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Issue No. 124 15 February 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Chickens Come Home
For anyone who believes in karma, the events of the summer show how bad Australia's is right now.

F E A T U R E S

Unions: Winning the Heartland
John Robertson unveils new research on attitudes to refugees and argues it's time for unions to mount their own propaganda war.

Interview: Swan's Song
Federal ALP front-bencher Wayne Swan expands on his ideas for rebuilding the Party in the wake of the Tampa election.

Corporate: Lessons from Enron
Jim Marr looks at the shock-waves the collapse of a US corporate heavy-weight are having around the globe.

Politics: What We Did Last Summer
We look back over a summer when it all went pear-shaped. Some events, at home and abroad, look set to have ongoing ramifications.

History: Solidarity in Song
Mark Gregory looks back on the annals of labour songs and offers some hints for those planning a tilt at the Labor Council's worker anthem comp.

International: A Tale of Two Cities
New York and Port Alegre are poles apart � but they both played host to important conferences on the future of globalisation over the summer.

Poetry: Nobody Told Me
Labour academic David Peetz commits the Prime Minister's current woes to verse.

Review: Labor and the Rings
Tolkien�s epic tale provides a timely reminder that that there are forces of good and evil in the world � and that they are not necessarily where we expect to find them, writes Michael Gadiel.

Satire: Rafter Named Bermudan Of The Year For Tax Purposes
Australian of the Year Pat Rafter was last night also named Bermudan of the Year, in a simple ceremony held in Bermuda's Parliament.

N E W S

 Unions' Commit to Battle for Hearts

 Carr on Notice - Expectations Up

 Mad Monk Sides With Angels � Briefly

 Maritime Union Acts on Spy Scandal

 May Day Play-Off for Workers' Anthem

 Burmese Links Shroud Winter Olympics

 New Phone Venture One.Tel In Drag

 Two Million Face Rights Downgrade

 Enron Collapse Hits Share-Owner Agenda

 Corrrigan Snaps Up Rail Bargain

 Kinko Clowns With Workers' Rights

 MPs Face Security Checks

 Telstra's Tragic Delays Of Its Own Making

 Burrow Puts Case to World Economic Forum

 Shangri La Protests Hit Melbourne

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Chinks in the Armour
The ACTU's Michael Crosby argues that Mark Latham's attack on the Labor for Refugees movement is the betrayal of Party values.

The Locker Room
Off-side in Korea?
With the World Cup set to kick off in a matter of months, South Korea's treatment of unions is under the microscope.

Week in Review
Cloak and Dagger
In the first of what will be a regular column, we place the week's labour news into a nutshell.

L E T T E R S
 In Whose Interests?
 'International Labour's Year in Review' - A Re-View
 Belly's Broad-Side
 Collins Gets Cryptic
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Burmese Links Shroud Winter Olympics


The International Olympics Committee is being pressured to investigate whether official clothing supplier, 'Marker,' produced the official uniforms of the 2002 Winter Olympics Torchbearers in Burma.

The International Confederation of Free Trades Union (ICFTU) says Marker is one of four IOC partners on their list of countries trading with Burma, in breach of ILO sanctions.
 
 

Salt Lake 2002

Burma, a country where forced labour is widespread, has been condemned by the ILO and the international community in general for its flagrant disrespect of labour standards and human rights.

The ICFTU has published a list of companies with links to Burma, which is available online (http://www.global-unions.org/burma/). This list is intended to encourage such companies to abandon their links with Burma.

In addition to Marker Ltd., three other companies from the ICFTU Burma list - Lucent Technologies, Chevron Texaco and Samsung - are official sponsors/partners of the 2002 Olympic Games.

Contribute to Peace

In a letter sent to Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions General Secretary Guy Ryder stated that, "no responsible organisation or body should make use of products originating in Burma. This is particularly true for an organisation that has a goal to 'contribute to building a peaceful and better world.'"

Ryder says, "the Olympic Games are viewed worldwide by a huge global audience. The Olympic flame is a sign of hope, not repression."

"The International Olympic Committee should immediately act to disassociate itself from those trading with tyranny in Burma and reaffirm the historic values of the Olympic Games." "

To read the letter sent to Jacques Rogge- President of the I.O.C.- please visit:

http://www.icftu.org/


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