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 About Us  About Unions NSWAbout UnionsWho's WhoInformation Centre What's Going On? Annual Reports    
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Chris Christodoulou, Deputy Assistant
Secretary
Chris was responsible for a range of matters during 2004 including the Secure Employment Test Case, Building and Construction Industry, assistance to the Rugby League Professionals Association and monitoring the NSW Government Procurement policy. Secure Employment Test CaseAs previously stated, 2004 saw the Secure Employment Test Case commence in the NSW Industrial Commission before a five-member Full Bench A record number of witnesses (approximately 300) have given or will be giving evidence in the case. Over 200 witnesses have come from employer interests and the balance from the trade union movement. There were 30 hearing days during 2004. The employer’s strategy to bombard the case with hundreds of witnesses has to some extent backfired. The evidence to date in our view is demonstrating the widespread abuse of both casual labour and labour hire employees. Many employers in cross-examination are reinforcing how perverse the labour
market has become and just how much the balance of flexibility has tilted in the
employers favour. The case will continue next year and Chris, along with Alisha Hughes, will continue to co-ordinate it. Building and Construction IndustryChris again had responsibility for the building and construction industry. This year, the Labor Council and unions secured a record 30 project awards/agreements during 2004 as follows: -
Collectively the project awards/agreements from last year and in 2004 now stands at over $7 billion worth of construction work in NSW. This is a great result for the building and construction unions and the Labor Council alike, notwithstanding the continued attempts by the Howard Government to try and destroy unionism in the construction sector. DisputesChris handled a number of disputes, which arose during 2004. Of particular note was Caltex where the establishment of the Clean Fuels Project Agreement was delayed whilst unions negotiated with the company over Caltex sub-contractors who were not complying with their existing agreements and statutory obligations. The unions were vindicated in the end by an independent report prepared by the Australian Industry Group, which confirmed the non-compliance. Other disputes dealt with by Chris and other Labor Council officers occurred on the M7 site, with Westfields, Multiplex and the Department of Commerce Heritage and Building Services Group. Rugby League Professionals AssociationChris was intimately involved in securing the deal for a collective agreement with the NRL. The players overwhelmingly endorsed the agreement. Unfortunately due to the Electrolux decision the agreement has not yet been registered and, at the time of writing this report, was being recast and put back to a vote of players in order to satisfy the Commission’s new requirements. NSW Government ProcurementDuring the course of the year, Chris has been assisting a number of unions including the Textiles Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA), Transport Workers Union (TWU), Finance Sector Union (FSU), Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and Liquor Hospitality Miscellaneous Workers' Union (LHMU) with procurement matters and using their particular disputes with the Department of Commerce to push for the full implementation of the terms of the memorandum of understanding on procurement. In this regard we have been disappointed at the State Government’s unwillingness to pursue it’s own industrial relations agenda by ruling out companies using Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA's) and taking a stronger stand against those companies who break the law with respect to non-compliance on employment matters. This matter will continue to be high on the agenda in 2005, as both the Department of Commerce and Treasury have indicated a willingness to continue to discuss the issues. Federal Election CampaignChris assisted in the seat of Cunningham during the last Federal Election Campaign. Success in the seat for Labor was greatly assisted by three factors: -
Other ResponsibilitiesChris continues to play an active role on the following bodies: -
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