Have you lost out at work - part 2?

From The Age Newspaper 13 Sep 07: At 16, Vicky Cook led a revolt against WorkChoices.

Earlier this year, Vicky's boss, the owner of a Subway franchise, presented workers with an collective employment contract and asked them to vote on it.

The agreement cut all of her penalty rates and overtime as well as all other allowances in the award, reducing her pay to the bare WorkChoices minimum. Vicky calculated she would be about $30 a week worse off as a result of the loss of pay on her regular Sunday shift.

Have you been asked to accept a raw deal? Share your story by commenting

$3 per hour - new age 'slaving'

Dr John Buchanan, from the Uni of Sydney, has branded the practice of low pay in return for training as 'slaving'.

This follows news that a 20 year old Queensland woman Brooke O'Mara was paid $30-a-day, or less than $3-per-hour, for working on a dive boat off Cairns.

In her work contract, Brooke agreed to accept payment of just $30 a day because she believed she would get thousands of dollars worth of scuba diving training, which would result in a diving qualification.

But when the qualification fell through, she asked for back pay and got knocked back because she was under 21 and not entitled to the adult minimum wage.

Read the ABC new report

Have you been asked to work for peanuts while training or just because you are under 21? Tell us about it

Dispute about the reality of Bastard drama

Bastard Boys, a drama the 1998 waterfront industrial dispute, has started another kind of heated dispute – drama versus documentary.
It seems that nobody involved in the real life drama is happy with the TV drama. I was there they say, and it wasn’t like that! Former ACTU boss Bill Kelty reckons he didn’t get a fair go. Some wharfies feel that they were portrayed as beer swilling bogans. The lawyers are not happy also.
Was it a documentary or a drama or a fancy new hybrid docudrama? Should writers ‘smarten’ up the facts to make it more dramatic? How can viewers know what is truth and what is fiction? And who’s truth is it anyway?
Did you discuss Bastard Boys at school? With your friends? With family? Or is the other BB more your kind of reality TV?
Send us your comments - post a comment
Here are links to some of the webarticles about the friction about the fiction in Bastard Boys:
Reloading history / Ann Davies, who wrote the book that Bastard Boys is based on, looks back on the dispute in The Age / Sue Smith, writer of the Bastard Boys, comments in the Sydney Morning Herald / Robert Mann on what really changed / Chris Corrigan's Conspiracy theory

What do you think about the ‘sitting ducks’ television advert?

Have you seen this advertisement on TV? View the ad now

Tell us what you thought about the advert?
Interesting or boring?
Informative or propaganda?
Clever or corny?

Is the sideshow shooting gallery metaphor a good one? What did this mean for you?

Can you think of any other metaphors or settings that might work better?

What is the ad saying? Who is it aimed at?

Have you lost out at work?

The casuals at a nationwide chain of chocolate shops have been asked to sign a contract that reduced their pay and takes away rest breaks. You can read all about it at Worksite.

A government study has found that almost every new work contract (called AWAs) have taken away at least one benefit from the normal employment award. Has this happened to you? Have you been asked to sign up for less pay or fewer breaks?

Here is a list of some things that are being taken away:
Public holidays: Christmas Day, ANZAC Day etc. - Not guaranteed in AWAs
Rest breaks: Morning tea, lunch breaks - Not guaranteed in AWAs
Incentive based payments and bonuses: Extra money for reaching targets or doing a good job - Not guaranteed in AWAs
Allowances: Special payments for outside work, hazardous or dirty work - Not guaranteed in AWAs
Penalty rates: Higher pay for working at unusual times (such as weekends, nights or public holidays) - Not guaranteed in AWAs
Overtime loading: Extra pay for working longer than normal hours - Not guaranteed in AWAs

Let us know what AWAs are taking away from you!

$6.45 an hour - how fair is that?

I am a 16 year old engaged in full-time study. I am currently employed at [burger chain]. No one is employed as a casual worker, everyone is classified as part time so they can be paid less. I am currently earning around $6.45 an hour.

Technically I am entitled to 9 hours a week, under the terms of my employment, but I am not being given stable hours and some weeks I am only rostered on for four hours or less. Am I, and other employees my age in the same situation, being exploited?

Share your stories about working with fries by posting a comment

We have winners

Thank you for the fantastic entries we had from all over Australia. We received many PowerPoint presentations, posters, short stories and interviews. All evidence of great investigations! Click here to read some of the clues uncovered by the investigators. The winner’s are:

Main prize

Michelle Lee, Jessica Bui, Monique Silva and Karen Chen from St George Girls High School Year 10 in NSW for their JSI video investigation about the importance of reading job contacts. View the video in You Tube

Runner up prizes

Keelen Hewit, Theodore State School in Queensland.

Frances Johnson, Prescott College in South Australia.

Shayne Camilleri, Tambourine Mountains College in Queensland.

Read more entries at Worksite and have your say here at your blog