Howard offers token amount for sacked workers Howard is promising workers who are sacked unlawfully will have access to a $4000 legal fund to fight their dismissal - effectively an admission that workers will be worse off under the new legislation.  He outlined the provisions for the handout in Perth on Thursday 29/09/05), which will cover only a fraction of the estimated $25,000 cost of mounting an 'unlawful termination' action in the courts. Current laws protect workers from 'unfair dismissal' - being sacked for no reason or an unfair reason. Unfair dismissal hearings are conducted by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, are heard quickly with minimum costs and do not require the presence of lawyers. Under the proposed legislation up to 4 million Australian workers will be denied this protection and could be forced to go through lengthy court cases to determine if they have been treated unlawfully. Also, if they lose they could be forced to pay the costs of their former employer. If the new laws are passed up to 4 million Australian workers will have no protection from unfair dismissal.

Casuals are conscripts, not volunteers   Most casual workers are not casual by choice and would prefer to be in ongoing employment, according to a new report.   Find out more about the report findings

ASU wins right to permanency for labour hire employees In a ground breaking decision handed down recently by the South Australian Industrial Commission the ASU SA & NT Branch has won a long running battle to gain the right for long term labour hire employees to convert to permanent employment. In his decision Commissioner Dangerfield found that two ASU members employed by Direct Personnel to work for Transport SA on a long term basis, were entitled to be considered permanent employees and therefore gain access to Award entitlements such as paid annual leave, paid sick leave and redundancy pay. "This is a fantastic win for clerical workers who work for labour hire firms," said Branch Assistant Secretary Andy Dennard. "Employers in the industry can no longer hide behind their status labour hire organisations to deny their employees the right to permanent status and the benefits that go along with it." "As far as we are aware this is the first decision of its kind in Australia and it is an important step towards gaining the right to permanent employment for all long-term labour hire employees," he continued. "For far too long labour hire has been used as device to keep employees in a state of indefinite casual employment regardless of the true nature and length of their employment. Hopefully this decision marks the beginning of the end of such practices," Mr Dennard said.