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Why I'm Marching
If you haven�t guessed already, I'm no Labor apparatchik. In fact my entry into politics was through the old Nuclear Disarmament Party.
Interview: The Wedge Buster
Labor's immigration spokeswoman Julia Gillard talks about her job of developing policy to blunt Howard's wedge.
History: Fighting for Peace
Was the first Palm Sunday parade a celebration or a protest, asks Neale Towart.
Unions: Rattling the Gates
When Pacific Power workers traveled from Newcastle to Macquarie Street this week life-long loyalties were on the line, as Jim Marr reports.
International: Facing Retribution
Serious fears are growing for the safety of Zimbabwean trade unionists after the tainted election defeat of their former leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Technology: How Korean Workers Used The Web
Electrical power industry workers in Korea are relying on the internet, and mobile phones, to successfully organise a militant nation-wide anti-privatisation strike.
Industrial: Working Futures
Can an assortment of economists, lawyers, historians, industrial relations specialists, unionists, journalists, sociologists and psychologists help us develop a decent future for work and social relations in Australia?
Review: Rumble, Young Man, Rumble
To compress the full and exhilarating life of The Greatest to film-length is no easy task but Ali makes a reasonable fist of the job writes Noel Hester.
Satire: GG Survival Doomed: Fox-Lew In Charge Of Rescue Bid
The hopes of embattled Governor-General Dr Peter Hollingworth took a battering last night, after he learnt that the rescue bid for his survival is being headed up by Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew.
Poetry: PSST
From Sue Robinson to Michael Kirby, some things in politics are constant...only the names have been changed to defame the innocent.
Girl's Maiming Sparks Entry Plea
More Time Off for Babies
Workers Break Bank Cartel
State Law Push For Virgin Sites
Outrage at Privatisation by Decree
Woomera - Flames, Razors, Rope and Despair
Bus Drivers Block ALP Funds
Crean Gets on Front Foot
Nurses, Teachers On The Money
Asset-Stripping Sparks Walk-Out
Opposition Grows Over Howard's Freedom Attack
Heffernan Prompts �Right of Reply� Demands
Della Dumps Dunny Blues
Smith Flies Into Turbulence
Guards Force Drinks Break
Levy Struck to Support Rockhampton Meatworkers
ACTU Assists former Ansett Staff
Activist News
The Soapbox
The War on Terror - Impunity for Abuses?
Federal Labor MP Duncan Kerr argues that governments are using the fears of the post-Septmeber 11 environment for thier own ends. The Locker Room
Oh, The Humanity!
So, sports people are human after all. Now there�s a headline. Week in Review
Tomorrow, The World
Jim Marr picks over the entrails of a week in which world domination, or at least hegemony over that part of it in which the principal operates, is a recurring theme.
Carr and the Fire Fighters
On Inequality
Harmony Day
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IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
Workers Break Bank Cartel
Resolute industrial action has broken the stranglehold of the major banks on their workforce, with Westpac agreeing to a new wage deal.
The breakthrough follows a tough campaign culminating in strike action before the Westpac AGM last December, and the release of the bank's now legendary 'barbeque cards' which fed workers lines on how to defend the bank at social occasions.
The Finance Sector Union this week struck the deal covering 24,000 workers that includes:
- a 12 percent pay rise over three years delivered in annual instalments of four percent.
- commitments to improve staff workloads, including $6 million in additional jobs.
- an undertaking to a share allocation in the term of the agreement of up to $1000 per employee per annum, based on the bank's performance.
FSU state secretary Geoff Derrick says the Westpac deal is significant because it breaks the 'cartel' approach of the major banks.
"Throughout the bargaining process the big banks - Westpac, NAB and ANZ - bargained as a unit," Derrick says. "Now that Westpac has reached agreement the pressure really is on the other banks to come to the party."
Derrick recognises the support of the broader union movement in the bargaining process and says the bank's new commitment to service and staffing levels is a win for the entire community.
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Issue 128 contents
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