A Footnote on the DIR/Minister/TWU/Industrial Commission.

* A Footnote on the DIR/Minister/TWU/Industrial Commission.

The annexures referred to above convey many burning issues and concerns relating to bailee taxi drivers, their working conditions and safety. It is on the record that the Attorney General and Minister for Industrial Relations Mr. Jeff Shaw was informed about the unworkable nature of The Determination entered into in 1984 by what can only be described as a questionable TWU leadership. [further oral evidence to be given here] . Recently, Justice Marks and many others made similar observations. The Minister was urged by taxi drivers to remove anomalies and he was requested to reform the industrial law. He has been briefed in full during a face-to-face meeting about the anti-worker, immoral and unjustified dereliction of duty by the TWU leadership.

Yet, he has done nothing apart from correspondence to the TWU's critics employing the cruel joke " ... contact the TWU for assistance ". The reality is that the overwhelming majority of drivers regard the TWU as nothing more that a mouthpiece and policeman for the Taxi Council?' They refuse to lodge genuine grievances with the union or even make enquiries as to membership lest they be "pimped on" to the employers and be further victimised. How else can they view a union that allowed the offence of fare evasion to be downgraded from a criminal offence to a misdemeanour asoccurred in 1990?

Obviously, the minister's silence, empty promises and cruel advisegenerate questions, "did the Minister performed his duty with intelligence and integrity or was he protecting his party mate then the Vice President, now President, of the N.S.W. Branch of theAustralian Labor Party (ALP)? This question is emphasised by the following correspondence: My Statutory Declaration is [STD1-3], my speech to CC Connor [STD4], my attempted speech to CC Connor is [STD5-6] and my recent letters to Steve Hutchins [STD7-10] should question ethical responsibility of TWU lawyer Mr. Adam Hatcher, fairness of CCConnor, involvement of his associate and the TWU leadership's actual motive and reason behind such a motive.

Certainly, I am questioning the Department of Industrial Relations officials and relevant Minister's competence and integrity. In truth,I am asking, "do their actions, inactions, manipulations and ill-motivated (as I believe) advice constitute negligence, and/orcorruption under s8 of the Independent Commission Against CorruptionAct 1988 ?

Source: Sydney Taxi Corruption