 shops and closed 11. On paper at some stage he may have been a millionaire but he never had the cash flow of a millionaire, and in more recent times struggled against the perils of the Global Financial Crisis. Bob put his money where his mouth was, much to the chagrin of his family and friends. But there are thousands of workers and trade unionists across Australia who owe Bob a debt of gratitude for the wise counsel and political experience he gave to rank and file trade union campaigns and party members. A number of those trade union campaigns were successful in obtaining office in a union. One of the campaigns that he was most proud to be associated with was the campaign run by the rank and file in the wharfies union to save the building from being sold for a song to redevelopers, saving union members millions of dollars. He was also proud to be associated with the campaign run by the Nurses Association in the 1980s in opposition to the cuts to mental health funding proposed in the Richmond Report. This was a campaign that the union ran among its members and took to the floor of the NSW ALP State Conference, achieving significant changes to the original proposals with a significantly better funding base than first proposed.
But his greatest effort and greatest achievement was the Vietnam Action Campaign. Mairi Petersen his then wife can tell you stories of their house being turned into a mailing centre. There was no internet then. His role as Secretary of the Vietnam Action Committee, challenging the Communist Party and its friendly organisations, was central to the campaign against the Vietnam War in Sydney. Bob and Wayne Haylen and others, led some of the first sit downs in the streets against the war that gave inspiration to thousands of others later to march against the war. Bob always said that one of the proudest days of his life was the day the North Vietnamese took over Saigon. But Bob had a heart and when the South Vietnamese took to rickety boats to get out of South Vietnam, he welcomed them coming to Australia against the protestations of many in the Labor Party. Some may see that as contradictory, but that was Bob, full of contradictions! And he understood his contradictions and could explain them. He knew that life is full of contradictions that can tear us apart or make us better human beings if we understand them.
I first met Bob at a rank and file conference in 1980. He did not impress me much at first, but when he and his then compatriot Paul Ford talked about scientific socialism, it sparked my interest. I went to some of his Sunday afternoon meetings in the George Street Shop where he and George Petersen talked passionately about labor history. Bob and I became close friends and have stayed close friends to this day. Economic rationalism was becoming popular with governments and we set up the Defeat the Health Cuts Campaign, a Labor Party rank and file campaign . This led to nurses, disgusted with the lack of leadership by their union on the health cuts, and award changes, setting up the Nurses Reform Campaign. The Nurses Reform Campaign were successful in the 1982 elections. I was elected Secretary of the Union and Bronwyn Ridgway Assistant Secretary. We stayed in office for five turbulent years, and although we did not achieve all we set out to achieve, those years and the subsequent years I spent as a Delegate in the Nurses Association, candidate in elections, along with the commitment of many, many nurses who were polticised by the events, were important in building the Nurses Union into the leading force that it has become. We could not have done any of it without Bob’s inspiration, and Janet Bonser’s typesetting skills. What we learned from our experience is that unions, like parliaments, need a government and an opposition to thrive. Bland boring consensus kills unions. My old friend Terry Muldoon, now deceased, once told me that after I left office in the union, that my successor Pat Staunton once told NSW Health that they may have thought they had trouble with the Nurses Reform leadership, but she was going to give them hell if they did not concede what she wanted. And if they wanted the Nurses Reform leadership back she could arrange that! They conceded. Good cop, bad cop, and that is what unions need to negotiate effectively.
In his later years Bob wrote as well as read voraciously. He and Ed Lewis set up a website, Ozleft, which is an online record of Bob’s writings. He never did get to write his autobiography that we urged him to write but his online work on Ozleft is a wonderful collection of his writings on politics, society and religion. Ed Lewis his partner in setting up Ozleft, has , in the last couple of days opened some pages on Ozleft where anyone who wishes can place tributes or obituaries. Just Google Ozleft and it will readily come up if you wish to contribute.
I will miss him. We had an unusual life, spending time together mostly in the mornings and then he went to work in the shop and I went to work in nursing and now at the university. When we ate together I could look up and he would have discarded the Murdoch media with disgust, and could be reading anything from medieval history to engineering books to sci-fi novels. One of the signs of his declining health in recent weeks was he stopped reading and just sat with the newspaper. We travelled together, mostly to book fairs where we bought the books that stock the shop, but we tried to take diversions and have a bit of time just away from the city. The 60s and 70s were Bob’s time and he felt brushed aside and forgotten in more recent years, one of the curses of growing older.
I could go on and on but I just want to read a poem that I heard read a couple of years ago and it stopped me in my tracks as it reflected what I thought I would save to say at Bob’s Funeral, whenever it was to be. I had hoped there would be more years of his life before I had to read this , but that was not to be
WH Auden Twelve Songs, National Poetry Day, 7.9.99
Stop all the clocks
Cut off the telephone
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin let the mourners come
Let the aeroplane circle moaning overhead, scribbling on the sky
He is dead.
Put great bows around the white necks of the public doves
Let the traffic policeman wear black cotton gloves
He was my north, my south, my east, my west
My working week and my Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song
I thought that love would last forever
I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now – put out every one
Pack up the moon, dismantle the sun
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood
For nothing now can ever come to any good
Sunday, June 05, 2011
HISTORIC LOSS FOR UNIONS
Red News Readers,
I started this blog as a means to convey information against the Howard Government's Workchoices. This blog hasn't been as active as it should have been due to my busy life, but it now looks like there is another campaign building against O'Farrell's Workchoices, and this blog is going to need to be revived. This loss for the unions is only the first round, but now the struggle begins for public sector wage justice in NSW.
Jenny Haines
Historic loss for unions
Alicia Wood, smh.
June 5, 2011
.
BARRY O'FARRELL delivered a historic blow to the union movement yesterday, as the upper house all but passed controversial industrial relations changes that have been likened to Work Choices.
The legislation will come before the Legislative Council again next week, for a final read, before it moves to the lower house.
The Premier said the changes would save NSW about $2 billion.
The move came about after the Minister for Roads, Duncan Gay, invoked an obscure rule, last used in 1906, to torpedo debate on the legislation, which had already run for 29 hours.
Under the government's changes, public sector workers would have their wage rises capped at 2.5 per cent. Higher increases would have to be matched by savings.
The bill removes the Industrial Relations Commission's power to set public sector wages and hands it to the government.
Unions NSW and the opposition called it ''worse than Work Choices'' and said the government should have gone to the election with the policy.
Labor said the legislation would prove the government's undoing. ''The revival of NSW Labor will stem from this legislation passed today … We won't be the lazy, pea-hearted opposition you were for 16 years,'' Labor MP Luke Foley screamed.
The Opposition Leader, John Robertson, said he would speak to workers this week to explain the implications and encourage them to put pressure on their local MPs.
''Workers have fought for more than a century to secure the wages and conditions they have today in our schools and hospitals, our fire stations and other public sector workplaces,'' he said. ''What's taken 100 years to achieve has been overturned by the Premier in a single day.''
The government insisted it was merely implementing a policy devised by the Labor Party.
Unions were furious last night and had begun plotting a campaign of marches and stop-work meetings. ''Everything is on the table right now,'' a source said. ''The level of anger is intense.''
Mr Gay said he ended the three-day filibuster because Labor and Greens MPs were being ''juvenile''.
''I took a historic step, one that I thought long and hard about … they were playing university politics games,'' Mr Gay said.
''We're not shutting them down; we're giving them a chance to analyse the legislation, rather than having boys' and girls' games with who can speak the longest.''
He rejected claims that his move amounted to the last government's proroguing of Parliament to avoid scrutiny into the electricity sale.
Greens MPs David Shoebridge and John Kaye each spoke for almost six hours on the reforms. Five opposition MPs clocked a total of 13 hours.
Mr Gay said the bill was not complex enough to warrant the amount of debate, which began on Thursday. In a move that further provoked furore, the government locked MPs in until the bill was passed.
This led to a stream of formal questions by opposition MPs about when they would go to the toilet, how they would take medication, and what would happen if a fire alarm went off.
The marathon three-day sitting of the Legislative Council tested the patience and stamina of MPs, many of whom slept in their offices on Thursday and Friday nights. The strain was evident, with members on both sides of the chamber trading personal insults.
Labor's Mick Veitch made an emotional appeal to his colleagues, and cried when he said: ''I've been troubled by where we are.''
The Nationals' Melinda Pavey flew her daughter Emily, 8, down from Coffs Harbour on Friday evening when she realised she would not get home for the weekend. Emily slept in her office until after 11pm on Friday night, when debate was suspended.
I started this blog as a means to convey information against the Howard Government's Workchoices. This blog hasn't been as active as it should have been due to my busy life, but it now looks like there is another campaign building against O'Farrell's Workchoices, and this blog is going to need to be revived. This loss for the unions is only the first round, but now the struggle begins for public sector wage justice in NSW.
Jenny Haines
Historic loss for unions
Alicia Wood, smh.
June 5, 2011
.
BARRY O'FARRELL delivered a historic blow to the union movement yesterday, as the upper house all but passed controversial industrial relations changes that have been likened to Work Choices.
The legislation will come before the Legislative Council again next week, for a final read, before it moves to the lower house.
The Premier said the changes would save NSW about $2 billion.
The move came about after the Minister for Roads, Duncan Gay, invoked an obscure rule, last used in 1906, to torpedo debate on the legislation, which had already run for 29 hours.
Under the government's changes, public sector workers would have their wage rises capped at 2.5 per cent. Higher increases would have to be matched by savings.
The bill removes the Industrial Relations Commission's power to set public sector wages and hands it to the government.
Unions NSW and the opposition called it ''worse than Work Choices'' and said the government should have gone to the election with the policy.
Labor said the legislation would prove the government's undoing. ''The revival of NSW Labor will stem from this legislation passed today … We won't be the lazy, pea-hearted opposition you were for 16 years,'' Labor MP Luke Foley screamed.
The Opposition Leader, John Robertson, said he would speak to workers this week to explain the implications and encourage them to put pressure on their local MPs.
''Workers have fought for more than a century to secure the wages and conditions they have today in our schools and hospitals, our fire stations and other public sector workplaces,'' he said. ''What's taken 100 years to achieve has been overturned by the Premier in a single day.''
The government insisted it was merely implementing a policy devised by the Labor Party.
Unions were furious last night and had begun plotting a campaign of marches and stop-work meetings. ''Everything is on the table right now,'' a source said. ''The level of anger is intense.''
Mr Gay said he ended the three-day filibuster because Labor and Greens MPs were being ''juvenile''.
''I took a historic step, one that I thought long and hard about … they were playing university politics games,'' Mr Gay said.
''We're not shutting them down; we're giving them a chance to analyse the legislation, rather than having boys' and girls' games with who can speak the longest.''
He rejected claims that his move amounted to the last government's proroguing of Parliament to avoid scrutiny into the electricity sale.
Greens MPs David Shoebridge and John Kaye each spoke for almost six hours on the reforms. Five opposition MPs clocked a total of 13 hours.
Mr Gay said the bill was not complex enough to warrant the amount of debate, which began on Thursday. In a move that further provoked furore, the government locked MPs in until the bill was passed.
This led to a stream of formal questions by opposition MPs about when they would go to the toilet, how they would take medication, and what would happen if a fire alarm went off.
The marathon three-day sitting of the Legislative Council tested the patience and stamina of MPs, many of whom slept in their offices on Thursday and Friday nights. The strain was evident, with members on both sides of the chamber trading personal insults.
Labor's Mick Veitch made an emotional appeal to his colleagues, and cried when he said: ''I've been troubled by where we are.''
The Nationals' Melinda Pavey flew her daughter Emily, 8, down from Coffs Harbour on Friday evening when she realised she would not get home for the weekend. Emily slept in her office until after 11pm on Friday night, when debate was suspended.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
REVIEW OF CONFESSIONS OF A FACELESS MAN
REVIEW OF CONFESSIONS OF A FACELESS MAN BY PAUL HOWES, MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2010.
Paul Howes has come a long way in trade union politics in a relatively short time, from his teen years in the Democratic Socialist Party to National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union, succeeding Bill Shorten after he went into Federal Parliament. In that time Paul’s politics have moved from the Far Left to the NSW Right, or at least one part of the NSW Right, and now the Victorian/ National Right.
Paul has become a national figure through his outspokenness on issues like more tolerance of refugees, and the rights of workers in the workplace, but it was his role in helping roll Kevin Rudd from the Prime Ministership and his assistance in installing Julia Gillard in the job that is the subject of Confessions of a Faceless Man. This book which Paul was Adlerised into writing by Louise Adler of Melbourne University Press, is a racy account of the 2010 Federal Election and the events immediately preceding the election. At times it has elements of a political thriller, though thankfully no one dies, not literally, but perhaps there are some political “deaths”. You may not like Paul’s right wing politics, and I don’t, but it is a witty account of the machinations behind the scene in that election, although I doubt that he tells us everything. Along the way he educates the reader on the role of the National Secretary of the AWU in national ALP politics and his union. He unashamedly advocates the role of the union in national politics, not forgetting its important work in protecting its members. At a time when there is so much union bashing, Paul’s honest advocacy on behalf of unions is a breath of fresh air.
Paul makes no secret of his dislike for Kevin Rudd and his style of government. He offers the reader his unvarnished and unapologetic explanation for being part of the coup against Rudd. He is frank with the reader about Rudd’s apparent role in the Federal Election although even he comes to respect some of Rudd’s actions in supporting the election of the Labor team over and above his personal hurt. Paul spares no words in his assessment of Mark Latham and his role in the Federal Election and records an amusing but scary conversation with Chris Minns, ALP National Assistant Secretary, about Latham “Mate”, Chris Minns says, “it wouldn’t surprise me if that guy is out there murdering backpackers on the weekend –he is completely unhinged.”
But it is his assessment of Tony Abbott that is spot on, and Paul, unlike many journalists during the campaign, reports full and frankly on his view of Tony Abbott. Paul draws out Abbott’s inconsistencies, his hypocrisies, and his conservative weirdness, several times questioning Abbott’s ability to be leader of a party, much less leader of the country, and his excitement and relief when Abbott is not given the support that he needs to take government by the Independents is palpable. Paul writes “And the thought of Abbott representing Australia overseas, accompanied by his joke of a Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, it would be laughable if it weren’t so serious....Social policy, the environment, a republic, reconciliation, equality – all would take a back seat as an Abbott led government slowly but surely reshaped the country in the man’s own 1950s, white, monarchist image.” That’s about as close as Paul gets to setting out what he thinks should be the agenda for the Gillard Government, but if it is the agenda now, then they are not selling it all that well.
Paul is a young man in a hurry at the senior levels of the trade union movement. He writes a good read. I look forward to future accounts of his political life as it proceeds. I think there is a lot in his book that could be used to educate the current younger generation who are interested in labor politics and political science in this country.
Jenny Haines
Paul Howes has come a long way in trade union politics in a relatively short time, from his teen years in the Democratic Socialist Party to National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union, succeeding Bill Shorten after he went into Federal Parliament. In that time Paul’s politics have moved from the Far Left to the NSW Right, or at least one part of the NSW Right, and now the Victorian/ National Right.
Paul has become a national figure through his outspokenness on issues like more tolerance of refugees, and the rights of workers in the workplace, but it was his role in helping roll Kevin Rudd from the Prime Ministership and his assistance in installing Julia Gillard in the job that is the subject of Confessions of a Faceless Man. This book which Paul was Adlerised into writing by Louise Adler of Melbourne University Press, is a racy account of the 2010 Federal Election and the events immediately preceding the election. At times it has elements of a political thriller, though thankfully no one dies, not literally, but perhaps there are some political “deaths”. You may not like Paul’s right wing politics, and I don’t, but it is a witty account of the machinations behind the scene in that election, although I doubt that he tells us everything. Along the way he educates the reader on the role of the National Secretary of the AWU in national ALP politics and his union. He unashamedly advocates the role of the union in national politics, not forgetting its important work in protecting its members. At a time when there is so much union bashing, Paul’s honest advocacy on behalf of unions is a breath of fresh air.
Paul makes no secret of his dislike for Kevin Rudd and his style of government. He offers the reader his unvarnished and unapologetic explanation for being part of the coup against Rudd. He is frank with the reader about Rudd’s apparent role in the Federal Election although even he comes to respect some of Rudd’s actions in supporting the election of the Labor team over and above his personal hurt. Paul spares no words in his assessment of Mark Latham and his role in the Federal Election and records an amusing but scary conversation with Chris Minns, ALP National Assistant Secretary, about Latham “Mate”, Chris Minns says, “it wouldn’t surprise me if that guy is out there murdering backpackers on the weekend –he is completely unhinged.”
But it is his assessment of Tony Abbott that is spot on, and Paul, unlike many journalists during the campaign, reports full and frankly on his view of Tony Abbott. Paul draws out Abbott’s inconsistencies, his hypocrisies, and his conservative weirdness, several times questioning Abbott’s ability to be leader of a party, much less leader of the country, and his excitement and relief when Abbott is not given the support that he needs to take government by the Independents is palpable. Paul writes “And the thought of Abbott representing Australia overseas, accompanied by his joke of a Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, it would be laughable if it weren’t so serious....Social policy, the environment, a republic, reconciliation, equality – all would take a back seat as an Abbott led government slowly but surely reshaped the country in the man’s own 1950s, white, monarchist image.” That’s about as close as Paul gets to setting out what he thinks should be the agenda for the Gillard Government, but if it is the agenda now, then they are not selling it all that well.
Paul is a young man in a hurry at the senior levels of the trade union movement. He writes a good read. I look forward to future accounts of his political life as it proceeds. I think there is a lot in his book that could be used to educate the current younger generation who are interested in labor politics and political science in this country.
Jenny Haines
Monday, January 17, 2011
THE PRIVATISATION OF ELECTRICITY
As placed on a Crikey Blog, 17.1.11, by Jenny Haines.
As someone who was at the last State Conference of the Labor Party where delegates overwhelmingly voted against the privatisation of the State’s electricity assets based on the proposals that were then before the government, I am interested that there has been so little comment from the party and the trade unions on the sale process that has proceeded. It may be that they think this is the better option, as a least the power stations stay in State hands, and their employees remain State employees, at least for the first few years. But the Liberal National Coalition are a bunch of opportunists. Despite their position in opposition, Blind Freddy and his dog know that in government they would privatise the lot and deregulate the conditions of electricity system workers. I am constantly amazed that journalists and commentators let the Liberal National Coalition get away without being questioned closely on what they would do if they were in government. I disagree with the sale process that has happened. I think it is a mistake and one that we will live to regret. But the elelphant in the room needs addressing. The Liberal National Coalition are ideologically and practically committed to privatisation of everything not nailed down in NSW and if that means that workers get hurt, that is collateral damage for them. Voters in the coming State Election beware!
As someone who was at the last State Conference of the Labor Party where delegates overwhelmingly voted against the privatisation of the State’s electricity assets based on the proposals that were then before the government, I am interested that there has been so little comment from the party and the trade unions on the sale process that has proceeded. It may be that they think this is the better option, as a least the power stations stay in State hands, and their employees remain State employees, at least for the first few years. But the Liberal National Coalition are a bunch of opportunists. Despite their position in opposition, Blind Freddy and his dog know that in government they would privatise the lot and deregulate the conditions of electricity system workers. I am constantly amazed that journalists and commentators let the Liberal National Coalition get away without being questioned closely on what they would do if they were in government. I disagree with the sale process that has happened. I think it is a mistake and one that we will live to regret. But the elelphant in the room needs addressing. The Liberal National Coalition are ideologically and practically committed to privatisation of everything not nailed down in NSW and if that means that workers get hurt, that is collateral damage for them. Voters in the coming State Election beware!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
EXCELLENT LETTER - SUPPORT RATIOS!!
SMH, 6.1.11.
So many acute needs, not enough time
I am a registered nurse working in a state hospital.
Carmel Tebbutt's comments that using a nurse-to-patient ratio as a staffing tool would lack ''the flexibility that is often needed to staff a modern hospital'' made my blood boil (''Nurses shut hospital beds in last-ditch attempt to reinstate talks on staffing ratios'', January 5).
I have worked in many hospitals, private and public, over the years and experienced many different staffing tools. Any tool that states ''flexibility'' is one that can be manipulated to suit the management and is a great excuse for not recruiting new staff or increasing casual numbers at busy times of the year.
Many of my colleagues are suffering depression and anyone who works in a hospital knows the stresses are increasing. There used to be a cycle in the year where it was relatively quiet over the warm months and holidays and busier during winter months, so at least there were some easier times in the working year. This cycle seems to have gone and the acuity remains high all year round.
Nursing has always been a challenging job. It is not easy trying to decide a priority for your time some days when there are so many acute needs and there are increasing problems with patient aggression as mental health, drug and alcohol issues grow.
In my experience over 34 years, the only staffing tool that addresses the variable environment of the ward areas is a set ratio and the ''one-to-four" is the only acceptable way to meet increasing patient needs.
I feel guilty because my daughter has followed me into nursing and I would encourage her to look at a different career. She is already experiencing the frustrations of being short staffed. Many of our young nurses are leaving as it is just too hard.
Nurses are largely driven by their caring nature. It is becoming a common cry that we wish someone would care for us.
Catherine Butler Macmasters Beach
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So many acute needs, not enough time
I am a registered nurse working in a state hospital.
Carmel Tebbutt's comments that using a nurse-to-patient ratio as a staffing tool would lack ''the flexibility that is often needed to staff a modern hospital'' made my blood boil (''Nurses shut hospital beds in last-ditch attempt to reinstate talks on staffing ratios'', January 5).
I have worked in many hospitals, private and public, over the years and experienced many different staffing tools. Any tool that states ''flexibility'' is one that can be manipulated to suit the management and is a great excuse for not recruiting new staff or increasing casual numbers at busy times of the year.
Many of my colleagues are suffering depression and anyone who works in a hospital knows the stresses are increasing. There used to be a cycle in the year where it was relatively quiet over the warm months and holidays and busier during winter months, so at least there were some easier times in the working year. This cycle seems to have gone and the acuity remains high all year round.
Nursing has always been a challenging job. It is not easy trying to decide a priority for your time some days when there are so many acute needs and there are increasing problems with patient aggression as mental health, drug and alcohol issues grow.
In my experience over 34 years, the only staffing tool that addresses the variable environment of the ward areas is a set ratio and the ''one-to-four" is the only acceptable way to meet increasing patient needs.
I feel guilty because my daughter has followed me into nursing and I would encourage her to look at a different career. She is already experiencing the frustrations of being short staffed. Many of our young nurses are leaving as it is just too hard.
Nurses are largely driven by their caring nature. It is becoming a common cry that we wish someone would care for us.
Catherine Butler Macmasters Beach
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NURSE DIES AFTER STABBING
Experience at issue, Letter published SMH today, 8.1.11.
The outcome of the inquiries into the fatal stabbing of a nurse at Bloomfield Hospital will be interesting reading (''Three inquiries into fatal hospital stabbing,'' January 7).
Of note here is that the deceased was an experienced nurse coming to the rescue of a new graduate. I wonder how much the new graduate knew about searching new patients? I wonder how much orientation she was given to the unit and its OH&S policies? I wonder what the staffing levels were like in the unit? With three inquiries under way, hopefully we will get some answers to these questions, because I suspect that these factors contributed to the situation.
Mental health nursing requires specialist knowledge. It is not something anyone can do. Shortages of qualified mental health nurses in recent years have left units reliant on younger and more inexperienced staff. In these circumstances there is a greater duty of care on the employer to ensure that these staff members are safe. It is not just a matter of covering the numbers on management staffing sheets. It is about people, and standards of care, and quality and safety, for patients and staff.
Jenny Haines Newtown
Yahoo 7 News, 6.1.11.
A nurse has died after an alleged stabbing at a hospital in central west NSW.
Police were called to the unit in Orange yesterday afternoon, where they found a 62-year-old male nurse with wounds to his chest and arms.
He was rushed to Orange Base Hospital in a critical but stable condition. He died this morning.
A 20-year-old female nurse was treated at the scene for lacerations to her hands and taken to Orange Base Hospital in a stable condition.
Police arrested a 33-year-old man at the scene and he is assisting officers with their investigation.
It is understood the incident happened at Bloomfield Hospital in Orange.
The outcome of the inquiries into the fatal stabbing of a nurse at Bloomfield Hospital will be interesting reading (''Three inquiries into fatal hospital stabbing,'' January 7).
Of note here is that the deceased was an experienced nurse coming to the rescue of a new graduate. I wonder how much the new graduate knew about searching new patients? I wonder how much orientation she was given to the unit and its OH&S policies? I wonder what the staffing levels were like in the unit? With three inquiries under way, hopefully we will get some answers to these questions, because I suspect that these factors contributed to the situation.
Mental health nursing requires specialist knowledge. It is not something anyone can do. Shortages of qualified mental health nurses in recent years have left units reliant on younger and more inexperienced staff. In these circumstances there is a greater duty of care on the employer to ensure that these staff members are safe. It is not just a matter of covering the numbers on management staffing sheets. It is about people, and standards of care, and quality and safety, for patients and staff.
Jenny Haines Newtown
Yahoo 7 News, 6.1.11.
A nurse has died after an alleged stabbing at a hospital in central west NSW.
Police were called to the unit in Orange yesterday afternoon, where they found a 62-year-old male nurse with wounds to his chest and arms.
He was rushed to Orange Base Hospital in a critical but stable condition. He died this morning.
A 20-year-old female nurse was treated at the scene for lacerations to her hands and taken to Orange Base Hospital in a stable condition.
Police arrested a 33-year-old man at the scene and he is assisting officers with their investigation.
It is understood the incident happened at Bloomfield Hospital in Orange.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
HOWES: HOW I WOULD FIX NSW
How I'd fix up our state
02 January 2011
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes' opinion piece written for The Sunday Telegraph on 02 January 2011
I am a big fan of Kristina Keneally. Always have been.
I liked her long before she became NSW Premier. I've always thought she has the attributes required for good leadership.
However, I'll admit that lately it's become difficult to be much enthused about the NSW Labor government.
And while I'm a strong proponent of the notion that the worst Labor government will always be better than the best Liberal government, my partisanship has taken a beating in recent times.
For even its most loyal supporters (such as myself) it's hard to say exactly what NSW Labor has going for it right now.
The party has accomplished much in the past, which is probably why the people of NSW have put State Labor into power for 52 of the past 70 years.
However, for the past couple of years NSW Labor's stocks have been low and the handling of the Gentrader electricity privatisation hasn't helped one bit. But, if the Government is serious about at least trying to be re-elected, it's time the Premier began outlining and, more importantly, implementing plans to improve NSW. And there's a lot left to do.
So if I were to compile a wish list of things that I'd like to see a Labor government do in the event of it being re-elected, it might look something like this:
1 Build a rapid public transport system for Sydney.
The city's present heavy rail system dates back to around 1850, before which carrier pigeons were still the best way to send a message across town.
So although it has served the community well, it's time for it to join the 21st century or, if that's too ambitious, time it at least caught up with the 20th century.
Labor did have ill-conceived plans for a metro system which was rightly scrapped, but it can still begin planning a proper, well-designed, rapid mass-transit system.
After all, a metro doesn't mean abandoning our current CityRail network; it can complement and enhance existing links. It needn't take forever. The Shanghai Metro was opened in 1995and now has 273 stations and moves more than seven million people daily.
2 Build the M4 East to link the M4 with the City West link.
This must be the most obvious thing for a Labor government to do.
Sydney would have to be one of the only international cities where there is no motorway linking its two major business centres (the CBD and Parramatta in Sydney).
Not only would this make sense, but it would also be a great piece of infrastructure servicing the city's western suburbs.
3 Link the F3 Freeway with the Gore Hill Freeway.
Surely it's about time we were able to drive from Newcastle and the Central Coast to the Sydney CBD on a motorway.
Having to hop off the F3 at Hornsby and struggle along the Pacific Highway to the Gore Hill Freeway provides yet another reminder of the many black holes in Sydney's infrastructure.
4 Build more light rail.
I've never been able to understand the hostility to light rail. It's cheap, effective, popular and quick.
You can literally build a light rail line in a matter of months.
Thankfully, Labor has begun extending the existing light rail network to Dulwich Hill from Lilyfield, but it should go further.
A line from Central up Anzac Parade to UNSW or even Maroubra would alleviate huge pressures on the roads in the eastern suburbs.
It could also go from Central to Circular Quay and even right up the middle of Parramatta Rd from Central to the Parramatta CBD.
A similar system has been achieved in Adelaide, so why not in Sydney?
5 Amalgamate the councils.
It amazes me that we still have micro-governments making major planning decisions which, if the outcome is wrong, can take decades to rectify.
Most other states have managed to reform their local government structures to create sustainable, well-resourced, professional councils that are able to engage in long-term decision-making. NSW is crying out for this type of reform.
6 Create an independent infrastructure authority to achieve growth in regional NSW.
Living in Sydney, it's easy to forget that NSW is a big place and that NSW doesn't stand for Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong.
But if we're going to take full advantage of the potential of regional NSW, we need to do more to encourage growth in the State's regions, much like Victoria has.
An independent planning body, similar to Infrastructure Australia and working in tandem with properly amalgamated councils, could see regional NSW really prosper.
7 Allow an inquiry into the sale of the electricity assets.
Several weeks ago, I wrote that I was unhappy with the way in which the State's electricity assets were being privatised.
Since then, my concerns have only increased. But if the Government has nothing to hide, and I'm sure it doesn't, there is nothing to stop it allowing the Upper House to investigate the sale. Of course, all this may well be too little, too late.
But with three months of this term of government still left to run, it may be time to show people what Labor can really do. After all, what has NSW Labor got left to lose?
02 January 2011
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes' opinion piece written for The Sunday Telegraph on 02 January 2011
I am a big fan of Kristina Keneally. Always have been.
I liked her long before she became NSW Premier. I've always thought she has the attributes required for good leadership.
However, I'll admit that lately it's become difficult to be much enthused about the NSW Labor government.
And while I'm a strong proponent of the notion that the worst Labor government will always be better than the best Liberal government, my partisanship has taken a beating in recent times.
For even its most loyal supporters (such as myself) it's hard to say exactly what NSW Labor has going for it right now.
The party has accomplished much in the past, which is probably why the people of NSW have put State Labor into power for 52 of the past 70 years.
However, for the past couple of years NSW Labor's stocks have been low and the handling of the Gentrader electricity privatisation hasn't helped one bit. But, if the Government is serious about at least trying to be re-elected, it's time the Premier began outlining and, more importantly, implementing plans to improve NSW. And there's a lot left to do.
So if I were to compile a wish list of things that I'd like to see a Labor government do in the event of it being re-elected, it might look something like this:
1 Build a rapid public transport system for Sydney.
The city's present heavy rail system dates back to around 1850, before which carrier pigeons were still the best way to send a message across town.
So although it has served the community well, it's time for it to join the 21st century or, if that's too ambitious, time it at least caught up with the 20th century.
Labor did have ill-conceived plans for a metro system which was rightly scrapped, but it can still begin planning a proper, well-designed, rapid mass-transit system.
After all, a metro doesn't mean abandoning our current CityRail network; it can complement and enhance existing links. It needn't take forever. The Shanghai Metro was opened in 1995and now has 273 stations and moves more than seven million people daily.
2 Build the M4 East to link the M4 with the City West link.
This must be the most obvious thing for a Labor government to do.
Sydney would have to be one of the only international cities where there is no motorway linking its two major business centres (the CBD and Parramatta in Sydney).
Not only would this make sense, but it would also be a great piece of infrastructure servicing the city's western suburbs.
3 Link the F3 Freeway with the Gore Hill Freeway.
Surely it's about time we were able to drive from Newcastle and the Central Coast to the Sydney CBD on a motorway.
Having to hop off the F3 at Hornsby and struggle along the Pacific Highway to the Gore Hill Freeway provides yet another reminder of the many black holes in Sydney's infrastructure.
4 Build more light rail.
I've never been able to understand the hostility to light rail. It's cheap, effective, popular and quick.
You can literally build a light rail line in a matter of months.
Thankfully, Labor has begun extending the existing light rail network to Dulwich Hill from Lilyfield, but it should go further.
A line from Central up Anzac Parade to UNSW or even Maroubra would alleviate huge pressures on the roads in the eastern suburbs.
It could also go from Central to Circular Quay and even right up the middle of Parramatta Rd from Central to the Parramatta CBD.
A similar system has been achieved in Adelaide, so why not in Sydney?
5 Amalgamate the councils.
It amazes me that we still have micro-governments making major planning decisions which, if the outcome is wrong, can take decades to rectify.
Most other states have managed to reform their local government structures to create sustainable, well-resourced, professional councils that are able to engage in long-term decision-making. NSW is crying out for this type of reform.
6 Create an independent infrastructure authority to achieve growth in regional NSW.
Living in Sydney, it's easy to forget that NSW is a big place and that NSW doesn't stand for Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong.
But if we're going to take full advantage of the potential of regional NSW, we need to do more to encourage growth in the State's regions, much like Victoria has.
An independent planning body, similar to Infrastructure Australia and working in tandem with properly amalgamated councils, could see regional NSW really prosper.
7 Allow an inquiry into the sale of the electricity assets.
Several weeks ago, I wrote that I was unhappy with the way in which the State's electricity assets were being privatised.
Since then, my concerns have only increased. But if the Government has nothing to hide, and I'm sure it doesn't, there is nothing to stop it allowing the Upper House to investigate the sale. Of course, all this may well be too little, too late.
But with three months of this term of government still left to run, it may be time to show people what Labor can really do. After all, what has NSW Labor got left to lose?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
LIBERALS ON DISMISSALS
Tony Abbott's famous phrase, that WorkChoices was dead, buried and cremated may need a new coda according to this piece in The Age ...
Fire at will: Liberals flirt with no-fault sacking
Date: December 26 2010
Josh Gordon, The Age
SENIOR Liberals are ramping up a push for an industrial relations overhaul - including a no-fault dismissal system to end arbitration that decides the fairness of sackings.
Despite Tony Abbott's declaration that WorkChoices is ''dead, buried and cremated'', the Coalition's post-election policy review is working on an industrial relations policy to take to the next election to replace Labor's Fair Work system.
One plan is to replace unfair dismissal laws - blamed for discouraging small business employment - with a radical system modelled on the concept of no-fault divorce that replaced the antiquated Matrimonial Causes Act in 1975.
The idea has been floated by industrial relations consultant Grace Collier in a paper to be published next month in the IPA Review, the journal of the free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.
''Our current unfair dismissal system encourages Australians to behave like greedy whingers,'' Ms Collier writes. ''A no-fault dismissal system would set our heads right on the issue and provide for dignity of exit, allowing people to focus not on legal conflict but on managing departure in the chosen way whilst being encouraged to embrace the future opportunities that are always just around the corner.''
Under the proposal, being cautiously supported by influential Liberals, employers could sack workers with impunity, provided they offer compensation including a reasonable paid notice period, an assistance package and job transition services.
Ms Collier, a former unionist who now advises the hardline-conservative H.R. Nicholls Society, said a no-fault dismissal system would remove the need for costly legal argument to determine the fairness of a case, or whether it represented a redundancy or a dismissal.
Labor's new Fair Work system, which broadened unfair dismissal laws, triggered a 63 per cent increase in unfair dismissal applications in its first year, the paper says. ''Every working day, regardless of fairness, truth or the merits of their case, Australia employers collectively pay somewhere between $80,598.50 and $127,804.77 in 'go away money' simply to avoid government arbitration,'' it says. ''Is this a new tax on business and is anyone - other than employment lawyers - winning?''
Mr Abbott has been reluctant to revisit the industrial relations debate amid concerns it would be linked to WorkChoices, the Coalition policy that contributed to former prime minister John Howard's 2007 election demise. During the election campaign, Mr Abbott promised not to touch Labor's industrial laws for at least one term if he won.
But opposition industrial relations spokesman Eric Abetz, a recent guest at the H.R. Nicholls Society's annual dinner, in Melbourne, told The Sunday Age that although he did not want to comment on the merits of the proposal, ''it is a concept I would be willing to look at''.
Backbencher Liberals Stephen Ciobo and Jamie Briggs and frontbenchers Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb have also made comments in recent weeks suggesting a need for the party to reconnect with its history of industrial relations deregulation.
Mr Briggs, a former industrial relations adviser to John Howard, believed Ms Collier's idea would be part of the Coalition's policy review headed by Mr Robb.
''The current laws are badly flawed and they prevent people from getting a chance of a job,'' Mr Briggs said.
''The idea that Grace [Collier] has put up is something that will be discussed.''
IPA executive director John Roskam believed the system was now even less flexible than when the former Howard government took office in 1996, blaming it for creating a ''grievance culture''.
''There are clear problems with the current system and for the Liberal Party to stand back while these problems exist and while people are losing their jobs … is wrong,'' Mr Roskam said. ''The system should not be set in stone.''
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited; its use here is for the purposes of fair dealing.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/fire-at-will-liberals-flirt-with-nofault-sacking-20101225-197jm.html
Fire at will: Liberals flirt with no-fault sacking
Date: December 26 2010
Josh Gordon, The Age
SENIOR Liberals are ramping up a push for an industrial relations overhaul - including a no-fault dismissal system to end arbitration that decides the fairness of sackings.
Despite Tony Abbott's declaration that WorkChoices is ''dead, buried and cremated'', the Coalition's post-election policy review is working on an industrial relations policy to take to the next election to replace Labor's Fair Work system.
One plan is to replace unfair dismissal laws - blamed for discouraging small business employment - with a radical system modelled on the concept of no-fault divorce that replaced the antiquated Matrimonial Causes Act in 1975.
The idea has been floated by industrial relations consultant Grace Collier in a paper to be published next month in the IPA Review, the journal of the free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.
''Our current unfair dismissal system encourages Australians to behave like greedy whingers,'' Ms Collier writes. ''A no-fault dismissal system would set our heads right on the issue and provide for dignity of exit, allowing people to focus not on legal conflict but on managing departure in the chosen way whilst being encouraged to embrace the future opportunities that are always just around the corner.''
Under the proposal, being cautiously supported by influential Liberals, employers could sack workers with impunity, provided they offer compensation including a reasonable paid notice period, an assistance package and job transition services.
Ms Collier, a former unionist who now advises the hardline-conservative H.R. Nicholls Society, said a no-fault dismissal system would remove the need for costly legal argument to determine the fairness of a case, or whether it represented a redundancy or a dismissal.
Labor's new Fair Work system, which broadened unfair dismissal laws, triggered a 63 per cent increase in unfair dismissal applications in its first year, the paper says. ''Every working day, regardless of fairness, truth or the merits of their case, Australia employers collectively pay somewhere between $80,598.50 and $127,804.77 in 'go away money' simply to avoid government arbitration,'' it says. ''Is this a new tax on business and is anyone - other than employment lawyers - winning?''
Mr Abbott has been reluctant to revisit the industrial relations debate amid concerns it would be linked to WorkChoices, the Coalition policy that contributed to former prime minister John Howard's 2007 election demise. During the election campaign, Mr Abbott promised not to touch Labor's industrial laws for at least one term if he won.
But opposition industrial relations spokesman Eric Abetz, a recent guest at the H.R. Nicholls Society's annual dinner, in Melbourne, told The Sunday Age that although he did not want to comment on the merits of the proposal, ''it is a concept I would be willing to look at''.
Backbencher Liberals Stephen Ciobo and Jamie Briggs and frontbenchers Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb have also made comments in recent weeks suggesting a need for the party to reconnect with its history of industrial relations deregulation.
Mr Briggs, a former industrial relations adviser to John Howard, believed Ms Collier's idea would be part of the Coalition's policy review headed by Mr Robb.
''The current laws are badly flawed and they prevent people from getting a chance of a job,'' Mr Briggs said.
''The idea that Grace [Collier] has put up is something that will be discussed.''
IPA executive director John Roskam believed the system was now even less flexible than when the former Howard government took office in 1996, blaming it for creating a ''grievance culture''.
''There are clear problems with the current system and for the Liberal Party to stand back while these problems exist and while people are losing their jobs … is wrong,'' Mr Roskam said. ''The system should not be set in stone.''
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited; its use here is for the purposes of fair dealing.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/fire-at-will-liberals-flirt-with-nofault-sacking-20101225-197jm.html
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
NEVER REVISIT HOWARD'S REFUGEE POLICIES
We must never revisit the horror of Howard's policies
Amalina Wallace's Letter to the Editor, SMH, 21.12.10
Tony Abbott has described the Christmas Island boat disaster as an ''unspeakable horror'', and called for the reintroduction of the Howard government's policies. I am a former refugee decision-maker who has interviewed asylum seekers at Woomera, Port Hedland, Derby, Villawood, Nauru and Manus Island, and it is his words that fill me with unspeakable horror. The scenes I saw at Woomera and Manus Island in particular have left shocking memories of people who suffered cruelly.
Under the Howard government, Australia introduced a process of "screening out" refugee applicants, so that hundreds of people were put into legal limbo, denied access to lawyers and separated from family members, with no information about what happened to them or why.
The first time I entered Woomera, people were crying and screaming. An interpreter told me they were calling out "where am I?" "what's happening to me?", "when can I ring my family?" and "please help me".
The heat and harsh conditions led to significant mental problems, ranging from chronic depression and self-mutilation to hysteria and attempted suicide. I still recall the shock of interviewing people a few months after hundreds of decisions had been frozen at the end of 2001.
I had previously seen refugees with scars from cigarette burns or mutilated faces from torture in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan; now I was seeing people who were going mad. I interviewed a man with large, curved, thickened scars on his arms and torso, not from torture in one of Saddam Hussein's prisons, but from throwing himself repeatedly from the roof of a building at Woomera onto the razor wire. Some people were so chronically depressed they were unable to make it to the interview room, their chance of telling their story to gain release.
The people from the "children overboard" boat were tricked into going to Manus Island, where they were held in concrete bunkers left over from World War II, with water for cooking and bathing that had worms in it.
It is a huge error that such abuses were not investigated properly, and those responsible dealt with according to the law. By sweeping things under the carpet, no responsibility has been taken, and as a result politicians seek to further their ambitions by calling for the return of such a regime.
We must never forget what happened, and never allow it to happen again.
Amalina Wallace's Letter to the Editor, SMH, 21.12.10
Tony Abbott has described the Christmas Island boat disaster as an ''unspeakable horror'', and called for the reintroduction of the Howard government's policies. I am a former refugee decision-maker who has interviewed asylum seekers at Woomera, Port Hedland, Derby, Villawood, Nauru and Manus Island, and it is his words that fill me with unspeakable horror. The scenes I saw at Woomera and Manus Island in particular have left shocking memories of people who suffered cruelly.
Under the Howard government, Australia introduced a process of "screening out" refugee applicants, so that hundreds of people were put into legal limbo, denied access to lawyers and separated from family members, with no information about what happened to them or why.
The first time I entered Woomera, people were crying and screaming. An interpreter told me they were calling out "where am I?" "what's happening to me?", "when can I ring my family?" and "please help me".
The heat and harsh conditions led to significant mental problems, ranging from chronic depression and self-mutilation to hysteria and attempted suicide. I still recall the shock of interviewing people a few months after hundreds of decisions had been frozen at the end of 2001.
I had previously seen refugees with scars from cigarette burns or mutilated faces from torture in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan; now I was seeing people who were going mad. I interviewed a man with large, curved, thickened scars on his arms and torso, not from torture in one of Saddam Hussein's prisons, but from throwing himself repeatedly from the roof of a building at Woomera onto the razor wire. Some people were so chronically depressed they were unable to make it to the interview room, their chance of telling their story to gain release.
The people from the "children overboard" boat were tricked into going to Manus Island, where they were held in concrete bunkers left over from World War II, with water for cooking and bathing that had worms in it.
It is a huge error that such abuses were not investigated properly, and those responsible dealt with according to the law. By sweeping things under the carpet, no responsibility has been taken, and as a result politicians seek to further their ambitions by calling for the return of such a regime.
We must never forget what happened, and never allow it to happen again.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
SIGN THE WIKILEAKS PETITION!!
Red News Readers,
To sign the Get Up Wikileaks petition, go to the link:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/WikiLeaksWidget
Jenny Haines
To sign the Get Up Wikileaks petition, go to the link:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/WikiLeaksWidget
Jenny Haines
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
NURSE RATIO IS DOUBLE SAFE LEVEL
Nurse ratio is double safe level: union
Louise Hall, SMH.
December 1, 2010
NURSES in public hospitals are caring for up to eight patients each, double the ratio the nurses' union says is needed for safe patient care.
A study of staffing in 332 hospital wards, commissioned by the NSW Nurses Association, found the ratio in general wards at most major hospitals averaged one nurse to 5.3 patients.
However the number of patients assigned to each nurse varied widely, with those on evening shifts often caring for seven patients each, and those on nights looking after more than eight.
Advertisement: Story continues below The study, by nursing workforce experts at two Sydney universities, comes as the state government agreed to consider mandated staffing ratios in return for a halt to industrial action planned for today.
The minimum ratio sought for general wards at most major hospitals is one nurse for four patients plus a registered nurse (RN) in charge of morning and evening shifts. At night, the ratio could rise to one to seven.
The general secretary of the association, Brett Holmes, said: ''Just one extra person on a shift can make the difference between a ward coping really well and a situation where there's lots of near-misses.''
The Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt, has said staffing ratios are a ''blunt'' and ''inflexible'' tool to manage workloads when patients' need for care in hospitals varied widely. The current nursing award had a workload calculation tool to determine staffing levels based on several factors, including patients needing acute care.
However, the report's co-author, Christine Duffield, said the tool had become largely redundant since its limited introduction to wards in 2004.
Professor Duffield, the director of the Centre for Health Services Management at the University of Technology, Sydney, said ratios were important but it was vital that hospitals had the right ''skill mix'', the proportion of hours worked by the different classifications of nurses.
She warned that mandated ratios, if filled with higher proportions of enrolled nurses or assistants-in-nursing, would create a less safe environment for patients. Studies show a ward in which at least 85 per cent of staff are registered nurses will have lower rates of medication errors, falls, complications and deaths.
However, the survey found a skill mix as low as 46 per cent in some community hospitals.
Professor Duffield said the average skill mix of 66 per cent - with enrolled nurses or assistants-in-nursing making up the balance - reported in medical and surgical wards in second-tier hospitals such as Bankstown was also a concern.
Louise Hall, SMH.
December 1, 2010
NURSES in public hospitals are caring for up to eight patients each, double the ratio the nurses' union says is needed for safe patient care.
A study of staffing in 332 hospital wards, commissioned by the NSW Nurses Association, found the ratio in general wards at most major hospitals averaged one nurse to 5.3 patients.
However the number of patients assigned to each nurse varied widely, with those on evening shifts often caring for seven patients each, and those on nights looking after more than eight.
Advertisement: Story continues below The study, by nursing workforce experts at two Sydney universities, comes as the state government agreed to consider mandated staffing ratios in return for a halt to industrial action planned for today.
The minimum ratio sought for general wards at most major hospitals is one nurse for four patients plus a registered nurse (RN) in charge of morning and evening shifts. At night, the ratio could rise to one to seven.
The general secretary of the association, Brett Holmes, said: ''Just one extra person on a shift can make the difference between a ward coping really well and a situation where there's lots of near-misses.''
The Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt, has said staffing ratios are a ''blunt'' and ''inflexible'' tool to manage workloads when patients' need for care in hospitals varied widely. The current nursing award had a workload calculation tool to determine staffing levels based on several factors, including patients needing acute care.
However, the report's co-author, Christine Duffield, said the tool had become largely redundant since its limited introduction to wards in 2004.
Professor Duffield, the director of the Centre for Health Services Management at the University of Technology, Sydney, said ratios were important but it was vital that hospitals had the right ''skill mix'', the proportion of hours worked by the different classifications of nurses.
She warned that mandated ratios, if filled with higher proportions of enrolled nurses or assistants-in-nursing, would create a less safe environment for patients. Studies show a ward in which at least 85 per cent of staff are registered nurses will have lower rates of medication errors, falls, complications and deaths.
However, the survey found a skill mix as low as 46 per cent in some community hospitals.
Professor Duffield said the average skill mix of 66 per cent - with enrolled nurses or assistants-in-nursing making up the balance - reported in medical and surgical wards in second-tier hospitals such as Bankstown was also a concern.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
PATIENTS BENEFIT FROM HIGHER STAFF LEVELS
Patients benefit from higher staff levels
Julie Robotham, SMH
November 25, 2010
ADEQUATE numbers of well-qualified nurses make a demonstrable difference to the speed of patients' recovery and their likelihood of complications, a growing body of international research clearly shows.
In the latest study, published last month, researchers from the Connecticut Children's Medical Centre found premature babies in neonatal intensive care units achieved higher blood oxygen levels - linked to lower brain-damage risk - when there was a higher number of nurses to infants on the ward.
Earlier this year US doctors found intensive care patients were at higher risk of their ventilator tubes becoming dislodged if they were cared for at a ratio of one nurse to three patients instead of the more widely recommended 1:2.
Advertisement: Story continues below The NSW Nurses' Association's call for a ratio of 1:4 for most ordinary surgical and medical wards is based on a large survey of US hospital patients, by Linda Aiken from the University of Pennsylvania school of nursing.
Professor Aiken examined how patients nursed in a 1:4 ratio fared compared with those who shared one nurse between eight patients. She found people in the latter group were 30 per cent more likely to die.
But Christine Duffield, associate dean of research in nursing faculty of the University of Technology, Sydney, said the 1:4 recommendation, ''should only ever be the floor, not the ceiling,'' and higher numbers of more highly qualified nurses would inevitably benefit patients.
Professor Duffield's 2007 study of the state's nursing workforce found nurse-to-patient ratios were inconsistent between hospitals and across the working day - with as many as 12 patients for each registered nurse during the night shift.
But the situation was likely to have deteriorated since then, she said, because of NSW Health's policy of using a greater number of less-qualified enrolled nurses and assistants in nursing.
Julie Robotham, SMH
November 25, 2010
ADEQUATE numbers of well-qualified nurses make a demonstrable difference to the speed of patients' recovery and their likelihood of complications, a growing body of international research clearly shows.
In the latest study, published last month, researchers from the Connecticut Children's Medical Centre found premature babies in neonatal intensive care units achieved higher blood oxygen levels - linked to lower brain-damage risk - when there was a higher number of nurses to infants on the ward.
Earlier this year US doctors found intensive care patients were at higher risk of their ventilator tubes becoming dislodged if they were cared for at a ratio of one nurse to three patients instead of the more widely recommended 1:2.
Advertisement: Story continues below The NSW Nurses' Association's call for a ratio of 1:4 for most ordinary surgical and medical wards is based on a large survey of US hospital patients, by Linda Aiken from the University of Pennsylvania school of nursing.
Professor Aiken examined how patients nursed in a 1:4 ratio fared compared with those who shared one nurse between eight patients. She found people in the latter group were 30 per cent more likely to die.
But Christine Duffield, associate dean of research in nursing faculty of the University of Technology, Sydney, said the 1:4 recommendation, ''should only ever be the floor, not the ceiling,'' and higher numbers of more highly qualified nurses would inevitably benefit patients.
Professor Duffield's 2007 study of the state's nursing workforce found nurse-to-patient ratios were inconsistent between hospitals and across the working day - with as many as 12 patients for each registered nurse during the night shift.
But the situation was likely to have deteriorated since then, she said, because of NSW Health's policy of using a greater number of less-qualified enrolled nurses and assistants in nursing.
HOSPITALS FACE MORE ACTION
Louise Hall, SMH, 25.11.10
NURSES have pledged to shut down hospital beds next week if the state government does not meet their demands for mandated nurse-to-patient ratios.
More than 4000 nurses walked off the job yesterday and voted unanimously to continue industrial action unless the government agrees to consider introducing nurse staffing ratios in medical, surgical, emergency and palliative care wards, rehabilitation and inpatient mental health units, operating theatres and community health.
The nurses' union says the mandated ratio of one nurse to every four patients introduced into Victorian hospitals 10 years ago resulted in a safer environment for patients, improved staff morale and reduced patient complaints.
Advertisement: Story continues below The assistant secretary of the NSW Nurses Association, Judith Kiejda, said while mandated staffing ratios were expensive to fund, Victorian hospitals ''have not gone broke''.
She accused the government of failing to meaningfully discuss the union's claim despite attempts to negotiate with NSW Health since June.
''If the government won't fund positions to appropriately staff the public health system, then we will reduce the public health system to cope with the staff they will pay for,'' Ms Kiejda.
Intensive care, critical care, paediatrics and oncology wards and emergency departments would be exempted from the industrial action, she said.
Yesterday's strike took place despite a ruling by the Industrial Relations Commission that it be called off and calls from the government for the nurses to return to the negotiating table.
The Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, said a wage rise of 3.9 per cent in the first year and 3 per cent in the second year was served on the association last month. The offer was based on continued use of a ''workload tool'' to determine staffing levels based on the number of patients on a ward and how sick they are.
''Ratios can be a very inflexible way of dealing with staffing and workload in a modern hospital,'' Ms Tebbutt said, but the government is ''willing to talk to nurses about all elements of their claim with regards to wages and conditions and workload''.
Yesterday's strike forced hospitals to defer about 500 patients scheduled to undergo elective surgery, NSW Health said. Of these, half have been given a new date before Christmas.
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NURSES have pledged to shut down hospital beds next week if the state government does not meet their demands for mandated nurse-to-patient ratios.
More than 4000 nurses walked off the job yesterday and voted unanimously to continue industrial action unless the government agrees to consider introducing nurse staffing ratios in medical, surgical, emergency and palliative care wards, rehabilitation and inpatient mental health units, operating theatres and community health.
The nurses' union says the mandated ratio of one nurse to every four patients introduced into Victorian hospitals 10 years ago resulted in a safer environment for patients, improved staff morale and reduced patient complaints.
Advertisement: Story continues below The assistant secretary of the NSW Nurses Association, Judith Kiejda, said while mandated staffing ratios were expensive to fund, Victorian hospitals ''have not gone broke''.
She accused the government of failing to meaningfully discuss the union's claim despite attempts to negotiate with NSW Health since June.
''If the government won't fund positions to appropriately staff the public health system, then we will reduce the public health system to cope with the staff they will pay for,'' Ms Kiejda.
Intensive care, critical care, paediatrics and oncology wards and emergency departments would be exempted from the industrial action, she said.
Yesterday's strike took place despite a ruling by the Industrial Relations Commission that it be called off and calls from the government for the nurses to return to the negotiating table.
The Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, said a wage rise of 3.9 per cent in the first year and 3 per cent in the second year was served on the association last month. The offer was based on continued use of a ''workload tool'' to determine staffing levels based on the number of patients on a ward and how sick they are.
''Ratios can be a very inflexible way of dealing with staffing and workload in a modern hospital,'' Ms Tebbutt said, but the government is ''willing to talk to nurses about all elements of their claim with regards to wages and conditions and workload''.
Yesterday's strike forced hospitals to defer about 500 patients scheduled to undergo elective surgery, NSW Health said. Of these, half have been given a new date before Christmas.
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NURSES AND PATIENTS NEED RATIOS
Jenny Haines, former General Secretary,NSW Nurses Association 1982 to 1987.
NSW nurses need ratios. Nurses Australia-wide need ratios. Victoria has had ratios for the assessment of their nursing numbers per shift now for 10 years, and they successfully attracted 2650 nurses back to the nursing workforce in the first year of the ratios 2000/1.
The Californian Nurses Association, after a long running, and sometimes vindictive dispute with the Governator of Calfornia, Arne Scwharznegger, has ratios, and they in conjunction with nursing organizations in the other American states are taking their campaign for ratios nationwide. The Governator or Gropinator as the California Nurses call him, for his predeliction for close contact with women, tried at one point to close down the nurses registering body. Mind you, the California Nurses did try to sell Arne on eBay, and when it was pointed out to them that they couldn’t sell the Governator, they responded that he had already been bought and sold!!
Ratios in NSW will mean that medical surgical wards will be staffed according to the following ratios:
Morning shift: One nurse per four patients + RN in charge
Afternoon shift: One nurse per four patients + RN in charge
Night shift: One nurse per seven patients
The skill mix for each ward or unit will include a minimum of 85 per cent Registered Nurses for each shift. In terms of clinical support, the ratio specified above does not include the following positions or classifications: Nursing Unit Manager, Clinical Nurse Educator, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Nurse Practitioner, administrative support staff and wardspersons.
The current Secretary of the NSW Nurses Association Brett Holmes put it this way when launching the campaign for ratios in March 2010
"The extension of ratios into NSW is also a major initiative in terms of national healthcare reform. No real discussion about reform can occur without acknowledging the need to provide sufficient staff and funding for those required staffing levels. The issue goes to the heart of how any so-called national ‘efficient price' for a hospital service or procedure is set."
"Therefore, any work currently being done on costing public hospital services must develop scenarios that take this nurse-to-patient ratio claim into account. “
And patients need ratios. Patients need the reassurance that there is some science to the method of staffing wards and units and that it is not just based on whatever meager budget is left over for nurse staffing.
Those bureaucrats and politicians who go white at the mention of the cost of ratios for nurses - $400 million a year for the next 4 years - should consider this:
“Victoria’s public hospitals have recorded a combined financial surplus for the sixth successive year, Health Minister Daniel Andrews said today. “The hospital
annual reports, tabled in Parliament, confirm the Brumby Labor Government has positioned Victoria’s hospitals to continue delivering high quality services
to the community,” Mr Andrews said. “The hospitals are operating in surplus in the face of record demand.” (Statement by Victorian Health Minister, Daniel Andrews, 16 September 2010.)
Health system bureaucrats and politicians should also take into account the following factors:
1. The amount that has been saved by the downskilling of the nursing workforce over the last 10 -20 years.
2. The amount that has been saved through not providing adequate educational support to that downskilled workforce.
3. The amount that has been saved through the flattening of nursing management structures.
4. The amount that has been saved through the closure of too many beds in NSW.
5. The amount that has been saved through increased productivity and efficiency due to those bed closures and the need to expedite patient care within recommended guidelines.
6. The amount that has been saved through nurses working excessive overtime and never getting a chance to take time in lieu, which is supposed to be available under the award.
7. The amount that has been saved through the contracting out of ancillary services and the need for nurses to supervise the unskilled workers employed by the contractors.
8. The introduction of user pays for all services on hospital campuses and the costs to nurses for those services
The ratios are part of a wages and conditions package currently being negotiated by the NSW Nurses Association with the NSW government. There are to be as yet unspecified offsets in that package. I doubt that any of the above listed factors will be taken into consideration by NSW Health or the NSW Government, but they should stop and take notice of the enormous sacrifices being made by NSW nurses to keep the NSW health system running. It is just as well nurses are the nice people that they are. Wharfies and miners of old would have walked off the job years ago.
NSW nurses need ratios. Nurses Australia-wide need ratios. Victoria has had ratios for the assessment of their nursing numbers per shift now for 10 years, and they successfully attracted 2650 nurses back to the nursing workforce in the first year of the ratios 2000/1.
The Californian Nurses Association, after a long running, and sometimes vindictive dispute with the Governator of Calfornia, Arne Scwharznegger, has ratios, and they in conjunction with nursing organizations in the other American states are taking their campaign for ratios nationwide. The Governator or Gropinator as the California Nurses call him, for his predeliction for close contact with women, tried at one point to close down the nurses registering body. Mind you, the California Nurses did try to sell Arne on eBay, and when it was pointed out to them that they couldn’t sell the Governator, they responded that he had already been bought and sold!!
Ratios in NSW will mean that medical surgical wards will be staffed according to the following ratios:
Morning shift: One nurse per four patients + RN in charge
Afternoon shift: One nurse per four patients + RN in charge
Night shift: One nurse per seven patients
The skill mix for each ward or unit will include a minimum of 85 per cent Registered Nurses for each shift. In terms of clinical support, the ratio specified above does not include the following positions or classifications: Nursing Unit Manager, Clinical Nurse Educator, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Nurse Practitioner, administrative support staff and wardspersons.
The current Secretary of the NSW Nurses Association Brett Holmes put it this way when launching the campaign for ratios in March 2010
"The extension of ratios into NSW is also a major initiative in terms of national healthcare reform. No real discussion about reform can occur without acknowledging the need to provide sufficient staff and funding for those required staffing levels. The issue goes to the heart of how any so-called national ‘efficient price' for a hospital service or procedure is set."
"Therefore, any work currently being done on costing public hospital services must develop scenarios that take this nurse-to-patient ratio claim into account. “
And patients need ratios. Patients need the reassurance that there is some science to the method of staffing wards and units and that it is not just based on whatever meager budget is left over for nurse staffing.
Those bureaucrats and politicians who go white at the mention of the cost of ratios for nurses - $400 million a year for the next 4 years - should consider this:
“Victoria’s public hospitals have recorded a combined financial surplus for the sixth successive year, Health Minister Daniel Andrews said today. “The hospital
annual reports, tabled in Parliament, confirm the Brumby Labor Government has positioned Victoria’s hospitals to continue delivering high quality services
to the community,” Mr Andrews said. “The hospitals are operating in surplus in the face of record demand.” (Statement by Victorian Health Minister, Daniel Andrews, 16 September 2010.)
Health system bureaucrats and politicians should also take into account the following factors:
1. The amount that has been saved by the downskilling of the nursing workforce over the last 10 -20 years.
2. The amount that has been saved through not providing adequate educational support to that downskilled workforce.
3. The amount that has been saved through the flattening of nursing management structures.
4. The amount that has been saved through the closure of too many beds in NSW.
5. The amount that has been saved through increased productivity and efficiency due to those bed closures and the need to expedite patient care within recommended guidelines.
6. The amount that has been saved through nurses working excessive overtime and never getting a chance to take time in lieu, which is supposed to be available under the award.
7. The amount that has been saved through the contracting out of ancillary services and the need for nurses to supervise the unskilled workers employed by the contractors.
8. The introduction of user pays for all services on hospital campuses and the costs to nurses for those services
The ratios are part of a wages and conditions package currently being negotiated by the NSW Nurses Association with the NSW government. There are to be as yet unspecified offsets in that package. I doubt that any of the above listed factors will be taken into consideration by NSW Health or the NSW Government, but they should stop and take notice of the enormous sacrifices being made by NSW nurses to keep the NSW health system running. It is just as well nurses are the nice people that they are. Wharfies and miners of old would have walked off the job years ago.
Friday, November 12, 2010
A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM
Richar Ackland, 12.11.10, SMH.
The High Court in Canberra yesterday delivered two decisions that struck at the heart of Australia's most divisive and politically-pedalled fears: refugees and criminal gangs.
It was a big day for justice, freedoms and rights. As a consequence, you can be sure the political mugging will be even more unrestrained and distorted.
In the organised crime case, the court by a six-to-one majority struck down the key component of the South Australian bikies legislation. The reasoning was clear - the legislation sought to dictate what magistrates were required to do in implementing decisions of the state government.
This is an exhilarating warning to governments from the highest court - don't trample on the judicial patch.
The vice in the legislation was that it sought to turn courts into rubber-stamps for decisions of the attorney-general and police commissioner. Magistrates were required to sprinkle holy water over the executive's attempts to restrict people's freedom of association if they were deemed to be engaging in ''serious criminal activity'' (even if they weren't).
It was not so much the attempt to control people's freedom of association that concerned the High Court. After all, numerous bits of law do that. It was the obligation that the legislation imposed on the courts to make control orders at the behest of government that was so upsetting.
It goes to the heart of chapter three of the constitution, the provisions that guarantee the independence of the judiciary and quarantine the government of the day from making ''judicial decisions''.
At the moment, chapter three is all we have by way of a national charter of rights. It is limited and its application is far from consistent but in the past couple of years it has been relied on by the High Court in a number of provocative ways.
In February, the court put a big hole in the NSW Industrial Relations Act by striking down the provisions that removed the right to appeal its occupational health and safety decisions to the Supreme Court. In August last year, it struck down the Australian Military Court because the legislation required it to exercise judicial powers without there being proper constitutional underpinning. A year ago today, the court scuttled elements of the NSW criminal assets recovery legislation because it used the word ''must'' in insisting the Supreme Court make orders to restrain bank accounts and other assets without the affected person being put on notice.
NSW has a bikie case that is awaiting a hearing in the High Court. The South Australian act was supposed to be the ''model'' gangs law, and NSW rushed to draw on its framework after the bikie brawl at Sydney Airport in March last year. Even though the police already had sufficient powers to deal with criminals and criminal organisations, the government of ''Red Hot'' Nathan Rees wheeled out its anti-gangs act and got it through Parliament pretty smartly. It drew heavily on the language of the Howard era's terrorism laws, with control orders and decisions made by judges who were deemed ''eligible''. There's plenty of room for the High Court, if it's in the mood, to find that this law, too, flies in the face of the chapter three protections, but you just never know.
Who was the hold-out in the South Australia case? No surprises there - Justice Dyson Heydon, who is more conservative than the Duke of Wellington. His is the lengthiest and most fascinating judgment, and a variety of authorities are cited, including Lenin.
In the refugee case, the court (unanimously) said that the offshore processing of asylum seekers had to be conducted with procedural fairness and according to law. The fact that the former immigration minister Philip Ruddock had tried to deny legal rights to possible refugees by containing them in black holes like Christmas Island did not excuse the ministerial obligation to observe binding decisions of the Australian courts or the Migration Act itself.
Ruddock's invention, we recently discovered, was the result of some creative discussion around his family dinner table.
Already the court's decision is being flagged by the ''stop the boats'' brigade as an open invitation to asylum seekers and people smugglers to overrun our borders.
Not quite. The broader challenges to the Migration Act and the minister's discretion on granting protection visas were not upheld.
The way in which chapter three and rules of procedural fairness are applied by the High Court are far from consistent. After all, the court has held that it is perfectly legal to lock up a person indefinitely without charge. It has also held that secret evidence can be used by courts to make decisions and that can be done without showing the evidence to the party adversely affected and having it properly tested.
Chief Justice James Spigelman of NSW, who would have been chief justice of the High Court had it not been for Kevin Rudd, said something last month that we all know, but least expect judges to say publicly: ''It is all too easy to dress up a conclusion, reached on other grounds, by selecting from the smorgasbord of maxims and principles of interpretation those which assist the achievement of the predetermined result.''
Yesterday was an emphatic statement by the High Court led by Robert French. Further, ministers ignore the law and the judges at their peril. That both major decisions were scheduled to come thudding down from on high on the same day rubs in the points even more forcefully.
justinian@lawpress.com.au
The High Court in Canberra yesterday delivered two decisions that struck at the heart of Australia's most divisive and politically-pedalled fears: refugees and criminal gangs.
It was a big day for justice, freedoms and rights. As a consequence, you can be sure the political mugging will be even more unrestrained and distorted.
In the organised crime case, the court by a six-to-one majority struck down the key component of the South Australian bikies legislation. The reasoning was clear - the legislation sought to dictate what magistrates were required to do in implementing decisions of the state government.
This is an exhilarating warning to governments from the highest court - don't trample on the judicial patch.
The vice in the legislation was that it sought to turn courts into rubber-stamps for decisions of the attorney-general and police commissioner. Magistrates were required to sprinkle holy water over the executive's attempts to restrict people's freedom of association if they were deemed to be engaging in ''serious criminal activity'' (even if they weren't).
It was not so much the attempt to control people's freedom of association that concerned the High Court. After all, numerous bits of law do that. It was the obligation that the legislation imposed on the courts to make control orders at the behest of government that was so upsetting.
It goes to the heart of chapter three of the constitution, the provisions that guarantee the independence of the judiciary and quarantine the government of the day from making ''judicial decisions''.
At the moment, chapter three is all we have by way of a national charter of rights. It is limited and its application is far from consistent but in the past couple of years it has been relied on by the High Court in a number of provocative ways.
In February, the court put a big hole in the NSW Industrial Relations Act by striking down the provisions that removed the right to appeal its occupational health and safety decisions to the Supreme Court. In August last year, it struck down the Australian Military Court because the legislation required it to exercise judicial powers without there being proper constitutional underpinning. A year ago today, the court scuttled elements of the NSW criminal assets recovery legislation because it used the word ''must'' in insisting the Supreme Court make orders to restrain bank accounts and other assets without the affected person being put on notice.
NSW has a bikie case that is awaiting a hearing in the High Court. The South Australian act was supposed to be the ''model'' gangs law, and NSW rushed to draw on its framework after the bikie brawl at Sydney Airport in March last year. Even though the police already had sufficient powers to deal with criminals and criminal organisations, the government of ''Red Hot'' Nathan Rees wheeled out its anti-gangs act and got it through Parliament pretty smartly. It drew heavily on the language of the Howard era's terrorism laws, with control orders and decisions made by judges who were deemed ''eligible''. There's plenty of room for the High Court, if it's in the mood, to find that this law, too, flies in the face of the chapter three protections, but you just never know.
Who was the hold-out in the South Australia case? No surprises there - Justice Dyson Heydon, who is more conservative than the Duke of Wellington. His is the lengthiest and most fascinating judgment, and a variety of authorities are cited, including Lenin.
In the refugee case, the court (unanimously) said that the offshore processing of asylum seekers had to be conducted with procedural fairness and according to law. The fact that the former immigration minister Philip Ruddock had tried to deny legal rights to possible refugees by containing them in black holes like Christmas Island did not excuse the ministerial obligation to observe binding decisions of the Australian courts or the Migration Act itself.
Ruddock's invention, we recently discovered, was the result of some creative discussion around his family dinner table.
Already the court's decision is being flagged by the ''stop the boats'' brigade as an open invitation to asylum seekers and people smugglers to overrun our borders.
Not quite. The broader challenges to the Migration Act and the minister's discretion on granting protection visas were not upheld.
The way in which chapter three and rules of procedural fairness are applied by the High Court are far from consistent. After all, the court has held that it is perfectly legal to lock up a person indefinitely without charge. It has also held that secret evidence can be used by courts to make decisions and that can be done without showing the evidence to the party adversely affected and having it properly tested.
Chief Justice James Spigelman of NSW, who would have been chief justice of the High Court had it not been for Kevin Rudd, said something last month that we all know, but least expect judges to say publicly: ''It is all too easy to dress up a conclusion, reached on other grounds, by selecting from the smorgasbord of maxims and principles of interpretation those which assist the achievement of the predetermined result.''
Yesterday was an emphatic statement by the High Court led by Robert French. Further, ministers ignore the law and the judges at their peril. That both major decisions were scheduled to come thudding down from on high on the same day rubs in the points even more forcefully.
justinian@lawpress.com.au
JUDGES SAFEGUARD LIBERTY
David Marr
SMH, 12.11.10,
UNANIMOUS decisions of the High Court are never an accident. Only every decade or so do all seven judges speak with a single voice on big issues of principle. It's their way of sending a blunt message to government. Their support for the Tamil asylum seekers M61 and M69 lays down the law about fair dealing for all refugees. But underneath it's about safeguarding liberty.
Everything in the case turned on the fact that they - like all boat people since mandatory detention was introduced by the Keating government in 1992 - were deprived of their liberty while their claims were assessed. One way of boiling down this dramatic decision to its essentials is this: the High Court will ensure the courts are always there to see that liberty is only lost according to law.
The judges appear to be making amends for what is widely regarded as one of the High Court's worst decisions. Five years ago a majority of the judges decided Ahmed Ali Al-Kateb, a Palestinian whose claim for refugee protection had been rejected, could be held in Australia in immigration detention for the rest of his life if no other country would take him off our hands. So shocking was that conclusion, that Al-Kateb was released from detention by the Howard government. They could not live with a rule they themselves had asked the court to make. Al-Kateb has since become an Australian citizen. But his name is in the law books marking an embarrassing low point in the High Court's valuation of liberty.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Asylum Seekers are transported to Christmas Island by barge. Photo: Allison Millcock
The tone and approach of the judges to the predicament of M61 and M69 could not have been more different. This was all about setting limits on governments acting alone to deprive people of their liberty.
A little history is required at this point. Back in 2001, Australia set up a deliberately second-class system for assessing refugee claims by boat people. About 14,000 have gone through that system which has never been fundamentally challenged until now. The architects of the scheme tried to exclude the courts by separating as far as legally possible the assessment of claims from the minister's role in granting visas. Assessments of visa claims were said to be "non statutory" investigations - hence outside the control of the courts - and only once they were complete did the minister enter the picture. Whether he granted a visa at that point was something said to be absolutely at his personal discretion. Once again, the courts were supposed to be excluded.
They might work, said the court, except that while each case was going on - and here the judges used italics to indicate the crucial importance of these few words - "the claimant was detained". And that changes everything. Loss of liberty, said the seven judges, can only be for lawful purposes. No one can be detained in ways beyond the supervision of the courts.
Technically, the High Court collapsed the distance between the assessors and the minister. The court found that despite claims to the contrary, the minister was there at the start directing the assessors to do their work. They are not independent of the law but caught up in the machinery of the Migration Act. The work of the assessors - but not the minister - can therefore be directed by the courts.
The ultimate upshot? Shock, horror: all asylum seekers have to be dealt with fairly and according to law. And governments of all persuasions are on notice that the court now takes far more seriously its traditional role as guardian of liberty.
MAINLAND DETAINEES
Darwin detention: 449
Alternative accommodation in Darwin: 448
Sydney detention: 164
Alternative accommodation: 29
Melbourne detention: 19
Alternative accommodation: 41
Brisbane detention 38
Alternative accommodation: 87
Weipa Qld detention: 291
Perth detention: 33
Alternative accommodation: 23
Leonora, WA, detention 199
Curtin, WA, detention 747
Port Augusta detention 59
Adelaide alternative accommodation: 2
* Alternative accommodation includes community detention and transit housing
SOURCE: IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT AS AT NOVEMBER 5
Poll: Do you think asylum seekers who approach Australia by boat and are processed offshore should have access to Australian courts?
Poll form
Please select an answer.
Yes
No
View results
Yes69%
No31%
Total votes: 2243.
Would you like to vote? You will need Cookies enabled to use our Voting Feature.
Poll closes in 3 days.
Disclaimer:
These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.
SMH, 12.11.10,
UNANIMOUS decisions of the High Court are never an accident. Only every decade or so do all seven judges speak with a single voice on big issues of principle. It's their way of sending a blunt message to government. Their support for the Tamil asylum seekers M61 and M69 lays down the law about fair dealing for all refugees. But underneath it's about safeguarding liberty.
Everything in the case turned on the fact that they - like all boat people since mandatory detention was introduced by the Keating government in 1992 - were deprived of their liberty while their claims were assessed. One way of boiling down this dramatic decision to its essentials is this: the High Court will ensure the courts are always there to see that liberty is only lost according to law.
The judges appear to be making amends for what is widely regarded as one of the High Court's worst decisions. Five years ago a majority of the judges decided Ahmed Ali Al-Kateb, a Palestinian whose claim for refugee protection had been rejected, could be held in Australia in immigration detention for the rest of his life if no other country would take him off our hands. So shocking was that conclusion, that Al-Kateb was released from detention by the Howard government. They could not live with a rule they themselves had asked the court to make. Al-Kateb has since become an Australian citizen. But his name is in the law books marking an embarrassing low point in the High Court's valuation of liberty.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Asylum Seekers are transported to Christmas Island by barge. Photo: Allison Millcock
The tone and approach of the judges to the predicament of M61 and M69 could not have been more different. This was all about setting limits on governments acting alone to deprive people of their liberty.
A little history is required at this point. Back in 2001, Australia set up a deliberately second-class system for assessing refugee claims by boat people. About 14,000 have gone through that system which has never been fundamentally challenged until now. The architects of the scheme tried to exclude the courts by separating as far as legally possible the assessment of claims from the minister's role in granting visas. Assessments of visa claims were said to be "non statutory" investigations - hence outside the control of the courts - and only once they were complete did the minister enter the picture. Whether he granted a visa at that point was something said to be absolutely at his personal discretion. Once again, the courts were supposed to be excluded.
They might work, said the court, except that while each case was going on - and here the judges used italics to indicate the crucial importance of these few words - "the claimant was detained". And that changes everything. Loss of liberty, said the seven judges, can only be for lawful purposes. No one can be detained in ways beyond the supervision of the courts.
Technically, the High Court collapsed the distance between the assessors and the minister. The court found that despite claims to the contrary, the minister was there at the start directing the assessors to do their work. They are not independent of the law but caught up in the machinery of the Migration Act. The work of the assessors - but not the minister - can therefore be directed by the courts.
The ultimate upshot? Shock, horror: all asylum seekers have to be dealt with fairly and according to law. And governments of all persuasions are on notice that the court now takes far more seriously its traditional role as guardian of liberty.
MAINLAND DETAINEES
Darwin detention: 449
Alternative accommodation in Darwin: 448
Sydney detention: 164
Alternative accommodation: 29
Melbourne detention: 19
Alternative accommodation: 41
Brisbane detention 38
Alternative accommodation: 87
Weipa Qld detention: 291
Perth detention: 33
Alternative accommodation: 23
Leonora, WA, detention 199
Curtin, WA, detention 747
Port Augusta detention 59
Adelaide alternative accommodation: 2
* Alternative accommodation includes community detention and transit housing
SOURCE: IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT AS AT NOVEMBER 5
Poll: Do you think asylum seekers who approach Australia by boat and are processed offshore should have access to Australian courts?
Poll form
Please select an answer.
Yes
No
View results
Yes69%
No31%
Total votes: 2243.
Would you like to vote? You will need Cookies enabled to use our Voting Feature.
Poll closes in 3 days.
Disclaimer:
These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.
Friday, October 22, 2010
NURSES PROTEST OVER BASHING
Well may these nurses protest but they are several years too late, and so is the union. The decision made to mainstream mental health clients into the general hospital system was made by NSW Health knowing that there was a desperate shortage of registered nurses who were specialised in the care of the mentally ill and knowing that their facilities were not the best for the numbers of clients that were going to be processed through them. It appears that this nurse was working alone at night in contravention of NSW Health Policy. If we are ever to have enough nurses working in mental health services we need immediate action to address the very low numbers of nurses choosing mental health as their specialty. Why not build on the success midwifery has had with its direct entry bachelor's degree and have a direct entry mental health degree?
Jenny Haines
Nurses protest over bashing
Kate Benson
October 22, 2010, SMH
NURSES are considering taking legal action against the Health Department after a staff member was bashed by a psychiatric patient.
Nurses at Blacktown Hospital will hold a rally to demand the psychiatric emergency care centre be closed because it is inadequately staffed and its design makes it difficult for staff to escape dangerous confrontations.
They say the hospital's 34-bed mental health unit, where the emergency care centre is located, has 10 fewer nurses than it needs to be safe.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''By any decent standard this unit is understaffed and now a nurse on her own has been brutally assaulted, by a seriously ill patient, in a staff room from which she had no alternative escape route once trapped inside the one-door room,'' the general secretary of the NSW Nurses Association, Brett Holmes, said.
The assault on the nurse, who did not want to be named, happened two weeks ago after a patient asked to use the phone at 4am. She was dragged from behind the desk, punched and kicked in the head, face and ribs. She is on stress leave and is not expected to return to work until next year.
The union organiser for the area, Michael Whaites, said a doctor had also been seriously assaulted at the centre two years ago. ''There's no second exit point. The staff do carry duress alarms but management is now looking at whether that's appropriate.''
He said the union was deciding if it should prosecute the Health Department for putting staff in danger, but was concerned that once the unit was closed, NSW Health would withdraw funding for several nurses, which would cause bigger problems. The protest rally will be held on Wednesday.
Jenny Haines
Nurses protest over bashing
Kate Benson
October 22, 2010, SMH
NURSES are considering taking legal action against the Health Department after a staff member was bashed by a psychiatric patient.
Nurses at Blacktown Hospital will hold a rally to demand the psychiatric emergency care centre be closed because it is inadequately staffed and its design makes it difficult for staff to escape dangerous confrontations.
They say the hospital's 34-bed mental health unit, where the emergency care centre is located, has 10 fewer nurses than it needs to be safe.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''By any decent standard this unit is understaffed and now a nurse on her own has been brutally assaulted, by a seriously ill patient, in a staff room from which she had no alternative escape route once trapped inside the one-door room,'' the general secretary of the NSW Nurses Association, Brett Holmes, said.
The assault on the nurse, who did not want to be named, happened two weeks ago after a patient asked to use the phone at 4am. She was dragged from behind the desk, punched and kicked in the head, face and ribs. She is on stress leave and is not expected to return to work until next year.
The union organiser for the area, Michael Whaites, said a doctor had also been seriously assaulted at the centre two years ago. ''There's no second exit point. The staff do carry duress alarms but management is now looking at whether that's appropriate.''
He said the union was deciding if it should prosecute the Health Department for putting staff in danger, but was concerned that once the unit was closed, NSW Health would withdraw funding for several nurses, which would cause bigger problems. The protest rally will be held on Wednesday.
Monday, September 27, 2010
HEALTH GAP WIDENS
Call for greater social reform as health gap widens
Mark Metherell, smh
September 27, 2010
.
Source: CHA-NATSEM Report on Health Inequalities.
The Rudd government's health reforms failed to focus on what a new report shows is the biggest factor in death and disease in Australia - social and economic disadvantage.
An analysis commissioned by Catholic Health Australia has found that the 20 per cent of Australians on the lowest incomes died on average three years earlier than others because of illness caused by unhealthy lifestyles.
The most disadvantaged people were in some cases four or five times more likely to suffer chronic illness than the comfortably-off, the report found.
Martin Laverty, the group's chief executive, called on the new Parliament to press for renewed focus on improved early childhood support, education and welfare for disadvantaged people - an emphasis lacking in the Rudd reforms.
''Health reform in the last term of government focused on hospitals, not the drivers that cause people to end up in hospitals,'' Mr Laverty said. ''The then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, missed a major opportunity and left many health professionals disappointed with the health reforms.
''If this Parliament does not act on preventive and social determinants of health, health reforms will not be achieved.''
The analysis by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling at Canberra University found the health gaps between the poor and well-off were often very large. Up to 65 per cent of people in public housing had long-term health problems compared with only 15 per cent of home owners.
More than 60 per cent of men in jobless households reported having a long-term health condition or disability, and more than 40 per cent of women.
Obesity rates were about three times higher among those in public housing than home owners. High-risk drinking among early school leavers was double the rate of those with a tertiary qualification. ''This is not about access to health services,'' Mr Laverty said. ''There is strong evidence that social determinants of health - such as income level, housing status and education level - are the factors more responsible for health inequities.'' The close links between low socio-economic status, illness and harmful lifestyles like smoking and unhealthy diet showed that more preventive health television campaigns would not solve the problem. ''This report shows that policies targeting behavioural change do not work,'' Mr Laverty said.
The health reforms now being implemented by the Gillard government needed to use the proposed new structures such as the local hospital networks and ''Medicare local'' organisations to assess health needs and advocate improvements in early childhood services, schooling and welfare support where necessary, he said. Any suggestion that the health reform was complete was wrong. ''It is far from it,'' Mr Laverty said.
The report, supported by the St Vincent de Paul Society and Catholic Social Services Australia, showed that thinking on health equity had to change, said Father Frank Brennan of the Australian Catholic University and Tony Wheeler, chairman of Catholic Health Australia's stewardship board.
''We have failed as a nation to properly consider the root causes of most illness and disease,'' they say in the report
Mark Metherell, smh
September 27, 2010
.
Source: CHA-NATSEM Report on Health Inequalities.
The Rudd government's health reforms failed to focus on what a new report shows is the biggest factor in death and disease in Australia - social and economic disadvantage.
An analysis commissioned by Catholic Health Australia has found that the 20 per cent of Australians on the lowest incomes died on average three years earlier than others because of illness caused by unhealthy lifestyles.
The most disadvantaged people were in some cases four or five times more likely to suffer chronic illness than the comfortably-off, the report found.
Martin Laverty, the group's chief executive, called on the new Parliament to press for renewed focus on improved early childhood support, education and welfare for disadvantaged people - an emphasis lacking in the Rudd reforms.
''Health reform in the last term of government focused on hospitals, not the drivers that cause people to end up in hospitals,'' Mr Laverty said. ''The then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, missed a major opportunity and left many health professionals disappointed with the health reforms.
''If this Parliament does not act on preventive and social determinants of health, health reforms will not be achieved.''
The analysis by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling at Canberra University found the health gaps between the poor and well-off were often very large. Up to 65 per cent of people in public housing had long-term health problems compared with only 15 per cent of home owners.
More than 60 per cent of men in jobless households reported having a long-term health condition or disability, and more than 40 per cent of women.
Obesity rates were about three times higher among those in public housing than home owners. High-risk drinking among early school leavers was double the rate of those with a tertiary qualification. ''This is not about access to health services,'' Mr Laverty said. ''There is strong evidence that social determinants of health - such as income level, housing status and education level - are the factors more responsible for health inequities.'' The close links between low socio-economic status, illness and harmful lifestyles like smoking and unhealthy diet showed that more preventive health television campaigns would not solve the problem. ''This report shows that policies targeting behavioural change do not work,'' Mr Laverty said.
The health reforms now being implemented by the Gillard government needed to use the proposed new structures such as the local hospital networks and ''Medicare local'' organisations to assess health needs and advocate improvements in early childhood services, schooling and welfare support where necessary, he said. Any suggestion that the health reform was complete was wrong. ''It is far from it,'' Mr Laverty said.
The report, supported by the St Vincent de Paul Society and Catholic Social Services Australia, showed that thinking on health equity had to change, said Father Frank Brennan of the Australian Catholic University and Tony Wheeler, chairman of Catholic Health Australia's stewardship board.
''We have failed as a nation to properly consider the root causes of most illness and disease,'' they say in the report
Saturday, September 11, 2010
STRIKE WAVE IN CHINA
STRIKE WAVE STRENGTHENS LABOUR’S HAND
IN DRIVING A SOCIALIST PATHWAY OF DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA
by Wayne Sonter
A wave of strikes swept through China between May and July 2010, centred on, but not confined to the rapidly growing auto industry.
The strikes were triggered by a dozen suicides at the monstrous Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, where Apple iphones are made and hundreds of thousands of workers, nearly all young migrants from rural areas, work 60 or more hours a week in a sprawling complex of factories, under military-style management.(1)
Foxconn’s attitude towards its employers, typically, is that, “They are here to make money, of course they have to work hard. If they want a good life here, they will have to work hard for it. It's natural.” (2)
The suicides provoked sympathy and shame throughout China and stirred fellow migrant workers to take action, first at the Honda transmission plant at Foshan, (3) then at other plants owned by Honda, Toyota and Hyundai and their supplier firms (4)
The strikes mark a period of unrest and unsettled labour relations in China, as workers seek to wrest to themselves a ‘fairer’ share of the social product they create and to lessen their exploitation. As a striking worker at the Honda Lock plant (Zhongshan, Guangdong) stated:
China! It has been promoting low-cost competition and cheap labour. Our GDP keeps growing! However, this growth relies on exploiting our cheap labour. We have created all this wealth but only get very low wages in return.… Don’t we deserve to get better pay? With such deplorable wages, just how are we going to raise the overall level of our national economy? (5)
Those in revolt are the second generation of China’s ‘new’ industrial working class, created by China’s phenomenal economic growth in the last three decades, where hundreds of millions of people have moved from country to city seeking work, feeding a growth of 400 million people in China’s cities in the past 25 years.
They come to places like the Pearl River delta in Guangdong ‘one of the world’s densest industrial estates’ with its broad, low factories and ‘thickets’ of six-storey dormitories. Turnover of workers is high and most are young, few older than their early twenties and many still in their teens. Many manufacturing workers are women and almost all in the affected factories in Guangdong have attended vocational schools, meaning they have a relatively high level of education. (6).
These young workers are determined not to sacrifice their lives like their parents did, but to make a better life:
Our parents have suffered from this cheap labour market and now they are getting old. And now, do we, the post 1980 and 1990 generation, want to follow in footsteps of our parents? I believe no parent wants this. It is because they all once walked down this road and know how hard it is. We do not want to go this way either. Times have changed! So this kind of cheap labour regime must end! (7)
They are also more spirited, and combative in advancing their interests:(8)
“We are not as cowardly and afraid of trouble (as the older workers)”, said … a cheerful 20-year-old factory girl wearing a pink dress, gently mock(ing) an older colleague in his 30s who was among a group of around 10 others gathered in her room. "We don't think so much about things," she laughed. "The risk is worth taking. Now we've started, we must finish it." (9)
With modern information-technology the new generation of workers find it easy to discover, through school networks, mobile phones and internet bulletin boards what is happening from factory to factory. This fed into the strike wave, sweeping across industry and from employer to employer, in increasingly conscious industry wide action that indicates a capability to take action to a more general level.
China’s new labour laws have made it easier for workers to organise and bargain with their employer, and the huge debate among workers and in the media before they became law in 2008, raised expectations that they would provide workers better protection. (10)
But the strikes also exposed the inadequacy of the All China Federation of Trade Unions as a voice for labour, and the comprador role local governments play in backing capital in disputes with labour. As Anita Chan, University of Technology, Sydney, reported in the China Daily:
‘during the Honda strike, in the eyes of the workers the union was “useless” because it “blatantly sided with the local government, which in turn was on the side of the employer.”’ (1)
Employers and local governments have routinely appointed workplace delegates, with ACFTU compliance:
The ACFTU has for many years had “a policy of urging workplace unions to sign collective contracts with managements” and … the government supports “an enlarged trade union role” in negotiating contracts with management … however, in foreign-invested enterprises in the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong, workers’ representatives are appointed by local governments and are expected to support their localities’ quest for foreign investment. (12)
The top levels of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are recognising the vital role of the young, migrant workforce for China’s future and the justice of their demands on employers for higher wages and better conditions. No less a figure than Chinese Premier, Wen Jibao recently told migrant workers in Beijing:
“You are the main army of the contemporary Chinese industrial workforce. Our wealth and our tall buildings are all distillations of your hard work and sweat. Your labour is a glorious thing, and it should be respected by society. The government and all parts of society should treat young migrant workers as they would treat their own children.” (13)
Yang Shiming, vice-minister for human resources and social security, reported to the National People’s Congress on the need to safeguard migrant workers rights and improve their working conditions, (14) while Wang Yang, the highest government leader in Guangdong, has encouraged the Guangdong trade union federation to “democratize” the trade union by experimenting with election of local trade union leaders. (15)
Some reports claim the words from senior CPC figures are backed by militia ready to enforce civil order. Their warnings almost welcome the prospect of suppression of workers revolt to ‘prove’ the system has failed, or capitalist restoration is complete. (16), (17), (18).
Some also read into these developments the possibility of a ‘solidarnosc’ type workers movement in China, or on the other hand are critical of the extent to which present developments are not leading to ‘independent’ trade unions. (19)
Nonetheless, young workers are directly taking power into their hands through strike action in the workplace, adding to pressure within the ACFTU to start to allow and encourage workers to directly elect workplace committees and representatives, rather than appoint them by the ‘usual’ methods:
“… under the impetus of the workers’ self-organization in the auto parts industry … President of Guangdong Federation of Trade Unions, Deng Weilong, announced creation of a trade union legal services department to represent workers and activists. He also announced the union’s intention to conduct democratic elections to replace management officials with workers as union chairpersons in workplace unions. The Vice-Chair of Guangdong Federation of Trade unions, Kong Xianghong … defended the legal rights of workers to conduct economic strikes. Unions must listen to the workers, support their legitimate demands and aspirations through collective bargaining.” (20)
Workers using their rights to organise in the workplace, accords with China’s constitution and is also the most likely and direct way to empower unions and through an ‘all-china federation’ extend workers’ power across the workforce. In other words, workers, using their collective power, can make the ACFTU itself a more effective force for developing the working class’s organising and management capability at workplace, industry and economy levels. The extent to which they can do this indicates how far the present framework can support an evolving social democracy. Such understanding seemed to emerge among ACFTU officials, in the course of the strikes:
The first strike at the Nanhai Honda Auto Parts transmission plant in Foshan City succeeded in winning wage increases for both “student interns” and permanent workers through courageous actions and strategically sound tactics, but had to overcome violent strike-breaking efforts by Nanhai district trade union officers sent by the local government. Nanhai workers elected their own bargaining representatives and demanded the right to elect their own enterprise union chairperson.... a fair election procedure has been promised them by … the Guangdong provincial trade union federation …
A wave of strikes triggered by the success of the Nanhai strike swept parts plants producing for Honda, Toyota and Hyundai, with roughly similar outcomes, negotiations resulting in major wage increases and promises that workers will have the right to select their local union officers in the future. Generally the striking workers regarded the enterprise and higher level trade unions as useless or irrelevant. At the Honda Lock plant at Zhongshan, after the strike faltered when management brought in scabs and threatened strikers with dismissal, some frustrated strike leaders were reported in the New York Times to be calling for an independent trade union.
However when the strike wave reached Honda Nansha in Guangzhou, the municipal trade union federation reacted positively and pro-actively. The trade union leadership encouraged election of worker representatives to participate in bargaining, and made a public statement that the union would be on the workers’ side and represent their interests. When the local labor bureau officer asked the local union to serve its traditional role as “mediator” in the dispute between workers and management, the trade union officer refused and insisted the government’s labor bureau play that role. The union official even resisted the customary “vetting” of the elected chairperson of the worker representatives by the local police.’ (21)
The Chinese actions are already inspiring workers around the world. For example Ken Lewenza, President, Canadian Auto Workers Union, whose members work for many of the same employers as do Chinese workers, has called for popular forces to look to Chinese strikers for hope:
“Chinese autoworkers who, against all odds and possibly severe repercussions, took to the streets in protest over insufficient wages and poor working conditions … exemplify the principles and fearless spirit of trade unionism … A strong, independent and united Chinese trade union movement can support and inspire unions and workers' movements globally … (22)
Support for the striking workers has come from within China and internationally, (23), (24), (25), including from veteran communists who have called on the ACFTU to clearly stand on the workers’ side and for the CPC to uphold the constitution and its basic principles, by restoring the working class to its leading position and socialist public ownership to its central role in the national economy. (26)
The upsurge in militancy amongst China’s workers is part of an emerging, world-wide ferment of discontent following the 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), whose costs the world capitalist class blatantly intends to shove onto workers.
The global auto industry is a case in point. It has undergone an extended period of rationalisation, accelerated by the GFC and recession. Automakers are rushing to China both to exploit a ‘competitive’ labour market and to be inside the world’s largest and fastest growing new car market (27)
In doing this the global corporates have ruthlessly squeezed labour costs, driving hard bargains to enforce brutal work conditions on their own employees and forcing down to the bare bone the prices they give contractors, who are then doubly driven to undercut labour to the maximum extent. Many contracting firms work on margins of less than 5 per cent, so cannot afford any real increases in costs of labour.(28).
The current wave of strikes has succeeded in revealing to China’s young workers their power, particularly when they assert it against powerful multinational corporations in growth sectors of the economy.
They perceive that they are fighting for socialism, and opposing capitalism, which they equate with exploitation by global corporations:
Honda is a Japanese company and Japan is a capitalist country. But China is supposed to be a socialist country! The Japanese companies investing in China must follow the rules of China. Implement socialism! Do not give us capitalism! (29)
This is a new development. Industrial strife has simmered for the whole period of downsizing, bankruptcy and rationalisation of public sector industry, but labour is now exercising its power in an expanding industry sector, linked integrally to the global economy.
Challenges for a socialist pathway
This eruption of strikes starkly highlights some of China’s challenges in strengthening workers’ democracy and forging a socialist pathway of development.
Many features of the Chinese state are contradictory. The 2008 labour laws may have increased labour’s power to organise, but the 2004 Congress’s amendments to the constitution also protected private ownership of property and wealth, permitted private entrepreneurs to join the CPC and recognised the merit of ‘progressive’ capitalists among its principles. (30), (31)
Development in China since the 1980s has generated great inequality and a very wealthy elite, creating a potentially explosive situation. According to an article in The People’s Daily, quoted in the China Labour Bulletin:
“China’s Gini Coefficient, … an index that measures inequality, clocks in at 0.47 – very close to the 0.5 marker, which often signals risk of instability. … from 1997 to 2007 labour remuneration as a percentage of GDP went from 53.4 per cent to 39.74 per cent. Workers weren’t the only ones to lose ground. … In 1978 urban per capita income was 2.78 times higher than rural income. By 2009 that gap had widened to 3.33. Also, in cities, the richest 10 per cent controlled 45 per cent of the wealth, while the poorest 10 per cent only had 1.4 per cent. (32)
To the extent the top echelons of the party are founding dynasties who own private and privatised productive assets, work closely with foreign investors to ratchet up economic growth, and have inheritance rights, there is a mortal danger of the state turning into an apparatus that serves a capitalist class, one that concedes to workers only what it must, to maintain stability and growth of consumption in a market economy (33).
China’s last three decades can be characterised as a form of a New Economic Policy (NEP), as well as a sort of ‘market socialism’. It invites comparison with the early Soviet Union, when the young revolution needed a massive infusion of capital to develop industry and improve living standards, and also with the ‘marketisation’ that years later helped collapse the Soviet Union and the Comecon countries.
Lenin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union saw great danger arising from the influx of global financial and industrial capital into a young socialist state economy. Lenin stressed that capital flowing into the economy had to be accompanied by a maximisation of labour’s rights and resources, so it could resist superexploitation, exert a controlling force in workplace and industry and continue to develop its social-economic role:
“(where) a free market and capitalism, both subject to state control, are now being permitted and are developing; (and) state enterprises are being put on what is called a profit basis, i.e., they are in effect being largely reorganised on commercial and capitalist lines … (then) one of the main tasks that will henceforth confront the trade unions is to protect in every way the class interests of the proletariat in its struggle against capital. This task should be openly put in the forefront, and the machinery of the trade unions must be reorganised, modified or supplemented accordingly … (34)
Where now for workers?
The revolt by young Chinese workers has inspired labour around the world. Their actions have reverberated among corporate and ruling circles in a time of global ferment and discontent with the capitalist system.
Their decisive action has hastened increases in the minimum wage in provinces throughout China, (35) in a situation where, according to the ACFTU a quarter of Chinese workers had not had a pay rise in the previous five years (36)
Their commitment and strategic thinking is forcing the ACFTU towards accepting a more representative unionism in the workplace and to taking on a new role as labour ‘advocates’ rather than ‘mediators’ between labour and capital; and gained recognition from government of their vital role in the economy and the justice of their case.
Given this, workers’ gains in some cases were little more than the minimum wage increases municipal and provincial governments are now setting. Employers have reneged on deals once the strikers were back at work, intensified work and ramped up costs and penalties for employees. They are accelerating automation, seeking lower cost immigrant labour and preparing to move to lower cost labour markets –provincial China and lower wage countries such as Vietnam, Bangla Desh and Cambodia. (37).
Employers – especially foreign investment enterprises – are accustomed to, expect and demand that the Chinese government protects their investments in China. They perceive a common interest between businesses, both foreign and domestic, and governments seeking stability. On the other hand, those workers who have recently taken direct action against global corporations are a ‘thin sliver’ of China’s total workforce. They need to be vigilant, connected and organised to maintain their gains, avoid isolation and counter these pressures.
China employs a fifth of the global workforce. Its economy is inextricably part of the global market economy. The Chinese workers’ long march to emancipation against the forces of imperialism, including their own emerging capitalist class, is of vital concern to the global workforce. The labour movement worldwide needs to work in solidarity with China’s workers if it is to effectively challenge imperialism and the world capitalist class, transform society and bring about a civilised future for humanity.
Footnotes
1. ‘Billionaire Terry Gou sweats in fallout over 10 Hon Hai suicides’ Jason Dean and Ting-I Tsai, The Wall Street Journal May 27, 2010 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/billionaire-terry-gou-sweats-in-fallout-over-10-hon-hai-suicides/story-e6frg90x-1225872003166
2. ‘Special Report: China's new migrant workers pushing the line’ By James Pomfret and Kelvin Soh, Reuters, Mon Jul 5, 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6640QD20100705
3. ‘Honda Strikers Victorious in China’ Paul Garver, Talking Union, posted June 7, 2010. http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/honda-strikers-victorious-in-china/
4. ‘Auto Strikes Open Up Space for Union Reform in China’ Paul Garver, ibid, posted July 7, 2010 http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/auto-strikes-open-up-space-for-union-reform-in-china/
5. ‘A Honda Worker in China Speaks Out at Close of Historic Strike’, Labor Notes Staff, 06/02/2010. http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2010/06/honda-worker-china-speaks-out-close-historic-strike
6. ‘Workers in China grasp the power of the strike’ Jonathan Watts, The Observer, Sunday 4 July 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/workers-china-power-strike-communist
7. ibid. ‘A Honda Worker in China Speaks Out …’
8. ‘China takes hands-off approach to labour strikes’ AP, Monday June 28, 2010. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/28/business/20100628115055&sec=business
9. ibid. ‘Special Report: China's new migrant workers pushing the line’
10. ibid. ‘China takes hands-off approach to labour strikes’
11. ‘Labor unrest and role of unions’, Anita Chan, China Daily, 18 June 2010 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-06/18/content_9987347.htm
12. ‘The New Challenge of the Strikes Won’t Go Away’ Stanley Lubman, Wall Street Journal July 11, 2010, http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/11/the-new-challenge-of-the-strikes-wont-go-away/
13. ‘Echoes of workers’ struggle in apartheid-era South Africa in China’s factories today’, Geoff's blog China Labour Bulletin, June 14 2010. http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/100805
14. ‘China's migrant workers see some gains on labor rights’, Violet Law, June 30, 2010, Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0630/China-s-migrant-workers-see-some-gains-on-labor-rights/%28page%29/2
15. ibid. ‘Auto Strikes Open up …’
16. ‘As Chinese premier urges “respect” for workers, police prepare crackdown’, John Chan, 18 June 2010,World Socialist Website.http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/chin-j18.shtml
17. ‘China strikers bypass union, organize with social media’, Michelle Phillips, June 27, 2010, Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/27/china-strikers-bypass-union-organize-social-media/
18. ‘UPDATE 1-Striking workers at Honda China supplier demand apology’, Doug Young; Fri Jul 16, 2010, Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE66F0BD20100716
19. .ibid. ‘Special Report: China's new migrant workers pushing the line’ “But the Communist Party, which traces its own heritage to a worker's movement, has faced a policy tightrope. It must also ensure that strikes don't proliferate and scare investors or ignite broader political confrontation that erodes Party rule. Few workers blame the government for low wages, but more and more say higher pay and a larger share of China's economic pie are only fair.
While the past few years have seen bargaining power shift in labor's favor, it's virtually unthinkable that Beijing would allow workers to form independent unions along the lines of those found in Japan or South Korea, which might undermine its one-party power. When workers of struggling state-owned factories in northeast China organized protests and voiced political demands in 2002, authorities arrested the leaders and jailed them on charges of political subversion.
China's leaders have studied the lessons from Poland's solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa, which saw an independent trade union morph into a powerful opposition force that played a key role in the downfall of Communism there and in other Eastern bloc countries.
20. ‘Auto Strikes Open Up Space for Union Reform in China’ ibid.
21. . ibid. ‘Auto Strikes Open up …’
22. ‘Look to Chinese strikers for hope’ Ken Lewenza, Jun 25 2010, The Star. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/828268--look-to-chinese-strikers-for-hope
22. ‘Time to defend Chinese workers' rights’ Li Hong, June 07, 2010, People’s Daily. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90002/96743/7014872.html
23. ‘Support Honda Workers in Foshan China’, 3 June 2010, Chinese Workers Research Network. http://chinastudygroup.net/2010/06/support-honda-workers-in-foshan-china/
24. Follow the Lead of China’s Strikers’, Jim Stanford June 27, 2010 http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2010/06/27/follow-the-lead-of-chinas-strikers/
25. ‘[Worldwide Scholars Petition]: Support Honda Workers in Foshan China’ Fri, 06/04/2010 China Labour Net http://worldlabour.org/eng/node/358
26. ‘Position Statement of Old Revolutionaries on Present Upsurge of Worker Action in China’ 13 June 2010, Li Chengrui, et al. http://chinastudygroup.net/2010/06/old-revolutionaries-on-the-present-upsurge/
27. Automotive industry, Worldwide Trends. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry
28. ‘Apple's iPhone supply chain faces sharply increasing costs in China’ Josh Ong, 7 July 2010 http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/07/06/apples_iphone_supply_chain_faces_sharply_increasing_costs_in_china.html Also: ‘Secrets, Lies, And Sweatshops’ Business Week, 27 Nov, 2006
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_48/b4011001.htm
29. ibid. ‘A Honda Worker in China Speaks Out at Close of Historic Strike’
30. ‘Major Amendments to the Constitution’ China Through A Lens March 16, 2004 http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/90056.htm
31. ‘Chinese regime amends constitution to protect private ownership’, John Chan, 2 April 2004 World Socialist Website’ http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/apr2004/npc-a02.shtml
32. ‘People’s Daily cites gap between rich and poor as most pressing issue in China, but solution still elusive’, william's blog 13 Jul 2010, China Labour Bulletin. http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/100824
33. ‘In Who’s Interest does the State in China Serve and Why’ Mark Vorpahl, July 2, 2010 http://www.workerscompass.org/vorpahl_07-02-2010.html
34. ‘Draft Theses on the Role and Functions of the Trade Unions under the New Economic Policy’, V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, 1971. http://www.marx2mao.com/Lenin/DRTU21.html
35. ‘Provinces across China raise minimum wages’ People’s Daily, August 18, 2010 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90862/7108404.html Also:
‘China Provinces Raise Minimum Wages to Curb Disputes’ Business Week July 01, 2010 http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-01/china-provinces-raise-minimum-wages-to-curb-disputes.html
36. ‘ACFTU: SOE senior Executives earn 18 times higher than grassroots workers’ People’s Daily, March 10, 2010 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6915167.html
37. ‘With Lower Garment-worker Pay, Bangladesh Moves In On China’Vikas Bajaj, Manilla Bulletin July 22, 2010 http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/268210/with-lower-garmentworker-pay-bangladesh-moves-in-on-china
IN DRIVING A SOCIALIST PATHWAY OF DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA
by Wayne Sonter
A wave of strikes swept through China between May and July 2010, centred on, but not confined to the rapidly growing auto industry.
The strikes were triggered by a dozen suicides at the monstrous Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, where Apple iphones are made and hundreds of thousands of workers, nearly all young migrants from rural areas, work 60 or more hours a week in a sprawling complex of factories, under military-style management.(1)
Foxconn’s attitude towards its employers, typically, is that, “They are here to make money, of course they have to work hard. If they want a good life here, they will have to work hard for it. It's natural.” (2)
The suicides provoked sympathy and shame throughout China and stirred fellow migrant workers to take action, first at the Honda transmission plant at Foshan, (3) then at other plants owned by Honda, Toyota and Hyundai and their supplier firms (4)
The strikes mark a period of unrest and unsettled labour relations in China, as workers seek to wrest to themselves a ‘fairer’ share of the social product they create and to lessen their exploitation. As a striking worker at the Honda Lock plant (Zhongshan, Guangdong) stated:
China! It has been promoting low-cost competition and cheap labour. Our GDP keeps growing! However, this growth relies on exploiting our cheap labour. We have created all this wealth but only get very low wages in return.… Don’t we deserve to get better pay? With such deplorable wages, just how are we going to raise the overall level of our national economy? (5)
Those in revolt are the second generation of China’s ‘new’ industrial working class, created by China’s phenomenal economic growth in the last three decades, where hundreds of millions of people have moved from country to city seeking work, feeding a growth of 400 million people in China’s cities in the past 25 years.
They come to places like the Pearl River delta in Guangdong ‘one of the world’s densest industrial estates’ with its broad, low factories and ‘thickets’ of six-storey dormitories. Turnover of workers is high and most are young, few older than their early twenties and many still in their teens. Many manufacturing workers are women and almost all in the affected factories in Guangdong have attended vocational schools, meaning they have a relatively high level of education. (6).
These young workers are determined not to sacrifice their lives like their parents did, but to make a better life:
Our parents have suffered from this cheap labour market and now they are getting old. And now, do we, the post 1980 and 1990 generation, want to follow in footsteps of our parents? I believe no parent wants this. It is because they all once walked down this road and know how hard it is. We do not want to go this way either. Times have changed! So this kind of cheap labour regime must end! (7)
They are also more spirited, and combative in advancing their interests:(8)
“We are not as cowardly and afraid of trouble (as the older workers)”, said … a cheerful 20-year-old factory girl wearing a pink dress, gently mock(ing) an older colleague in his 30s who was among a group of around 10 others gathered in her room. "We don't think so much about things," she laughed. "The risk is worth taking. Now we've started, we must finish it." (9)
With modern information-technology the new generation of workers find it easy to discover, through school networks, mobile phones and internet bulletin boards what is happening from factory to factory. This fed into the strike wave, sweeping across industry and from employer to employer, in increasingly conscious industry wide action that indicates a capability to take action to a more general level.
China’s new labour laws have made it easier for workers to organise and bargain with their employer, and the huge debate among workers and in the media before they became law in 2008, raised expectations that they would provide workers better protection. (10)
But the strikes also exposed the inadequacy of the All China Federation of Trade Unions as a voice for labour, and the comprador role local governments play in backing capital in disputes with labour. As Anita Chan, University of Technology, Sydney, reported in the China Daily:
‘during the Honda strike, in the eyes of the workers the union was “useless” because it “blatantly sided with the local government, which in turn was on the side of the employer.”’ (1)
Employers and local governments have routinely appointed workplace delegates, with ACFTU compliance:
The ACFTU has for many years had “a policy of urging workplace unions to sign collective contracts with managements” and … the government supports “an enlarged trade union role” in negotiating contracts with management … however, in foreign-invested enterprises in the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong, workers’ representatives are appointed by local governments and are expected to support their localities’ quest for foreign investment. (12)
The top levels of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are recognising the vital role of the young, migrant workforce for China’s future and the justice of their demands on employers for higher wages and better conditions. No less a figure than Chinese Premier, Wen Jibao recently told migrant workers in Beijing:
“You are the main army of the contemporary Chinese industrial workforce. Our wealth and our tall buildings are all distillations of your hard work and sweat. Your labour is a glorious thing, and it should be respected by society. The government and all parts of society should treat young migrant workers as they would treat their own children.” (13)
Yang Shiming, vice-minister for human resources and social security, reported to the National People’s Congress on the need to safeguard migrant workers rights and improve their working conditions, (14) while Wang Yang, the highest government leader in Guangdong, has encouraged the Guangdong trade union federation to “democratize” the trade union by experimenting with election of local trade union leaders. (15)
Some reports claim the words from senior CPC figures are backed by militia ready to enforce civil order. Their warnings almost welcome the prospect of suppression of workers revolt to ‘prove’ the system has failed, or capitalist restoration is complete. (16), (17), (18).
Some also read into these developments the possibility of a ‘solidarnosc’ type workers movement in China, or on the other hand are critical of the extent to which present developments are not leading to ‘independent’ trade unions. (19)
Nonetheless, young workers are directly taking power into their hands through strike action in the workplace, adding to pressure within the ACFTU to start to allow and encourage workers to directly elect workplace committees and representatives, rather than appoint them by the ‘usual’ methods:
“… under the impetus of the workers’ self-organization in the auto parts industry … President of Guangdong Federation of Trade Unions, Deng Weilong, announced creation of a trade union legal services department to represent workers and activists. He also announced the union’s intention to conduct democratic elections to replace management officials with workers as union chairpersons in workplace unions. The Vice-Chair of Guangdong Federation of Trade unions, Kong Xianghong … defended the legal rights of workers to conduct economic strikes. Unions must listen to the workers, support their legitimate demands and aspirations through collective bargaining.” (20)
Workers using their rights to organise in the workplace, accords with China’s constitution and is also the most likely and direct way to empower unions and through an ‘all-china federation’ extend workers’ power across the workforce. In other words, workers, using their collective power, can make the ACFTU itself a more effective force for developing the working class’s organising and management capability at workplace, industry and economy levels. The extent to which they can do this indicates how far the present framework can support an evolving social democracy. Such understanding seemed to emerge among ACFTU officials, in the course of the strikes:
The first strike at the Nanhai Honda Auto Parts transmission plant in Foshan City succeeded in winning wage increases for both “student interns” and permanent workers through courageous actions and strategically sound tactics, but had to overcome violent strike-breaking efforts by Nanhai district trade union officers sent by the local government. Nanhai workers elected their own bargaining representatives and demanded the right to elect their own enterprise union chairperson.... a fair election procedure has been promised them by … the Guangdong provincial trade union federation …
A wave of strikes triggered by the success of the Nanhai strike swept parts plants producing for Honda, Toyota and Hyundai, with roughly similar outcomes, negotiations resulting in major wage increases and promises that workers will have the right to select their local union officers in the future. Generally the striking workers regarded the enterprise and higher level trade unions as useless or irrelevant. At the Honda Lock plant at Zhongshan, after the strike faltered when management brought in scabs and threatened strikers with dismissal, some frustrated strike leaders were reported in the New York Times to be calling for an independent trade union.
However when the strike wave reached Honda Nansha in Guangzhou, the municipal trade union federation reacted positively and pro-actively. The trade union leadership encouraged election of worker representatives to participate in bargaining, and made a public statement that the union would be on the workers’ side and represent their interests. When the local labor bureau officer asked the local union to serve its traditional role as “mediator” in the dispute between workers and management, the trade union officer refused and insisted the government’s labor bureau play that role. The union official even resisted the customary “vetting” of the elected chairperson of the worker representatives by the local police.’ (21)
The Chinese actions are already inspiring workers around the world. For example Ken Lewenza, President, Canadian Auto Workers Union, whose members work for many of the same employers as do Chinese workers, has called for popular forces to look to Chinese strikers for hope:
“Chinese autoworkers who, against all odds and possibly severe repercussions, took to the streets in protest over insufficient wages and poor working conditions … exemplify the principles and fearless spirit of trade unionism … A strong, independent and united Chinese trade union movement can support and inspire unions and workers' movements globally … (22)
Support for the striking workers has come from within China and internationally, (23), (24), (25), including from veteran communists who have called on the ACFTU to clearly stand on the workers’ side and for the CPC to uphold the constitution and its basic principles, by restoring the working class to its leading position and socialist public ownership to its central role in the national economy. (26)
The upsurge in militancy amongst China’s workers is part of an emerging, world-wide ferment of discontent following the 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), whose costs the world capitalist class blatantly intends to shove onto workers.
The global auto industry is a case in point. It has undergone an extended period of rationalisation, accelerated by the GFC and recession. Automakers are rushing to China both to exploit a ‘competitive’ labour market and to be inside the world’s largest and fastest growing new car market (27)
In doing this the global corporates have ruthlessly squeezed labour costs, driving hard bargains to enforce brutal work conditions on their own employees and forcing down to the bare bone the prices they give contractors, who are then doubly driven to undercut labour to the maximum extent. Many contracting firms work on margins of less than 5 per cent, so cannot afford any real increases in costs of labour.(28).
The current wave of strikes has succeeded in revealing to China’s young workers their power, particularly when they assert it against powerful multinational corporations in growth sectors of the economy.
They perceive that they are fighting for socialism, and opposing capitalism, which they equate with exploitation by global corporations:
Honda is a Japanese company and Japan is a capitalist country. But China is supposed to be a socialist country! The Japanese companies investing in China must follow the rules of China. Implement socialism! Do not give us capitalism! (29)
This is a new development. Industrial strife has simmered for the whole period of downsizing, bankruptcy and rationalisation of public sector industry, but labour is now exercising its power in an expanding industry sector, linked integrally to the global economy.
Challenges for a socialist pathway
This eruption of strikes starkly highlights some of China’s challenges in strengthening workers’ democracy and forging a socialist pathway of development.
Many features of the Chinese state are contradictory. The 2008 labour laws may have increased labour’s power to organise, but the 2004 Congress’s amendments to the constitution also protected private ownership of property and wealth, permitted private entrepreneurs to join the CPC and recognised the merit of ‘progressive’ capitalists among its principles. (30), (31)
Development in China since the 1980s has generated great inequality and a very wealthy elite, creating a potentially explosive situation. According to an article in The People’s Daily, quoted in the China Labour Bulletin:
“China’s Gini Coefficient, … an index that measures inequality, clocks in at 0.47 – very close to the 0.5 marker, which often signals risk of instability. … from 1997 to 2007 labour remuneration as a percentage of GDP went from 53.4 per cent to 39.74 per cent. Workers weren’t the only ones to lose ground. … In 1978 urban per capita income was 2.78 times higher than rural income. By 2009 that gap had widened to 3.33. Also, in cities, the richest 10 per cent controlled 45 per cent of the wealth, while the poorest 10 per cent only had 1.4 per cent. (32)
To the extent the top echelons of the party are founding dynasties who own private and privatised productive assets, work closely with foreign investors to ratchet up economic growth, and have inheritance rights, there is a mortal danger of the state turning into an apparatus that serves a capitalist class, one that concedes to workers only what it must, to maintain stability and growth of consumption in a market economy (33).
China’s last three decades can be characterised as a form of a New Economic Policy (NEP), as well as a sort of ‘market socialism’. It invites comparison with the early Soviet Union, when the young revolution needed a massive infusion of capital to develop industry and improve living standards, and also with the ‘marketisation’ that years later helped collapse the Soviet Union and the Comecon countries.
Lenin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union saw great danger arising from the influx of global financial and industrial capital into a young socialist state economy. Lenin stressed that capital flowing into the economy had to be accompanied by a maximisation of labour’s rights and resources, so it could resist superexploitation, exert a controlling force in workplace and industry and continue to develop its social-economic role:
“(where) a free market and capitalism, both subject to state control, are now being permitted and are developing; (and) state enterprises are being put on what is called a profit basis, i.e., they are in effect being largely reorganised on commercial and capitalist lines … (then) one of the main tasks that will henceforth confront the trade unions is to protect in every way the class interests of the proletariat in its struggle against capital. This task should be openly put in the forefront, and the machinery of the trade unions must be reorganised, modified or supplemented accordingly … (34)
Where now for workers?
The revolt by young Chinese workers has inspired labour around the world. Their actions have reverberated among corporate and ruling circles in a time of global ferment and discontent with the capitalist system.
Their decisive action has hastened increases in the minimum wage in provinces throughout China, (35) in a situation where, according to the ACFTU a quarter of Chinese workers had not had a pay rise in the previous five years (36)
Their commitment and strategic thinking is forcing the ACFTU towards accepting a more representative unionism in the workplace and to taking on a new role as labour ‘advocates’ rather than ‘mediators’ between labour and capital; and gained recognition from government of their vital role in the economy and the justice of their case.
Given this, workers’ gains in some cases were little more than the minimum wage increases municipal and provincial governments are now setting. Employers have reneged on deals once the strikers were back at work, intensified work and ramped up costs and penalties for employees. They are accelerating automation, seeking lower cost immigrant labour and preparing to move to lower cost labour markets –provincial China and lower wage countries such as Vietnam, Bangla Desh and Cambodia. (37).
Employers – especially foreign investment enterprises – are accustomed to, expect and demand that the Chinese government protects their investments in China. They perceive a common interest between businesses, both foreign and domestic, and governments seeking stability. On the other hand, those workers who have recently taken direct action against global corporations are a ‘thin sliver’ of China’s total workforce. They need to be vigilant, connected and organised to maintain their gains, avoid isolation and counter these pressures.
China employs a fifth of the global workforce. Its economy is inextricably part of the global market economy. The Chinese workers’ long march to emancipation against the forces of imperialism, including their own emerging capitalist class, is of vital concern to the global workforce. The labour movement worldwide needs to work in solidarity with China’s workers if it is to effectively challenge imperialism and the world capitalist class, transform society and bring about a civilised future for humanity.
Footnotes
1. ‘Billionaire Terry Gou sweats in fallout over 10 Hon Hai suicides’ Jason Dean and Ting-I Tsai, The Wall Street Journal May 27, 2010 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/billionaire-terry-gou-sweats-in-fallout-over-10-hon-hai-suicides/story-e6frg90x-1225872003166
2. ‘Special Report: China's new migrant workers pushing the line’ By James Pomfret and Kelvin Soh, Reuters, Mon Jul 5, 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6640QD20100705
3. ‘Honda Strikers Victorious in China’ Paul Garver, Talking Union, posted June 7, 2010. http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/honda-strikers-victorious-in-china/
4. ‘Auto Strikes Open Up Space for Union Reform in China’ Paul Garver, ibid, posted July 7, 2010 http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/auto-strikes-open-up-space-for-union-reform-in-china/
5. ‘A Honda Worker in China Speaks Out at Close of Historic Strike’, Labor Notes Staff, 06/02/2010. http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2010/06/honda-worker-china-speaks-out-close-historic-strike
6. ‘Workers in China grasp the power of the strike’ Jonathan Watts, The Observer, Sunday 4 July 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/workers-china-power-strike-communist
7. ibid. ‘A Honda Worker in China Speaks Out …’
8. ‘China takes hands-off approach to labour strikes’ AP, Monday June 28, 2010. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/28/business/20100628115055&sec=business
9. ibid. ‘Special Report: China's new migrant workers pushing the line’
10. ibid. ‘China takes hands-off approach to labour strikes’
11. ‘Labor unrest and role of unions’, Anita Chan, China Daily, 18 June 2010 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-06/18/content_9987347.htm
12. ‘The New Challenge of the Strikes Won’t Go Away’ Stanley Lubman, Wall Street Journal July 11, 2010, http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/11/the-new-challenge-of-the-strikes-wont-go-away/
13. ‘Echoes of workers’ struggle in apartheid-era South Africa in China’s factories today’, Geoff's blog China Labour Bulletin, June 14 2010. http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/100805
14. ‘China's migrant workers see some gains on labor rights’, Violet Law, June 30, 2010, Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0630/China-s-migrant-workers-see-some-gains-on-labor-rights/%28page%29/2
15. ibid. ‘Auto Strikes Open up …’
16. ‘As Chinese premier urges “respect” for workers, police prepare crackdown’, John Chan, 18 June 2010,World Socialist Website.http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/chin-j18.shtml
17. ‘China strikers bypass union, organize with social media’, Michelle Phillips, June 27, 2010, Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/27/china-strikers-bypass-union-organize-social-media/
18. ‘UPDATE 1-Striking workers at Honda China supplier demand apology’, Doug Young; Fri Jul 16, 2010, Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE66F0BD20100716
19. .ibid. ‘Special Report: China's new migrant workers pushing the line’ “But the Communist Party, which traces its own heritage to a worker's movement, has faced a policy tightrope. It must also ensure that strikes don't proliferate and scare investors or ignite broader political confrontation that erodes Party rule. Few workers blame the government for low wages, but more and more say higher pay and a larger share of China's economic pie are only fair.
While the past few years have seen bargaining power shift in labor's favor, it's virtually unthinkable that Beijing would allow workers to form independent unions along the lines of those found in Japan or South Korea, which might undermine its one-party power. When workers of struggling state-owned factories in northeast China organized protests and voiced political demands in 2002, authorities arrested the leaders and jailed them on charges of political subversion.
China's leaders have studied the lessons from Poland's solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa, which saw an independent trade union morph into a powerful opposition force that played a key role in the downfall of Communism there and in other Eastern bloc countries.
20. ‘Auto Strikes Open Up Space for Union Reform in China’ ibid.
21. . ibid. ‘Auto Strikes Open up …’
22. ‘Look to Chinese strikers for hope’ Ken Lewenza, Jun 25 2010, The Star. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/828268--look-to-chinese-strikers-for-hope
22. ‘Time to defend Chinese workers' rights’ Li Hong, June 07, 2010, People’s Daily. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90002/96743/7014872.html
23. ‘Support Honda Workers in Foshan China’, 3 June 2010, Chinese Workers Research Network. http://chinastudygroup.net/2010/06/support-honda-workers-in-foshan-china/
24. Follow the Lead of China’s Strikers’, Jim Stanford June 27, 2010 http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2010/06/27/follow-the-lead-of-chinas-strikers/
25. ‘[Worldwide Scholars Petition]: Support Honda Workers in Foshan China’ Fri, 06/04/2010 China Labour Net http://worldlabour.org/eng/node/358
26. ‘Position Statement of Old Revolutionaries on Present Upsurge of Worker Action in China’ 13 June 2010, Li Chengrui, et al. http://chinastudygroup.net/2010/06/old-revolutionaries-on-the-present-upsurge/
27. Automotive industry, Worldwide Trends. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry
28. ‘Apple's iPhone supply chain faces sharply increasing costs in China’ Josh Ong, 7 July 2010 http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/07/06/apples_iphone_supply_chain_faces_sharply_increasing_costs_in_china.html Also: ‘Secrets, Lies, And Sweatshops’ Business Week, 27 Nov, 2006
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_48/b4011001.htm
29. ibid. ‘A Honda Worker in China Speaks Out at Close of Historic Strike’
30. ‘Major Amendments to the Constitution’ China Through A Lens March 16, 2004 http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/90056.htm
31. ‘Chinese regime amends constitution to protect private ownership’, John Chan, 2 April 2004 World Socialist Website’ http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/apr2004/npc-a02.shtml
32. ‘People’s Daily cites gap between rich and poor as most pressing issue in China, but solution still elusive’, william's blog 13 Jul 2010, China Labour Bulletin. http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/100824
33. ‘In Who’s Interest does the State in China Serve and Why’ Mark Vorpahl, July 2, 2010 http://www.workerscompass.org/vorpahl_07-02-2010.html
34. ‘Draft Theses on the Role and Functions of the Trade Unions under the New Economic Policy’, V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, 1971. http://www.marx2mao.com/Lenin/DRTU21.html
35. ‘Provinces across China raise minimum wages’ People’s Daily, August 18, 2010 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90862/7108404.html Also:
‘China Provinces Raise Minimum Wages to Curb Disputes’ Business Week July 01, 2010 http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-01/china-provinces-raise-minimum-wages-to-curb-disputes.html
36. ‘ACFTU: SOE senior Executives earn 18 times higher than grassroots workers’ People’s Daily, March 10, 2010 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6915167.html
37. ‘With Lower Garment-worker Pay, Bangladesh Moves In On China’Vikas Bajaj, Manilla Bulletin July 22, 2010 http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/268210/with-lower-garmentworker-pay-bangladesh-moves-in-on-china
Thursday, September 02, 2010
BOB KATTER IS NOT MAD!
Bob Katter is not mad. Just because he is able to offer a sustained and valid attack on the economic orthodoxies of our age, he is called mad! How dare he suggest that capitalism does not deliver for farmers and rural workers. How dare he remind those who have grown fat and rich, those who preach globalisation, economic rationalisation, and the dominance of the market economy, that after 12 years of Liberal Coalition Government there was one farmer suiciding in Australia every four days. How dare he fight to defend the members of his constituency by opposing the mining tax and advocating the greater use of ethanol for fuel. I disagree with him on the mining tax, but I defend his right to his view. Bob Katter has been returned to parliament by his constituency 7 times. How many other politicians can claim that? He is not mad, he is a politician doing his job for his electorate, however uniquely, and somewhat eccentrically.
Jenny Haines
Jenny Haines
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM - A DANCE IN DUALITY
Lucy Turnbull recently wrote a think piece in the Sydney Morning Herald triumphantly declaring that despite the Global Financial Crisis and the market excesses that led to that crisis, that capitalism is the only viable system we have for organising our economies. Well Lucy, I wonder if that is what those who survive by scrabbling for food in rubbish heaps in the Phillipines think? Or those in the townships in South Africa who have been waiting now for a very long time for better housing, education and health services? Or those in rural Australia who don’t get heard in the babble of an election contest when they try to talk about real issues, but the electorate is too busy wondering about Julia’s hair and Tony’s ears.? Bob Katter should have shaken the apologists for capitalism with his recent statement that after 12 years of Coalition Government implementing an economic rationalist and deregulatory agenda, there was a farmer suiciding every four days. What a great triumph for capitalism!
History tells us that capitalism is nothing without its opposite, socialism. Capitalism and Socialism should live in a perpetual duality, a balance. Socialism tempers capitalist excess. Capitalism can temper Socialism. Abolish, crush, abandon socialist ideas, and capitalist excess flourishes. Lucy simplistically talks about socialism as the command economies of Stalinism, but socialism takes many more forms and philosophies than the oppression of Stalinism. Interestingly in the first few years after the Russian Revolution, before the terrors of Stalinism took hold, the economy flourished, not just through the efforts of local Russian industrial, post war reconstruction but because of the co-operation with American and European Business. Not many people now remember that Henry Ford had a car factory in the Soviet Union in the 1920 and 1930s. The prosperity of the post war co-operative reconstruction was blown away by the terrible and stupid mistakes of Stalinism and the terror economy.
But socialism is much much more than this. Socialist ideas inspired the early trade unionists, and still inspire them today. Trade unionists know that they need a political party to take their demands forward in the realm of government, and so the Labor Party was formed. Socialist ideas underpin the formation of the Green Party. Small liberals in the Liiberal National Coalition espouse socialist ideas when they support welfare for the aged or single mothers. Without the regulation that socialism requires to achieve social objectives over economic rationalist objectives, deregulation allows the sharks and shonks of capitalism to rip people off. Greed is not good! And there is a price to pay down the track for all that greed, and we are now paying it. And there is more to come. The Global Financial Crisis is not yet over. On Four Corners on Monday 23rd August 2010, we were reminded that we are now living in the biggest bubble of all time. The PIGS countries, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain are using borrowed monies to repay debts. The bubble is expanding. It is going to blow. And we are going to see the worst recession, if not depression since the Great Depression. And as Franklin Roosevelt taught us, the only way out of the coming recession or depression is the implementing of socialist based ideas and programs.
It is not fashionable to talk about socialism these days as the horrors of Stalinism in the 20th century equate socialism with death, destruction and economic decay. But socialism survives in all its inspirations and its forms. It must be defended, and so we must fight for the rightful place of unions in our society, and the achievement of the social democratic objectives of the left of centre political parties. The capitalist agenda of economic rationalism, globalisation and productivity and efficiency as the basis of the distribution of wealth have led us into the recent Global Financial Crisis and the coming Crisis. Unless we recognise the duality of Capitalism and Socialism there is a lot more pain in our economic life to come
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/capitalism-is-still-the-only-system-that-works-20100808-11q55.html
History tells us that capitalism is nothing without its opposite, socialism. Capitalism and Socialism should live in a perpetual duality, a balance. Socialism tempers capitalist excess. Capitalism can temper Socialism. Abolish, crush, abandon socialist ideas, and capitalist excess flourishes. Lucy simplistically talks about socialism as the command economies of Stalinism, but socialism takes many more forms and philosophies than the oppression of Stalinism. Interestingly in the first few years after the Russian Revolution, before the terrors of Stalinism took hold, the economy flourished, not just through the efforts of local Russian industrial, post war reconstruction but because of the co-operation with American and European Business. Not many people now remember that Henry Ford had a car factory in the Soviet Union in the 1920 and 1930s. The prosperity of the post war co-operative reconstruction was blown away by the terrible and stupid mistakes of Stalinism and the terror economy.
But socialism is much much more than this. Socialist ideas inspired the early trade unionists, and still inspire them today. Trade unionists know that they need a political party to take their demands forward in the realm of government, and so the Labor Party was formed. Socialist ideas underpin the formation of the Green Party. Small liberals in the Liiberal National Coalition espouse socialist ideas when they support welfare for the aged or single mothers. Without the regulation that socialism requires to achieve social objectives over economic rationalist objectives, deregulation allows the sharks and shonks of capitalism to rip people off. Greed is not good! And there is a price to pay down the track for all that greed, and we are now paying it. And there is more to come. The Global Financial Crisis is not yet over. On Four Corners on Monday 23rd August 2010, we were reminded that we are now living in the biggest bubble of all time. The PIGS countries, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain are using borrowed monies to repay debts. The bubble is expanding. It is going to blow. And we are going to see the worst recession, if not depression since the Great Depression. And as Franklin Roosevelt taught us, the only way out of the coming recession or depression is the implementing of socialist based ideas and programs.
It is not fashionable to talk about socialism these days as the horrors of Stalinism in the 20th century equate socialism with death, destruction and economic decay. But socialism survives in all its inspirations and its forms. It must be defended, and so we must fight for the rightful place of unions in our society, and the achievement of the social democratic objectives of the left of centre political parties. The capitalist agenda of economic rationalism, globalisation and productivity and efficiency as the basis of the distribution of wealth have led us into the recent Global Financial Crisis and the coming Crisis. Unless we recognise the duality of Capitalism and Socialism there is a lot more pain in our economic life to come
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/capitalism-is-still-the-only-system-that-works-20100808-11q55.html
Friday, August 13, 2010
WE ARE ALL BOAT PEOPLE - BOB HAWKE
Yahoo 7 News, 13.8.10
Bob Hawke says there is no way to "stop the boats" as Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has claimed he will do to the asylum-seeking craft regularly arriving on islands off Australia's north-west coast.
The former Labor prime minister repeated his attack on Mr Abbott describing him as "mad as a cut snake" and said Australia needed people like those arriving by boat to claim asylum because they had initiative and courage.
Mr Hawke offered a range of thoughts across many issues to a Financial Services Council conference in Melbourne on Friday.
Mr Hawke admitted he had early concerns about Prime Minister Julia Gillard's re-election prospects but believed the Labor campaign was looking up for her now.
He also said there was no way to "stop the boats" as Mr Abbott has promised.
"We're all bloody boat people," he said.
"That's how we found the place."
Mr Hawke said he understood the frustration of many voters at "queue jumpers", but said "we have to look at the other side of the coin".
He said the coalition's approach to the boat people question was "nonsense".
"We cannot turn the boats back," Mr Hawke said.
"These people have got initiative, guts and courage and Australia needs people like that."
He pushed Indonesia as the location for an asylum seeker processing centre, saying it would be "fair enough, as long as the conditions there are humane".
Mr Hawke also spoke about his South Australian-based work with a centre focused on improving relations between the Islamic community and others, saying the real challenge for Australia in his eyes was not to "demonise Muslim people".
On the wider question of the August 21 poll, Mr Hawke was happy to admit the five week campaign had not started well for Labor, after a series of damaging leaks and the issue of former leader Kevin Rudd's rolling.
"Julia hasn't been able to shine in the first half of the campaign," he said, but he genuinely felt that Labor would win
Bob Hawke says there is no way to "stop the boats" as Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has claimed he will do to the asylum-seeking craft regularly arriving on islands off Australia's north-west coast.
The former Labor prime minister repeated his attack on Mr Abbott describing him as "mad as a cut snake" and said Australia needed people like those arriving by boat to claim asylum because they had initiative and courage.
Mr Hawke offered a range of thoughts across many issues to a Financial Services Council conference in Melbourne on Friday.
Mr Hawke admitted he had early concerns about Prime Minister Julia Gillard's re-election prospects but believed the Labor campaign was looking up for her now.
He also said there was no way to "stop the boats" as Mr Abbott has promised.
"We're all bloody boat people," he said.
"That's how we found the place."
Mr Hawke said he understood the frustration of many voters at "queue jumpers", but said "we have to look at the other side of the coin".
He said the coalition's approach to the boat people question was "nonsense".
"We cannot turn the boats back," Mr Hawke said.
"These people have got initiative, guts and courage and Australia needs people like that."
He pushed Indonesia as the location for an asylum seeker processing centre, saying it would be "fair enough, as long as the conditions there are humane".
Mr Hawke also spoke about his South Australian-based work with a centre focused on improving relations between the Islamic community and others, saying the real challenge for Australia in his eyes was not to "demonise Muslim people".
On the wider question of the August 21 poll, Mr Hawke was happy to admit the five week campaign had not started well for Labor, after a series of damaging leaks and the issue of former leader Kevin Rudd's rolling.
"Julia hasn't been able to shine in the first half of the campaign," he said, but he genuinely felt that Labor would win
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
WAGE INCREASE FOR NURSES
Red News Readers,
At last some information about what is happening with the nurses wage claim.
Jenny Haines
Public sector unions watch rail vote for wages guide
PAUL BIBBY AND LOUISE HALL, SMH.
August 11, 2010
REPRESENTATIVES of the state's rail workers will vote today to either end their bitter industrial dispute with the state government or fight on with a possible strike on the eve of the federal election.
The workers have been offered a wage increase of just under 3.5 per cent a year over the next four years, less than the 5 per cent sought by their unions.
In return, the government and RailCorp have backed down on planned redundancies among train guards and security staff, though it is understood they continue to demand increased productivity. This is in keeping with the government's policy of keeping public sector wage increases capped at 2.5 per cent unless ''productivity gains'' can be made elsewhere.
Other public sector unions preparing for wage negotiations are watching the rail deal with interest, including the NSW Nurses Federation, which is seeking a 5 per cent annual increase over four years. It has rejected a productivity deal, saying its members are already so stretched ''there is nothing else to give''.
Rail chaos was averted when a tentative wage deal was reached early yesterday.
But strike plans still exist in the event about 400 union delegates at Trades Hall vote the proposal down. They include a 24-hour strike on the day before the federal election - an action that could seriously harm Labor's chances, particularly in crucial seats in western Sydney.
The NSW secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claassens, denied he was using the federal poll as political leverage to pressure the government.
''That's certainly not my intention,'' he said. ''I am hopeful that, even if the proposal doesn't get up, there will be an agreement reached before we have to take that action.''
Regardless of the outcome today, the rail deal raises questions about the state government's ability to keep its promise to stay under the 2.5 per cent cap.
In its 2010-11 budget, the government promised to keep expenses growth to 4.7 per cent a year - even though expenses had grown at 6.6 per cent for each of the four previous years.
Public sector employee costs - mainly wages - account for 43 per cent of the total expenses bill.
The pressure is now well and truly on, with unions unwilling, and in some cases unable, to find productivity gains to offset their desired wages increases.
The acting secretary of the nurses union, Judith Kiejda, said the association rejected the government's requirement that any rises over 2.5 per cent be offset by ''efficiency measures''.
''We believe we have put productivity savings into the system and that there is nothing else to give - that's how our membership are feeling,'' Ms Kiejda said.
The union is also seeking to have minimum nurse-to-patient ratios mandated under the award, which would force hospital managers to fill vacancies or close a ward.
Hospital managers would have to fill vacancies, including those created when staff take sick, parental or holiday leave, lessening the reliance on overtime and casual agency staff. Only a nurse or midwife of the same qualification would be permitted.
At last some information about what is happening with the nurses wage claim.
Jenny Haines
Public sector unions watch rail vote for wages guide
PAUL BIBBY AND LOUISE HALL, SMH.
August 11, 2010
REPRESENTATIVES of the state's rail workers will vote today to either end their bitter industrial dispute with the state government or fight on with a possible strike on the eve of the federal election.
The workers have been offered a wage increase of just under 3.5 per cent a year over the next four years, less than the 5 per cent sought by their unions.
In return, the government and RailCorp have backed down on planned redundancies among train guards and security staff, though it is understood they continue to demand increased productivity. This is in keeping with the government's policy of keeping public sector wage increases capped at 2.5 per cent unless ''productivity gains'' can be made elsewhere.
Other public sector unions preparing for wage negotiations are watching the rail deal with interest, including the NSW Nurses Federation, which is seeking a 5 per cent annual increase over four years. It has rejected a productivity deal, saying its members are already so stretched ''there is nothing else to give''.
Rail chaos was averted when a tentative wage deal was reached early yesterday.
But strike plans still exist in the event about 400 union delegates at Trades Hall vote the proposal down. They include a 24-hour strike on the day before the federal election - an action that could seriously harm Labor's chances, particularly in crucial seats in western Sydney.
The NSW secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claassens, denied he was using the federal poll as political leverage to pressure the government.
''That's certainly not my intention,'' he said. ''I am hopeful that, even if the proposal doesn't get up, there will be an agreement reached before we have to take that action.''
Regardless of the outcome today, the rail deal raises questions about the state government's ability to keep its promise to stay under the 2.5 per cent cap.
In its 2010-11 budget, the government promised to keep expenses growth to 4.7 per cent a year - even though expenses had grown at 6.6 per cent for each of the four previous years.
Public sector employee costs - mainly wages - account for 43 per cent of the total expenses bill.
The pressure is now well and truly on, with unions unwilling, and in some cases unable, to find productivity gains to offset their desired wages increases.
The acting secretary of the nurses union, Judith Kiejda, said the association rejected the government's requirement that any rises over 2.5 per cent be offset by ''efficiency measures''.
''We believe we have put productivity savings into the system and that there is nothing else to give - that's how our membership are feeling,'' Ms Kiejda said.
The union is also seeking to have minimum nurse-to-patient ratios mandated under the award, which would force hospital managers to fill vacancies or close a ward.
Hospital managers would have to fill vacancies, including those created when staff take sick, parental or holiday leave, lessening the reliance on overtime and casual agency staff. Only a nurse or midwife of the same qualification would be permitted.
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