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Issue No. 125 | 22 February 2002 |
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Unfair and Dismal
Interview: If Not Now, When? Activists: Fighting Back Industrial: Croon And Divide Politics: Politics of Extinction History: Harry Bridges: International Labour Hero International: Rats in the Ranks Review: Follow The Fence, Find The Truth Satire: Howard Screws Refugee Kids: G-G Turns Blind Eye Poetry: Let It Be
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review
 Dirty Politics Won't WashTom's FooleryGive Us a Spray!
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Letters to the Editor Tom's Foolery
Dear Peter, It is not through an unearned arrogance, that I claim without fear of contradiction, to have led the vanguard against Lord Mayor Sartor, and his privatization campaign. Nor shame to have been the harbinger to local government workers of that which was to come, and the continued spread of this pestilence. I also with pride,lay claim to have foretold the time in which the embrace and ownership of this privatization philosophy , by the Union Movement ,was the only antidote for its affliction of division and virulent contagion like the plague , speed rapacious by rats , the rats of the two legged kind. Our battle cry on this campaign goes back to 1995, when we attempted to educate the prospective victims of this crusade of a conquest by stealth. Unfortunately this was a time when Local Government Trade Unionists thought CCT, was a new sheep dip. Well I suppose it was, and they have not only been dipped, but well and truly fleeced. Sadly our efforts were not only as futile, as pissing against the wind. But the deals done behind closed doors, and the rorting of workplace ballots at Depot meetings further exacerbated the Exodus of workers from the Unions. While this betrayal of not only individual members but core Trade Union principals such as (solidarity), and ("an injury to one is an injury to all") has cost and continues to cost (another 90-100 resignations from this council alone) the Union movement members, they have learned naught. It was only through this valiant fight of a few Delegates particularly the street cleansing and in particular "Mr Andrew Mieni", another delegate( who was set up for dismissal by those claiming to be staunch Trade Unionists , but claiming payment for their loyalty ), that the excellent wages, conditions and control over the work environment through Performance Committees was gained. I have no personal regrets as to these Industrial Battles, and certainly no ill feeling or malice toward the City or any of its toadies, (most of who has now been shafted or died) and it must now be commended for its efforts in maintaining the loyalty of its employees. And have nothing but admiration for the tenacity and political acumen of Lord Mayor Sartor If more Employers were as benevolent as the City, after Industrial disputes, the Trade Unions could focus their energies on other aspects of employment and social reform. I make no apologies ,but as for the Council Amalgamations ,I can maintain my silence no longer on the pulling off hair, the scratching of eyes, the spitting of expletives and the felidac spraying of territory by the two combatants in the battle over the disputed territory, particularly Oxford Street. While no longer a regular visitor to the Oxford Street strip since the early seventies. I ,recently, in an aberration of reflective, but repressed retrospection of some debauched memories , and on my way for a cat scan, I chose to journey along this street, as I thought it would be the most scenic and stimulating path to St. Vincent's Hospital. Pulsating Perturbations! The changes to this area are certainly dramatic, with gutters blocked with litter, and overflowing litter and garbage bins, are indicative of criminal neglect, and this area is in need of empathic regeneration more befitting of the residents and the clientele of the commercial and retail businesses. Lord Mayor Sartor has shown creative ability, as yet unsurpassed in local government for reform; this is another area in which he should be permitted to display his many capabilities. Perhaps, it is from these Palaces, and as a "Freudian Slip", that his eminence, the soon to be Emeritus Councilor Peter Woods came to believe in the infallibility of the Mayoral Robes, at least Sartor, has an attitude of iconoclasm and balls. I think? Anyone for fairy cakes? Tom Collins
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