atw: Re: Advice wanted for a newly unemployed technical writer
- From: "Peter G. Martin" <peter.martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 13:03:52 +1100
On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 12:18:54 +1100, Andrea Tappe wrote:
>Whoa, nasty! Obvious first points of contact would be the=
Australian
>Taxation Office re. the unpaid tax and super - maybe they have=
some sort of
>authority to attempt to recover the funds as a creditor? Dept of=
Employment,
>Workplace Relations &=A0Small Business might be another good=
source of help.
>(On the other hand, this is the government - so she may waste an=
afternoon
>talking to a pack of tossers who want to leave this in the Too=
Hard Basket -
>hopefully not!). What else? Assume she's not a union member, and=
obviously
>it's a bit late to join one now - there may be people in one of=
the big
>unions who have the legal nous to advise her on her rights=
though.
Yes, it may be a bit late in one sense, but it's often still=
worthwhile approaching a union, and
particularly if there are a number of people involved. (it's=
called spreading the load, and offering
incentive to the union.). Many unions will take on such cases,=
usually under two (or more)
conditions:
1. that you join up Real Quick Now (you may not get the=
unemployed member fee level immediately!);
2. that you are prepared to cop a fee or charge that those who=
are already union members
don't have to --- usually a cost that is still a good deal=
less than what you would have to
fork out individually to take legal and administrative action=
to support your claim(s).
Worth a try. I think Media Alliance would be a candidate for=
taking it on.
They've had experience in the field that you won't have had, they=
have a deal more "muscle"
you have, and they've got the legals standing by for occasions=
like this.
Doesn't hurt to test the water.... and be assured most unions=
deal with non-member issues like
this without rancour, and indeed, usually with a measure of=
sympathy and support.
-Peter G. Martin,
Technical writer, Proxima Technology
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