Today Paula and Meegan don hard hats, safety vests and boots to begin their experiences with the CFMEU. For the remainder of this week, Paula will be a mining union delegate and Meegan, a union delegate in construction. Will they return as the same mild mannered teachers they were last week? Follow the blog daily to find out.
Meegan - CFMEU Construction
I was teamed with Clarky to visit the Eagle street Leightons construction site (business tower), the Mary street Laing O'Rourke site and the Roma street Lend Lease site (law courts). The key union issue at all sites was the importance of safety. One site had had recent accidents which may be attributed to worker fatigue due to the push on the construction timelines and demands such as a notice of intention sent to workers to work on their RDOs for regular pay. This not only impacts on work-life balance (a concern in this industry) but also on fatigue etc. Clarky was great putting the managers back on track though.
"Clarky" (City Organiser) and "Woodsy" (CFMEU site delegate) on the jump of the soon to be city office tower. Woodsy and I entered the core and climbed about 6 stories of ladders to the top of the project.
Crane operators met with Clarky, their worksite delegate Jed and BLF organisers to explore the Tower Crane Access campaign. Crane operators should not have to climb more than 30m as they become isolated in the crane already, which has links to DVT (one operator lost his toes), psychological issues and muscular-skeletal health concerns. 
It's an OH&S issue of sanitation (don't ask, but let's just note that there's no toilet and shifts are over 12 hours long!) and fatigue. The campaign asks for a hoist which are available on all new cranes and can be retrofitted on existing cranes.
What an awesome day! Now that I've uploaded my photos though, I've come to the realisation though that even a hard hat doesn't make me look tough.
Paula - CFMEU Mining
I was introduced to the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division this morning by Jim Valery (Secretary). Jim briefly explained the structures of this arm of the CFMEU and we chatted about the CFMEU campaign surrounding the Federal Government's 40% super tax (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4PcQfz0MfU%29)
The CFMEU Mining division currently has approxomately 7500 members, of which approximately 400 are women.
The organisation structure differs between open cut and underground work environments. I was introduced to the open cut structure as I was about to visit a local mine. I was also introduced to mining specific terminology as you would expect, dominates the structural elements of the union. Within the Lodge representational structure(likened to QTU Branch level structure), there are shift delegates representing elements such as blast crews; draglines; truck and shovel; wash plant coal haulers; fuel crews; workshop etc... each area sees 2 delegates that would liaise with the Lodge executive (President, Secretary, Treasurer and 2 Vice Presidents) should dispute resolution fall down at workplaces. It was at this point that I needed the aid of a visual flow chart! A lot of Union work in this industry has to be conversational as access to technology is limited. The grassroots Lodge structure is perhaps the most pivotal structure to creating and maintaining unity and strength. The CFMEU has recently funded the purchase of computers for each Lodge in order to communicate more electronically.
Armed with my very limited understanding of non public sector workplaces, Jim drove me to an open cut mine near Ipswich with approximately 120 employees of which about 85 are members. Being so used to be openly proud and loud in schools about being a QTU member and activist I was astounded at the reaction of workers when I started asking questions about their union involvement in front of their boss...it was rather Monty Pythonesque.....'run awaaaay''!!
Of course I asked about working conditions for women on the worksite and alarm bells started ringing when the General Manager told me that they don't see women and men as any different (and the fact that I only saw one woman driving a water truck). On asking about the barriers for women, the responses told the tales of the lack of physical strength and the concern about women using the rough machines and equipment (not recommended if you planned to have children). Discussion later with Jim revealed that Maternity Leave provisions are currently limited to the minimum of one week paid leave and he told tales of the struggle to negotiate with corporate HR (some of them women) around the benefits of providing improved conditions for women workers. On returning to the CFMEU office I was pleased to have conversations with Amanda Threlfall and Jennifer Hobson who are organising a conference for women workers in Mining and Energy (CFMEU members and non-members) in August. I predict that a women's interpretation of barriers will be quite different to those of this particular employer.
The employers were very accomodating in giving up their work time to take me for a tour around the mine.
Jeebropilly mine located near Ipswich is a small thermal coal operation owned by the New Hope corporation which has recently re-opened (closed in 2007) . Neale (Production Superintendant) took Jim Valery (CFMEU Mining Secretary) and myself for a tour of the mine.
This afternoon I was introduced to the Legal issues in the CFMEU by Amanda Threlfall and Jennifer Hobson. Member issues active presently range from unfair dismissal claims, wage recovery, workplace bullying and harassment. I noted with interest how skilled members at the Lodge level have to be in dispute management procedures as this is the level where most workplace issues are negotiated and solved, (unless they fail and are referred to officers).
The CFMEU Mining division currently has approxomately 7500 members, of which approximately 400 are women.
The organisation structure differs between open cut and underground work environments. I was introduced to the open cut structure as I was about to visit a local mine. I was also introduced to mining specific terminology as you would expect, dominates the structural elements of the union. Within the Lodge representational structure(likened to QTU Branch level structure), there are shift delegates representing elements such as blast crews; draglines; truck and shovel; wash plant coal haulers; fuel crews; workshop etc... each area sees 2 delegates that would liaise with the Lodge executive (President, Secretary, Treasurer and 2 Vice Presidents) should dispute resolution fall down at workplaces. It was at this point that I needed the aid of a visual flow chart! A lot of Union work in this industry has to be conversational as access to technology is limited. The grassroots Lodge structure is perhaps the most pivotal structure to creating and maintaining unity and strength. The CFMEU has recently funded the purchase of computers for each Lodge in order to communicate more electronically.
Of course I asked about working conditions for women on the worksite and alarm bells started ringing when the General Manager told me that they don't see women and men as any different (and the fact that I only saw one woman driving a water truck). On asking about the barriers for women, the responses told the tales of the lack of physical strength and the concern about women using the rough machines and equipment (not recommended if you planned to have children). Discussion later with Jim revealed that Maternity Leave provisions are currently limited to the minimum of one week paid leave and he told tales of the struggle to negotiate with corporate HR (some of them women) around the benefits of providing improved conditions for women workers. On returning to the CFMEU office I was pleased to have conversations with Amanda Threlfall and Jennifer Hobson who are organising a conference for women workers in Mining and Energy (CFMEU members and non-members) in August. I predict that a women's interpretation of barriers will be quite different to those of this particular employer.
The employers were very accomodating in giving up their work time to take me for a tour around the mine.
Jeebropilly mine located near Ipswich is a small thermal coal operation owned by the New Hope corporation which has recently re-opened (closed in 2007) . Neale (Production Superintendant) took Jim Valery (CFMEU Mining Secretary) and myself for a tour of the mine.
This afternoon I was introduced to the Legal issues in the CFMEU by Amanda Threlfall and Jennifer Hobson. Member issues active presently range from unfair dismissal claims, wage recovery, workplace bullying and harassment. I noted with interest how skilled members at the Lodge level have to be in dispute management procedures as this is the level where most workplace issues are negotiated and solved, (unless they fail and are referred to officers).
