SENATE COMMITTEE HEARS DIRECTLY FROM CLOTHING OUTWORKERS 

Outworkers - Australian hard working heroes

The Senate Education Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee sitting in Melbourne today, as part of its Inquiry into the Fair Work Amendment (Textile Clothing and Footwear Industry) Bill 2011, has heard directly from homebased outworkers.

Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) National Secretary, Michele O’Neil was accompanied by two outworkers when she appeared before the committee today.  Ms O’Neil said, “Too often Canberra politicians make decisions without hearing from the real workers who will be affected – this was not the case today.”

Anh Dang told the Inquiry her husband passed away nearly 11 years ago when her only daughter was 4 years old. She studied Aged Care, but unable to find work, learnt to sew and became an outworker.

In the last 4 years she has worked for one contractor, who pays her by the piece. She earns $5 an hour and works 12 per day, 7 days a week. As well as spending carefully on her living expenses, she needs to pay working expenses such as electricity, cotton and machine related costs.

“I don’t have enough time for my daughter. I don’t have enough time for myself”, Ms Dang said, “My daughter is in year 10, I have to make money to raise her and pay for the rent.”

In addition her employer insists that she have an ABN. Ms Dang said, “The boss wants me to be a contractor so he does not need to pay me anything other than the piece rate.”

Another outworker, Susan Tran told the inquiry she began working as an outworker in 2006 when she discovered that her then three year old son suffers from autism and would require intensive emotional and physical help. After the birth of a second child, who was also diagnosed with autism, Susan became a single parent.

Ms Tran said, “Over the years I worked for different factories and labels. They pay me by piece. Currently my estimation is about $4 per hour without entitlements. In the past few months most of the factories asked for an ABN so they avoid paying me entitlements.”

Ms Tran’s evidence included that it is now harder to get work and increasingly her employers have insisted on paying her cash, which results in a lower piece price.

“Because of the lower price,” Ms Tran said, “I have to work 12-15 hours per day and the work is not regular so I have to run around to find the work. I also need to work all weekend but I don’t get any overtime. I never get paid Super or Workcover. There was one time I didn’t get paid for 4 months. The amount of those orders was worth about $8,000”

The TCFUA has welcomed the Bill as providing nationally consistent provisions across Australia and a critical safety net of terms and conditions for workers in the TCF industry who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

Abuse of workers can, and does occur in factories, sweatshops and in homes. For many years, some companies have gotten away with shamelessly exploiting workers in the production of their products. Cutting wages and conditions doesn’t lead to improved productivity or more jobs. It just leads to unscrupulous companies making greater profits. It is time for this industry’s future to be built on ethical, fair conditions for workers – Michele O’Neill, TCFUA National Secretary

By Barbara Deutschmann

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 26 January is Survival Day or Invasion Day. Their sorrow on this day reminds us that all is not well within this nation, that we have some unfinished business. What does the Lord require of us at this time as his people in this place?

Fashion Musings had a chat to Eloise from Ethical Clothing Australia to find out a little bit more about this fantastic organisation!

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FM: Tell us about ECA:

Eloise: Ethical Clothing Australia provides ethical brands and clothing manufacturers with a way to help ensure legal obligations and standards are met throughout the supply chain. When you see the Ethical Clothing Australia trademark on a product, it means it was made in Australia and everyone involved in its production received, as a minimum, the legal rates of pay and conditions.  There are currently a total of 63 Australian clothing and footwear businesses accredited.

Collette - an early adopter of ECA

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 Father Bob’s farewell Mass (via CathNews)

[Fr. Bob has supported many people and organisations - including the Justice and International Mission Unit of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania (sponsor of JustAct). We thank Fr. Bob for his work. It has not been taken for granted. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors].

Crowds of churchgoers crammed into St Peter and Paul’s parish in South Melbourne for the farewell of priest and media personality Father Bob Maguire, reports the ABC. » more

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reaffirmed churches’ commitment to justice and peace in the Middle East, while stressing the importance of a common vision for living together by Christians and Muslims in the Arab world.

Tveit was speaking at the Christian-Muslim consultation on “Christian Presence and Witness in the Arab World” organized by the WCC programmes for Churches in the Middle East and Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation in collaboration with the Middle East Council of Churches.

The consultation is currently taking place from 24-28 January at the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon, bringing together youth, scholars and Christian and Muslim leaders for a frank and dynamic discussion.

Tveit said the Middle East is of special interest for the WCC, and articulated the historic significance of Christian presence in the Arab world, where he believes faith plays a major role, reflecting on the decleration of the WCC’s Central Committee meeting of February 2011:

Our living faith has its roots in this region and is nourished and nurtured by the unbroken witness of the local churches, who have their own roots from the apostolic times. Without this Christian presence, the conviviality among peoples from different faiths, cultures, and civilisations, which is a sign of God’s love for all humanity, will be endangered – Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit .

Rev.Tveit appreciated the participation of a range of Muslims in the consultation, who he says, have emphasized their commitment to strengthen the Christian presence in the Middle East. He said that it is through their action for the common good that people in the Arab world can accomplish peace, justice, freedom and harmony.

“We will certainly want to make clear to our wider constituency, the WCC’s extensive experience over many years of how Christians and Muslims continue to work together constructively for the common good,” he said.

Tveit also pointed out the challenges faced by the Christians in the Arab world, and the sense of insecurity they feel, due to political divides and persistent conflicts.

The WCC has addressed over a number of years the issue of emigration of Christians from the region resulting from the occupation and war in Iraq and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

He said, “We know that the changes in the Arab world over the last year – and changes still to come – have also left many Christians, along with many Muslims, feeling uncertain and even afraid for their future.”

Highlighting the efforts of churches struggling for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine, Tveit said that the situation is of great concern for Christians in Jerusalem, as well as people of other faiths.

Links:

Full text of the WCC general secretary’s speech

Churches in the Middle East re-affirm their commitment to peace (WCC press release of 14 December 2011)

WCC programme for special focus on the Middle East

WCC programme for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation

UCVT E-News update #02/2012

• UnitingCare celebrates Pancake Day’s 10th anniversary!
• Thanksgiving event at Synod – 7 February 2012
• Connections UnitingCare and ACOSS CEO present Annual WJ Craig Lecture
• New dates for UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania training sessions
• Creative Ministries Network invites to Lenten Studies
• Uniting for Change updates on poker machine reform
• Victorians help create a fairer society for those less fortunate
• Participate in VAADA Consultations on Victorian Government Alcohol and Drug Strategy

Please send your news and updates for future E-News bulletins to Robert Gruhn, Advocacy & Network Development (Robert.Gruhn@victas.unitingcare.org.au  or ph 03-9251 5269) to enable us to produce interesting and relevant news regularly.

Happy reading!

http://victas.unitingcare.org.au/enews/

ABC Religion and Ethics – 25 Jan 2012 Renate Klein and Susan Hawthorne

Melinda Tankard Reist deserves to be supported instead of vilified. The intensely personal attacks against her will only serve the pornography and prostitution industries, which would be delighted to see an influential critic cut to her knees.

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Multi faith discussion on children and incarceration (US based).

Screen shot from 'The Fever' (Twilight Zone) (wikimedia)

Uniting for Change has plenty of information about poker machine reform. And it has been much in the news recently as Andrew Wilkie and Julia Gillard continue their efforts to come to an agreement.

Now is a great time to write to your local MP letting them know you support reform to the poker machine industry. The stories on Uniting for Change give some insight to the harm they cause. You can go to the Act Now page of Uniting for Change, enter your postcode and easily find contact details for your local MP.

Your feedback on Uniting for Change is always welcome. Please feel welcome to contact Uniting For Change.

Some cats love the executive high life (best-animals.blogspot.com)

Executive remuneration is out of control in the United Kingdom. The final report by the High Pay Commission concluded that “there is rarely a link between directors’ incentives and the way a company performs. In the past 10 years, the average annual bonus for FTSE 350 directors went up by 187% and the average year-end share price declined by 71%”. The average pay levels of workers rose only by 10% during the same period.

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Your attention is also drawn to the TJN/AABA forthcoming workshop on 5-6 July 2012 are available at here. Please submit papers. Online registration will open soon.