Posts by Steve Barnes
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The Aussies backed the Poms back then...
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Well, we could look at the London Dockers’ Strikeof 1889, or even the Match Strike. And no I do not jest…
The Matchgirls Strike and the work of one Beatrice Potter (not to be confused with Beatrix Potter How do ya mime a puddle dock? , fuggedit)Beatrice Potter was one of those who observed these events: “The dock strike becoming more and more exciting – even watched at a distance. Originally 500 casuals marched out of the West and East India Docks – in another day the strike spread to the neighbouring docks – in a week half East London was out. For the first time a general strike of labour, not on account of the vast majority of strikers, but to enforce the claims to a decent livelihood of some 3,000 men. The hero of the scene, John Burns the socialist, who seems for the time to have the East London working men at his feet, with Ben Tillett as his lieutenant and ostensible representative of the dockers."
The Ausie connection was nothing to do with James (Keir) Hardie went on to make his fortune in Asbestos sheeting and starting the leaky homes scandal, no wait…
In January, 1866, Hardie’s younger brother was dying and after spending most of the night looking after him, he arrived late for work. His employer sacked him and also fined him a week’s wages as a punishment for his unpunctuality. Unable to find work in Glasgow, the family moved back to Lanarkshire, and at the age of eleven, Hardie became a coal miner.
Ah, the good old days eh?.
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AND!!!
Sometimes It's hard to know who you work forAllied was a labour hire company that had a casual employment agreement with McDonald. He was sent on his first placement by Allied in September 2006 and he worked for various clients thereafter. In March 2007, McDonald was placed with Ontrack as a trainee track repairer with a spot re-sleeper gang.
McDonald worked with the gang for eight months. During that period, Allied supplied his weekly wages, pay slips, and paid holiday pay on a ‘pay as you go’ basis. Other than that, Allied had no contact with McDonald.
Ontrack provided McDonald with training, an in-house staff booklet, safety equipment, and paid him a tax-free overnight accommodation allowance. McDonald was under Ontrack’s control and he was expected to notify them if he was unable to work due to sickness...
...an Ontrack supervisor advised McDonald of the termination of his placement.So, there is a difference between "Who you work for" and "Who pays you" so who looks after your rights? You got it , nobody.
The Authority determined that Ontrack did not terminate McDonald’s employment, rather it ended its commercial arrangement with Allied for his placement.
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Ok, who gains here?
The Port may, or may not, gain some efficiency in terms of stuff moved for cash spent. You still need people to move that stuff. Now, where do I get to be buyin’ me some people?Who Ya Gonna Call?
Allied Work Force, that’s who!."This is a cash business: We make real money, not paper money. The board has said if there’s nothing within the company to invest it in, we’ll pay it out and that’s what we intend to do.”
Allied Workforce has workers in a range of industries broadly classed as “blue collar”. It specialises in short notice and contract work, and has 8000 workers on the books. Of these, Mr Hull said, there was a core of about 2000 workers who were almost exclusively full time. Workers are employees of Allied Workforce, which contracts them out to its clients.
Allied Workforce has also expanded to 21 branch offices, with another four planned. “Some of our clients are now using us nationwide.”
Mr Hull attributes this to more businesses employing a casual labour force, with ACC figures showing the casual workforce has grown by 56 per cent in the four years to 2004.
Up to one-third of the workforce is now employed in casual or part-time positions.
Hmmm, so they show up well in ACC figures?.
Well, it beats Slaving-for-a-livingDang’s was the latest in a string of successful prosecutions resulting from a Labour Department investigation into illegal labour in the horticulture and viticulture industries.
The inquiry, led by the Immigration Service fraud section, has stretched for four years and unveiled a sordid world of violence and exploitation amounting to modern-day slavery.
Dang was a sub-contractor/supervisor for a Hastings company, Contract Labour Services (CLS), a subsidiary of the publicly listed company Allied Work Force. The directors of CLS Michael Porter, Miles Elliot, Dharminder Singh (known as “Bubbly”) and Surjit Singh (known as “Uncle”) will appear in the Napier District Court next month for a depositions hearing.
Each faces 28 counts identical to those faced by Dang.
Allied Work Force managing director Simon Hull and chief financial officer David Sutherland are to give evidence for the prosecution.
And if you make the Grade who knows where you might find yourself…
A Tauranga man killed when he was run over by a grader has been described as a very skilled worker with a lot of roading experience.
He worked for Allied Work Force and was contracted out to another company.
Huddleston said the man, originally from Argentina, had worked for the company for around 18 months.
So everything is tickety boo then?
Allied Work Force Group (AWF) is forecasting a record group revenue and profit for the year to March 2011.
AWF expected group revenue to exceed the previous year’s result of $70.3 million by more than 30 percent.
Just gotta chase that hard earned money, eh Boy?.
So, Union bad because it extracts dues from it’s members and represents their interests, Employment “Agency” good because it has better workers. What do you think?. -
I was looking at CHDK for our 1100D but figured the camera is capable of things I have yet to get to grips with. I do, however have a Powershot I could play with.
I will give it a go in the not too distant future. ;-) -
Hard News: Unwarranted risk, in reply to merc,
one dead in ’51.
The Allied Workforce employee was working for another contracted company when the accident happened.
Allied Workforce chief executive Mike Huddlestone said it was a member of the contracted company, the name of which he would not reveal, who ran over the man.
It is the third fatality at the port within the past 15 months
In June this year, two Bay companies were fined a total of $55,000 after a forklift ran over and killed stevedore Brian Kevin Shannon, 61, of Otumoetai at the port on June 2010.
Mr Shannon worked for Independent Stevedoring Limited (ISL) loading and unloading cargo from ships. ISL and on-wharf logistics company C3 Limited, whose employee was driving the forklift, were both fined over the death after pleading guilty to charges in court.
On December 17 last year, a 35-year-old Chinese seaman died after falling from the side of the logging ship Green Hope and into the water in Tauranga Harbour.
Attempts to resuscitate him after he was pulled from the water by workmates were unsuccessful.
There was also a death at the port in 2003.
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Hard News: Unwarranted risk, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Has there ever been an industrial dispute that’s spilled over into a diplomatic incident?
This one surely has the potential to go all the way, it could spread to the Airports if the powers that be don't back off pretty quick.
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Leitch said he was asked to open his computer bag, then his laptop and enter his password.
"There were a lot of emails regarding the trip.
Are they allowed to do that?
I guess they can do as they like, if you kick up a fuss you don't get in so you have no comeback.
It does raise the question though. Was this just an overly obnoxious Customs person overstepping the mark or is there pressure on them to do the bidding of the FBI? -
Speaker: Who are the news media?, in reply to merc,
Deakers-Sonny-Bill-comment
Now that really was embarrassing. If there is room for this clown on NZ TV then why do we have to lose TVNZ7?
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Capture: Two Tripods, One Night, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
A BLUE MILLION MILES
not to be confused with… Alexander’s Dark Band
Now there’s something I didn’t know.
