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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
Burrow Puts Case to World Economic Forum
The ACTU put its case inr opposition to the “narrow” globalisation advocated by trans-national companies and their political representatives at last month’s World Economic Forum in New York.
ACTU president Sharran Burrow said unions had made it clear they would not embrace globalisation while governments continued to duck responsibilities for human rights and labour standards.
"By once again marginalising labour and civil society and opting for free trade without rules to protect people, the WTO has chosen not to construct a fair trading system," Burrow said.
"Why is it that governments continue to deny their responsibility for the peoples who elected them?"
Burrow said unions were insisting that the building of a 21st century economic system go hand-in-hand with establishing globally accepted rules to protect people.
The growing debate was brought into sharp focus by the contributions of WTO director general, Mike Moore, and Australian Prime Minister, John Howard.
Observers were surprised by the stark choice laid before delegates in the director's forum summary. Moore told WTO members they "must" engage with unions and civil society and branded opposition to closer relationships with social agencies such as the International Labour Organisation and World Health Organisation "infantile".
The former New Zealand Trade Minister told delegates that union and social organisations should participate in WTO forums with a view to developing a shared understanding.
Howard, on the other hand, ignored the plight of the poor, the unemployed and the displaced in his contribution. His central analysis was that globalisation had an image problem because political leaders had failed to sell the benefits.
An embarrassed Burrow said international union representatives at the forum had been "shocked" by the narrow analysis of the Australian Prime Minister.
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