
Issue No 121		30 November 2001

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The Soapbox

Reporters Opt for Stability

"We decide who comes onto this round and the conditions under which they come." So determined the fraternity of industrial relations reporters who gathered for their glittering annual awards night in Sydney last week.

Under the watchful patronage of workplace relations minister Tony Abbot, the reporters displayed their leadership credentials by opting for stability in these uncertain times and returning the White Golliwog to the Sydney Morning Herald's Brad Norington.

Norington had to do little more than turn up to win the award - let's face it, the numbers on the round and constantly shrinking. But his work on maintaining the round and inviting an ever-expanding group of journeymen and misfits has ensured a stable support base. Some would accuse him of stacking - we prefer to look at it as bringing the appropriate talent into the round.

The awarding of the Golliwog statue capped off a controversial awards night, where votes were formally tallied for the first time in the night's five-year history.

This break with tradition threw up some controversial results, not the least the awarding of the Golden Thong to the SMH's Mark Robinson. After personally intervening to stave off the award last year for "dressing like a member of the ALP Right", Robbo was the popular choice for his all black and buzz-cut look, which left some opining he was poised to become new Police Minister Michael Costa's body double.

Best new talent was somewhat of a one-horse race, with ABC Radio's Liz Foscia taking the gong from the Telegraph's Anthony Peterson who didn't bother to turn up. The Golden Lemon for spin-doctoring was a more hotly contested affair, with Della's flak Andrew Plumley and the ALP's David Tansey for the non-release of Beazley's IR election policy both polling strongly. But it was the CFMEU's Phil Davey who walked away with the citrus for quitting Australia just as the brown matter began to fly over the Building Industry Royal Commission. Suffice to say the view was nice from Rio.

As for the Golden Egg-Beater it was a one-horse race, the Daily Telegraph's David Pemberthy blitzing the field with his front page piece on Michael Costa failing to attend his own swearing in. While Costa was present, Pemberthy wasn't ... In nominating himself Pembo conceded the story was a "bit iffy" and the voters agreed. He received his award from the AMWU's Doug Cameron, who made a late pitch himself for the trophy by, eh, manufacturing a story that Tony Abbott had never received a blue in boxing from Oxford - it was a half-blue and came after he defeated a ballet dancer!

After the awards our patron regaled us with an inspiring pr�cis of the industrial relations landscape, the evils of unionism and the unsung delights of negotiating directly with the employer. As the Mad Monk stumbled into the night we eagerly planned our work Monday, entering the editor's office to undercut the Transport Round and introduce the types of flexibility that would decimate Health. As a true fraternity however, we plotted collectively, recognizing the IR round will only ever be as strong as its weakest link. It was this reality that Abbott, a man who never covered an IR story from the grassroots will never appreciate - without the Camerons, the Combets, the Costas and the Creans, we are merely second rate political hacks. With a colourful union movement, we are a round.

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Issue 121 contents

Interview: Back to the Battle
Federal Labor's new industrial relations spokesman Robert McClelland outlines the challenges for the next three years.

Politics: The Baby and the Bath Water
ACTU secretary Greg Combet gives his take on the debate over the ALP's relations with the union movement.

Unions: We're Solid
Bradon Ellem charts the history of the Pilbara dispute, and finds a revitalised grass-roots unionism challenging BHP's individual contracts bulldozer

Organising: Benidgo Pioneer Comes Up Trumps
ACTU Delegate of the Year, Leonie Saunders, is living proof of the way unions are adapting to life under the strictures of a hostile Government.

Technology: India: Cricket, Computers and Corruption
Russell Lansbury cuts through the hype to look out the so-called hi-tech revolution on the sub-continent.

International: Soul Searching
The party of labour in Canada � the NDP - is right now undergoing a massive struggle for its heart and soul.

History: A Timeless Debate
The ALP and unions - it's a debate that's raged for years as this extract from a 1947 Lloyd Ross pamplet shows.

Review: In Fear of Security
Launching his new book, Anthony Burke argues that the cry of "security" is the last refuge of the political scoundrel

» Union Journo on Death List

» First 'Lab Rats' in Bank Hold-Up

» Monk's Mad Power Grab from States

» Big Print Merger Threatens Jobs

» Anger as Labor Staffers Shun Unions

» Unions Are Well Advanced In Change Unions Tell ALP

» Unions Step Up Organising Drive

» Education, Call Centre Unions Sweep Awards

» Bank AGMs Focus of Worker Anger

» Gender Balance in Transport Concessions

» Concern As Sydney Collapses

» Bakers Seek More Bread

» CFMEU Forces Re-Think On Asbestos

» Call Goes Out for Union Summer

» Twelve Weeks Parental Leave For Kiwis

» Organiser of the Year Nominations Open

» Activists Notebook

» The Soapbox

» Sport

» Labour Review

» Tool Shed

» What's Wrong With Labor

» Why I'm Quitting the ALP

» Compo Flak

» Union Democracy

» Multi-Skilling Corrigan Style

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