HOBART — Trespass charges against 54 waterside workers were adjourned until next March after they marched on the court here last week. The workers were arrested in a dispute over attempts to use non-union contract labour to unload a fishing vessel.
l The Groom government has announced its intention to slash 100 more public service jobs by closing the Tasmanian Centre for Information and Technology. The centre's computer services to government departments are to be contracted out to private enterprise. Greg Vines from the state Public Service Association says the decision is part of the government's "ideological drive" to privatisation.
l About 200 Department of Construction workers caused an uproar in state parliament as they were thrown out of the public gallery following a protest against the state budget, which slashed 500 of their jobs and a total of 1100 from the public sector. Public access to the gallery has been suspended, and the Tasmanian Trades and Labor Council is supporting an ongoing picket of the parliament in protest against the job cuts and the government's proposed anti-union Industrial Relations Act. The renewal of the picket follows an incident several weeks ago in which police were unable to prevent a large crowd of workers, chanting "jobs, jobs, jobs", pursuing Premier Groom and several ministers as they left the building.
WOLLONGONG — South Coast Labour Council secretary Paul Matters has become the first unionist to be summoned before the new NSW Industrial Court established by the Liberal-National government. The court action is in response to a Labour Council/Australian Workers Union refusal to obey an order to remove picket lines from the Bombo sewerage works near Kiama. The picket was established over the use of non-union contractors by the Water Board. The state industrial court has the power to impose fines of $10,000 plus $1000 per day until its orders are complied with. Matters says the government's actions are a politically motivated attack on the union movement.I