Thanks to the efforts on the QNF, the ACCC has announced that it proposes to grant authorisation to collective bargaining arrangements designed to give newsagents a greater voice in the terms and conditions we receive from publishers and distributors of newspapers and magazines. The ACCC announcement quotes ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel:
“The ACCC accepts that newsagents are generally small businesses that are negotiating with well resourced and experienced large suppliers such as News Limited or Fairfax,” ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
“In this context, collective bargaining is likely to lead to public benefits by addressing the imbalance in bargaining power between newsagents and the major publishers and distributors.”
This is timely given that new contracts are to be negotiated soon.
22 responses so far ↓
1 Luke La // Mar 20, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Well done to the QNF. Thank you for hard work.
2 Nelson // Mar 20, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Meanwhile agents are in uproar that the casuals and staff they pay minimum wage too may actually get a fair wage for weekends( I didn’t see any newsagents complain when they used workchoices to screw their staff. Agents complain about the publishers & distributors using big sticks yet use the exact same approach on their staff.
Nelson Pienaar
3 PeterS // Mar 20, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Well folks what we have here is a disgruntled employee. Work choices did not chang a thing in my agency. staff were and are stilled paid above award wage. They dont work Sundays because we cant afford it, and we work work it. Dont tar everyone with the same brush, just goes to proving your intelligence.
4 Nelson // Mar 20, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Not all Peter, I am a 50% owner of an agency in NSW. Every state and national association ran very well attended workshops on workchoices, agents didn’t turn up for the cup of tea on offer they turned up to screw their staff
As for you working on Sundays good on you, that is what is best for you and intend best for many myself included we open from 5.00am till 1.00pm on a Sunday and myself & business partner cover alternate Sundays.
Again my point is that whilst so many agents decry big business for beating up small business when given the chance to beat up on employees they do, you only need to read the postings on the yahoo forum or any releases from state bodies.
I apologise for any offence Peter but it is hard not to lump all agents in the same boat when all the chatter is pretty much the same.
5 Jarryd Moore // Mar 20, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Nelson,
We were not a supporter of workchoices, but nor are we a supporter of the proposed award ‘modernisation’. The increased penalty rates are not justified.
In a modern workplace the concept of weekdays and weekends is far more fluid than it was in the past. Why should work performed on a Sunday entail rates 100% higher than the same work performed on a weekday?
We attended workshops on workchoices when it was fist introduced - NOT to screw our staff (many of which are on above award wage), but to understand the changes and make sure we were compliant. I think you will find the majority of businesses were there for this very reason. Few small businesses I know used the workchoices legislation to ’screw their staff’.
6 Nelson // Mar 20, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Jarryd, My point and indeed sense of anger is based on that i didn’t see a single comment from any newsagent or newsagent body at the time of workchoices to say this isn’t fair and we should oppose.
In terms of the collective bargaining i can only imagine the outrage many newsagents and the uproar of industry bodies would have if a union official walked into a shop and said i am here to collective bargain on behalf of staff, yet agents will applaud their right to collective bargain.
My experiences in terms of workchoices was very different for family and friends and also i observed many businesses use it to “screw” their staff.
7 Mark // Mar 20, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Nelson, across at the Tower blog I wrote about this several times:
http://towerblog.towersystems.com.au/2007/07/05/the_human_treasurer.html
http://towerblog.towersystems.com.au/2007/02/13/not_all_employers_are_the_same.html
http://towerblog.towersystems.com.au/2005/11/13/workchoices_is_this_type_of_i.html
8 Luke // Mar 20, 2009 at 4:52 PM
We pay our staff under the NSw state based award, an award administered by successive labour governments. We were not under the workchoices award as it only covered federal awards. Again don’t be so quick to judge us all, as my staff were happy to stay protected from workchoices in my business. Not all employers are the same just like not all employees are the same. Its not my fault Kevin707 is not doing the job some people voted him in for.
9 Jarryd Moore // Mar 20, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Simply because Workchoices was bad legislation does not make the new award modernisation good. Both fail to reach a balance and reflect the modern workplace.
10 Brett // Mar 20, 2009 at 5:44 PM
I agree with Jarryd (finally). My staff are on Federal awards as modified for our own use, 9 day fortnights etc etc. The new ‘modern’ award takes us back to the dark ages and reduces our flexibility. It really needs some more work.
11 Brad // Mar 20, 2009 at 6:36 PM
We are looking at lodging our own award along with others in our group. I must stress also we do this to protect our current staff. I am not a big fan of moving away from state award plateforms but we cannot afford a potential increase of somewhere between 10-15% on wages.
The comment before about newsagents complaining when it comes to mags but silent over staff rights has a very narrow view of us. And yes I did see you own 50% of a business.
I pay above the award for my full-time staff as I believe you need to invest in them. The weekend casual wil be the one’s that get shafted with this new award.
Finally Brett, I thought that under this modernisation that your modification has a 5 year life span?
12 Nicole White // Mar 20, 2009 at 10:38 PM
yet again we have allowed ourselves to get sidetracked and off the major topic.
I am not sure what Workchoices had to do with the ACCC collective bargaining report of Marks?
Stop talking about last week and get over it. Move on or go and get therapy elsewhere!
As a group we need to stay focussed with the proposed sale of Lotteries there are bigger battles ahead.
13 Brett // Mar 21, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Brad,
Only if it’s a formally registered WPA. Ours is an informally authorised workplace understanding.
14 BAZ // Mar 21, 2009 at 6:59 AM
Maybe Nelson could explain the 17.5% loading on holidays ??? This new legislation may be the thin end of the wedge that will lead to the loss of paper deliveries as we know it. It will disadvantage many, including those that will loose their jobs as a result.
15 Brad // Mar 21, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Brett,
I only ask as I have gone do wn the track of making it formal and so far it hasn’t been the nightmare I thought it would be.
Nicole,
Issues such as these are topically today. It was only last night this was passed by the senate. Sale of lotteries etc are a massive concern but I would think still months if not years away.
16 Danny // Mar 23, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Same old story Nelson. Award wages + loading + Super + Public Holiday + sick days + Maternity leave + careers leave + long service leave + days off because of a horse race + days off for easter ( when ya not religious) + all the other bits and pieces = close of business = no jobs, The big companies are going under or off shore and people ask why. You tell them Nelson
17 Chris // Mar 23, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Are you serious Brad, about lotteries sale years away. And even if that is so , do you propose waiting until the 11th hour to fight it. Great solution. I wish I had you confidence in the Rees government, but I don’t and talking to the lotteries state manager recently this is a very real and imminent concern. And thanks for the facebook site Nicole, have recommended it to all as well as petitions on the counter
18 Brad // Mar 23, 2009 at 6:25 PM
Chris, Not in NSW and your government could organise a chook raffel or winning state of origon team. And if I was yes different story.
No I don’t propose to wait but as I stated still a massive concern. The real issue in this blog post is over the move to modernise the current award. The fear I have ‘now’ is the immediate threat that wages will increase to a point where having weekend staff is not possible. Lottery sales, mag distribution, lottery commissions, newspaper sales, rentals, and unemployment still occupie my thoughts. So chris in response to your question yes I am serious modern award is my immediate concern.
19 Nelson // Mar 23, 2009 at 6:36 PM
My apologies Mark, I stand corrected.
Ag Danny you forgot bereavement leave, pity slavery is abolished hey that would be your sort of thing. I would dare say that corporate greed & “sweat shops ” in the developing world would have more to do with it than paying for staff . I am sure many workers on PAYG would say lets abolish family trusts, tax minimisation schemes and other “rorts” that big & small businesses avail themselves off- do you agree?
In relation to the collective bargaining my godson tells me that it is voluntary in other words the publishers & distributors are under no compulsion to deal with the QNF, NANA etc. Was not a similar ruling granted last time contracts were negotiated?
Nicole - what place does government have in lotteries? I am not sure on this so I am interested, many overseas lotteries are run successfully by private enterprises. So i am wondering what your objections are based on. No need for therapy on my part I am very happy with life but each to their own.
Nelson
20 Danny // Mar 24, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Nelson, I hope you buy only Australian made products and nothing made in those sweat shops. And the products sold in your 50% share Agency does not sell envilopes from Indonesia, Glue from Germany and so on. There is a reason why imported products are so cheap. I have nothing against award wages, but I would prefer to pay all workers as sub contracters, flat rate for hours worked, same rate M to S , night or day and they pay all the bits and pieces. A Womans Day sells for $4, 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day, but the staff that sell it get different wages depending on when they sell it.
21 Luke // Mar 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
All workers should be paid what is fair by their own standards, the employers should wear all costs and when all the small business are closed and only the big operators are left then we will see the workers cry poor me.
In the US Walmart has a near monopoly as they have driven small business to the wall and they pay their employees below the social security threshold.
Every country that has tried a workers state has failed or is near failure it was called communism, even the chinese have pulled out of that one because without employers putting their livelihoods on the line there will be no employees.
If an employee loses their job they can get a new one if a small business goes broke the owners lose everything because that is what we put in not just 50%.
Without
22 Nelson // Mar 24, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Danny Where possible yes, i want people to support my business as a local business rather than shop at Coles etc & therefore where possible I suppport local products be through my business or privately, but yes I do have products that I am sure if i saw the conditions the workers worked under I would be most disappointed as I am sure would be most people.
Danny / Luke Not sure what the issue with the 50% is, I am in a partnership therefore I own half or 50% but my exposure is everything i have, if you are a sole trader good luck to you, but if you are in business with your wife or in a company with fellow directors then i dare say you too are only a part owner not that there is the slightest thing wrong with that. Luke I believe your father owned the business before you does that mean that you have less of a right to comment on the struggles of business - I would say no it just means you have had some advantages nothing worng with that again and indeed I am sure you have made improvements to the business from when you started.
Yes I understand why the products are cheaper, but it doesn’t mean we should adopt the labour principles, wages and work safety practives of the developing world. Our society determines what is fair and I don’t believe workchoices was fair and i believe that many small & indeed particulary big business owners used it to their advantage. Danny to use an analagy under Sharia law their is nearly no cases of drink driving and theft is punishable by hands being cut off meaning there is little deaths by drunk drivers it doesn’t mean it is the answer to the problems we face here.
Good retailing to you all
Leave a Comment