BRISBANE — Thousands of Centrelink call-centre staff attended lunchtime meetings around the country on December 9. The meetings were called by the Community and Public Sector Union to condemn management’s introduction of a new computerised rostering system.

The system, Total View, creates a national roster for more than 4000 staff in 20 Centrelink call centres that deal with public enquiries regarding the federal government’s welfare programs.

The new system has caused immense anger among Centrelink staff, as it ignored the preferences submitted by workers prior to its release. The new rosters included ridiculous start and finish times, weekend rostering (Centrelink currently does not operate on weekends), loss of learning and development time and rostered days off, and extended lunchtimes instead of staff members’ requests for half-hour meal breaks.

The meetings overwhelmingly carried motions calling upon Centrelink to immediately “withdraw Total View until we are satisfied that the tool will ensure our rights and entitlements” as prescribed in the industrial agreement, and that “this is to be done through the union”. The motions also called for the workers to be rostered according to the preferences they submitted.

Centrelink management responded by refusing outright to withdraw Total View. In reply, the union has declared a formal dispute over the issue. Many new members have joined the CPSU over this and other concerns arising from the upcoming negotiations over a new enterprise bargaining agreement for Centrelink staff.

Jim McIlroy

Andrew McNaughtan memorial lecture

SYDNEY — On December 7, 100 people squeezed into Gleebooks for the first memorial lecture in honour of East Timor solidarity activist Andrew McNaughtan, who died on December 24, 2003.

Former director of AusAID in East Timor Lansell Taudevin spoke to the forum about the importance of freedom to the East Timorese people and how McNaughtan helped to bring it about. He said that if McNaughtan was still alive today he would be fighting for East Timor’s right to its oil. Taudevin congratulated Green Left Weekly for its coverage of the oil dispute and called for a national day of action in early 2005 to coincide with the presentation of a petition to the Australian parliament regarding East Timor’s oil.

The meeting was chaired by Jefferson Lee from the Australian East Timor Association and was also addressed by human rights activist Jackie Everett and author and activist Clinton Fernandes.

Kathy Fairfax

Meeting discusses Palestine solidarity

DARWIN — International Solidarity Movement activist Tarek Ketelsen discussed the current situation in Palestine at a December 9 forum. Ketelsen spent four weeks in the West Bank. He explained the impact of the Israeli apartheid wall, roadblocks and checkpoints on the Palestinian people.

[NOWAR will meet at 6pm on January 24 at NTCOSS House, Oleander Street, Nightcliff to plan solidarity actions with Palestine.]

Kathy Newnam

From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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