Issue No 102 | 13 July 2001 | |
Letters to the EditorCrocodile Tears
Dear Sir,
Poverty is inherent in the structure of present society. This has been known for over a century. Unemployment, casual work, long hours which reduce the amount of work available serve a purpose to employers. They reduce the price of labour and conditions at the point of production and employment. Crocodile tears, blaming wage earners with limited social facilities, poor students and the inability to obtain work is a canard that has been practiced since the nineteenth century. If the employers and those that represent them politically could not have unemployment, they would invent it. Adding insult to injury they demand that people work where they are required so to do at low wages and have their freedom of choice revoked. A fundamental human right. My wartime generation fought to remove these injustices over half a century ago. They did not come down with the last shower of rain and are well aware what Mr Abbott and his false statement are all about. All this is a rehash of an old chestnut. Yours sincerely. Mr I Ferguson
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Interview: Jolly Green Giant Senator Bob Brown on the upcoming federal poll, balances of power and what the Greens can teach the trade union movement. Workplace: Call Centre Takeover Theresa Davison brings us this real-life story from the coal face of the call centre industry. E-Change: 1.2 Community � The Ultimate Network Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel look at the potential for network technologies to reconnect communities. International: Child's Play Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has recently entered a new alliance with the Child Labour Schools Company to support a project for child labourers in India. History: Flowers to the Rebels Faded With the departure of our own Wobbly, a look at the development of the Wobblies in Australia and their view of Labor politicians and the work ethic seems timely. East Timor: A Dirty Little War In this extract from his new book, John Martinkus recounts the scenes in Dili immediately following the independence ballot. Satire: Telstra Share Failure Ends City-Bush Divide: Everybody Screwed Equally Communications Minister Richard Alston today claimed that the government had fulfilled its promise to ensure that the bush was not disproportionately disadvantaged by Telstra's privatisation. Review: Cheesy Management Currently climbing Australian best-seller lists is the 'life-changing' motivational book 'Who Moved My Cheese?' Rowan Cahill has a nibble but doesn't like the taste.
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