[Linux-aus] Professionals Australia (formerly APESMA)

[Bret Busby]

On Wed, 18 Dec 2013, Lev Lafayette wrote:

> Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2013 06:54:13
> From: Lev Lafayette <lev at levlafayette.com>
> To: linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> Subject: Re: [Linux-aus] Professionals Australia (formerly APESMA)
> 
> Hi Daniel,
>
> On Tue, December 17, 2013 5:10 pm, Daniel Jitnah wrote:
>>> I was a member for a few years. In some ways they were a good
>>> combination
>>
>> Just wondering how long ago were you a member??
>
> It was earlier this year I cancelled my membership.
>
>> Note also that in "theory" they may be overlap between the role of such
>> an organisation and ACS.
>
> The ACS, as a "professional organisation" tends not to concern itself that
> heavily with bread-and-butter issues. As far as I can tell, its emphasis
> is not on awards and conditions, work and workplace standards, and I
> suspect it is certainly not interested in becoming part of the ACTU.
>
>

So, is this all about becoming members of the ALP?

The ACTU appears more concerned with getting its officers, seats in the 
federal parliament, and cabinet positions, in the federal ALP, which 
is, to the ACTU, as Sinn Fein is to the IRA; "the political wing" of the 
organisation.

Years ago, in Perth (WA), a union of sorts, existed, for profesional 
and sub-professional employees, that had in its acronym name, initials 
for engineers and scientists, and it was to involve laboratory workers 
who wanted to join it. I referred to its existence, in a laboratory in 
which I was working at the time, which analysed mining samples (such as 
testing for the content of gold and other precious minerals, in ore 
samples), and, for having drawn the attention of other laboratory 
workers in the company, to the existence of the union, did not last long 
in that employment.

Workers' unions can be useful, but the ACTU appears to be all about 
advancing the careers of its officers, into the soft seats of the 
federal parliament, with the ALP, and, certainly not about the 
conditions of workers.

And, as some people have said, in commenting about the ex-ACTU officials 
who have ended up on seats in the federal parliament, especially the 
ones who attained portfolio's they have clearly, never worked for a 
living.

Some employers in the IT industry, include in the employment contracts, 
clauses forbidding staff to discuss the conditions of their individual 
contracts, with anyone else, including other staff employed by the same 
company, and, employment advocates.

So, some protection of IT workers' conditions of employment, is needed, 
preferably in the form of a workers' union, but not an organisation that 
is related to the disreputable ACTU, which actively worked to worsen 
employment conditions of workers.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992
....................................................