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Chickens Come Home
For anyone who believes in karma, the events of the summer show how bad Australia's is right now.
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.
 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
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.
In Whose Interests?
'International Labour's Year in Review' - A Re-View
Belly's Broad-Side
Collins Gets Cryptic
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News
Enron Collapse Hits Share-Owner Agenda
The failure of American corporate giant Enron looms as a major roadblock to Australians buying into worker share ownership schemes, unions have warned.
NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson says proposals to weaken regulatory controls and reporting requirements couldn't have come at a worse worker shareholding proponents.
Both Employment Minister, Tony Abbott, and Labor Party front bencher, Mark Latham, are outspoken advocates of tying workers interests to those of their employers through stock holdings.
Robertson said the Enron collapse, attributed to inaccurate reporting and conflicts of interest involving accountants Arthur Andersen, had pushed the possibility of workers embracing such schemes "right down the agenda".
When Enron filed for bankruptcy, last December, it cost 4100 American workers their jobs, entitlements and the vast bulk of their superannuation investments. The failure of the US's seventh-largest corporation devastated suppliers and sent shockwaves around financial markets.
Stronger Controls
"There is no future for employee share ownership unless we strengthen controls and deficit reporting requirements," Robertson said. "Unfortunately, politicians at federal and state levels are talking, instead, about loosening standards."
Robertson called reports that NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr had added his voice to the light-regulation push "disturbing".
The Electrical Trades Union has backed the call, warning that US-style deregulation will make collapses like HIH, Ansett or One.Tel more likely.
The Labor Council will contact both state and federal Governments to express concerns about proposals to loosen regulatory regimes.
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