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Issue No. 126 01 March 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

I Don�t Like Sprouts
I've always thought brussel sprouts tasted like reconstituted vomit, so the latest smart-arse advertising campaign for the Clearview pension fund doesn�t really wash with me.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Clean Hands
Susan Ryan was Labor's first female Minister, today she represents the trustees responsible for our super funds, where the move to socially responsible investment is happening, albeit slowly.

Corporate: Out of Asia
The decision by America�s biggest employee pension fund to pull out of a number of Asian countries because of their poor labour rights and civil liberties standards has sent shock waves through the region.

Unions: Tears, Real And Crocodile, At The Ansett Wake
It�s ended in heartbreak but the campaign to keep Ansett flying should really be remembered for the courage, determination and decency of the airline�s devoted staff writes Noel Hester.

Economics: Labour�s Capital: Individual Or Collective?
More Australians own shares than ever before, asks Frank Stilwell, but is it the best way to share the wealth?

History: Mardi Gras: The Biggest Labour Festival?
The struggle for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers has been part of the wider struggle for workers rights, in Australia and internationally.

International: Driving A Hard Bargain
Public sector workers in Korea are using the last twelve months before local and national elections � and the up-coming soccer World Cup � as bargaining chips in their campaign against privatisation of public utilities.

Review: In Bed With a Sub-Machine Gun
In this extract from his new book, Night Train to Granada, GB Harrision travels from Drepression era Newcastle to Spain under Franco's heel.

Satire: Whitlam Forgives Kerr: "At Least He Didn't Dismiss A Rape Victim"
Gough Whitlam claimed today that the man who dismissed him is no longer Australia�s worst Governor-General. �Sure he dismissed me, but at least he never dismissed a child rape victim like Governor-General Hollingworth,� said Whitlam.

Poetry: Dear Mother
Thanks to the generosity of the Defence Signals Directorate, Workers Online has obtained intercepts of recent communications between Australia and London. A transcript is below:

N E W S

 Unions Stats Snow Job

 BHP Strike Over Super Control

 Some Light Reflects Off Ansett

 Net Porn Highlights Privacy Lag

 Mad Monk To Float Down Oxford Street

 Burma the Next Chernobyl

 Govt Breaches Its Own Guidelines

 Sartor Policies Irk Council Workers

 Service Fee Push Hots Up in Qld

 Casino Workers Show Their Hands

 Hotel Bosses Have Full House But Cry Poor

 Airport Screeners Win Training Rights

 CFMEU Korean Activist Honoured

 Support For Fijian Union Battle

 Beer Cold and Prawns Peeled

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Grumpy Old Men (And Bettina)
Scratch the surface of most conservative commentators and you'll find a lapsed Leftie, Paul Norton argues.

The Locker Room
Black and White
The Australian way of playing rugby union, cricket and the development of our own game, Australian Rules, were profoundly influenced by a forgotten man.

Week in Review
Gridlocked
Jim Marr loooks at a week when trains, planes and ships of shame all threatened to come to a grinding halt.

L E T T E R S
 More on Harry Bridges
 Well Done, Splitter
 Repeating History
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Corporate

Out of Asia

By Andrew Casey

The decision by America�s biggest employee pension fund to pull out of a number of Asian countries because of their poor labour rights and civil liberties standards has sent shock waves through the region.
 

The California Public Employees Retirement Scheme (CALPERS) - worth $A 300 billion - has announced they will no more invest in countries where they are concerned about child labour, forced labour, union rights and discrimination.

CALPERS' actions are predicted to be a trailblazer with commentators suggesting other, smaller, employee pension funds in America, especially public employee funds, will now follow and adopt similar social issues and human rights criteria for their investment policies.

Using the financial muscle of growing pension employment funds to promote labour rights has been an issue, which has slowly crept up the political agenda of trade unions in the USA - and Australia.

At the last ACTU Congress discussion was opened up about how employee reps on industry superannuation funds should start asking hard questions about investments in companies and countries with dubious labour rights records.

However employee reps on Australian superannuation funds are hedged in by legislation, which seems to severely restrict their ability to direct funds to invest purely on ethical, social criteria.

If the CALPERS decision spreads throughout America to Europe and to Australia it could send financial shock waves through many countries with poor labour standards.

As soon as the CALPERS announcement was made about the first four Asian countries where they will begin to disinvest - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand - the local stock exchanges recorded immediate ructions.

The PM of Malaysia attempted to brush aside the CALPERS decision but both his political opponents and local civil rights activists warned him not to ignore this new trend - and praised CALPERS support for their struggles.

Last year the California employee pension fund approved a $A 2 million contract with two outside consulting firms - Oxford Analytica and Verite - to set up their progressive socially aware investment criteria which included factors such as civil liberties, freedom of the press, ethnic tensions, governmental corruption and respect for human rights.

Dan Viderman from the New Hampshire-based consultancy Verite told the BBC's World Business Report that the criteria used was similar to those used by so-called ethical investment funds.

" We looked at the laws, the institutional capacity to implement the laws and then we looked at what was really happening on the ground - child labour, forced labour, freedom of association and discrimination," Mr Viderman said.

Other countries where CALPERS will now not invest any more, based on this new criteria, include China, Pakistan,Colombia, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Egypt and Russia.

The California State Treasurer, Phil Angelides, who is on the board of CALPERS, and voted for the new policy, told the San Fransisco Chronicle, that the strategy could also signal unstable and repressive regimes that they needed to clean up their act if they wanted to attract investors.

" This is the first time in this country that a major institutional investor said it wants to improve its results in foreign investment by investing in countries that are making progress toward becoming stable democracies," Phil Angelides told the SF Chronicle.

While CALPERS has drawn up a list of countries they will not invest in their ethical consultants also drew up a list of ' acceptable' countries - these include Argentina, Hungary, Chile, Poland, Israel, Czech Republic, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey.


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