By Wayne Carter - Southern Suburbs & Gold Coast organiser

I would firstly like to reintroduce myself to our members and workers on the Gold Coast. I have recently gained some more ground and am now working as far south as Southport, whereas previously I was limited to Beenleigh and Yatla. Picking up the Gold Coast was a milestone for my career as an organiser, especially now when the Gold Coast is booming with development and job sites.

 
I am gradually making my way around to selected sites on the Gold Coast, familiarising myself with the area and getting to know the blokes on the jobs. My work colleague Tim Jarvis and myself will be the representative organisers on the Gold Coast from now on, Jarvo will be tackling the lion’s share and I will be assisting him where I can. I am still making my way around to all the sites so if you haven’t seen me yet, you will be soon.
 
The loss of  Bob Carnegie has left the BLF with a massive hole to fill, and I will be doing my best to continue the great work he promoted. I have been with the BLF for just under 4 years now and my area of expertise is dealing with industrial relations capacity, therefore I will not only be tackling job related issues but including myself in matters which concern my expertise.
  There are some big jobs developing from the Gold Coast at the moment including the massive project in Southport central. Southport Central is consuming the majority of my time presently but I will hopefully continue my way around the Gold Coast until I have reached all work sites in my area. Its great to finally sink my teeth into some of the big jobs on the coast like the one in Southport.
 
I would also like to bring your attention to the Jim Raptis turnover. Raptis has gone bust and has entered into voluntary receivership recently. There was speculation that it started a chain of broke subbies due to poor wages but since the Raptis turnover the receivers have become quite amicable. The receivers are now giving every subbie 100 % to the dollar. They receive 50% straight up and then another 50% at the duration of the job.
 
It’s a far better payment system than what Jimmy Raptis had been offering to his subbies in the past. His idea of a fair payment was barley enough to feed his subbiess, but this new payment system is keeping the boys on the job happy and they are content with their wages and working conditions. Some of the subbies have even had the opportunity to re-negotiate their contract.
 
The new delegates of our union are beginning their training and are steadily progressing with their productivity as representatives for the BLF. The new delegates are definitely having some positive effects for our union, without delegates our job would be 10 times more difficult. I would like to thank the new delegates for taking on the responsibility; you’re all doing a fantastic job.
 
In other news the rally on the Gold Coast was a big success, it was a great turn out for our union with over 1500 people attending to support the abomination of the ABCC (Australian Building Construction Commission). I had never attended a rally on the Coast before, and it was great to see such good support from all the boys on the coast.

There is also some distressing news in regards to a fellow comrade by the name of Ewan Johns which many of you know him as ‘Rocky’, whom has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Rocky used to be a former delegate for the BLF and is now fighting the battle of cancer, although he is positive about the situation it is potentially life threatening. As a result to the aggressive cancer he has made the agonising decision to remove his prostate in case of the cancer spreading. Our thoughts are with Rocky and his family; we wish him the best of heath for the upcoming surgery.