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Issue No. 129 22 March 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Not So Happy Campers
It's a crude political truism: it's better to be inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in. At least for those on the inside.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Pulling the Pin
Victorian union leader Dean Mighell outlines the thinking behind his decision to quit the ALP and join the Greens.

International: At the Crossroads
From Germany, to Britain, to South Africa, Canada and the USA it seems union members are turning on their political partners � and talking about divorce.

Unions: A Case Of Lost Identity
Victorian Trades Hall secretary Leigh Hubbard warns that more unions could leave the ALP if the current policy review hits the wrong note.

History: Rocking the Foundations
There was not just one model of what a political wing of the labour movement should be, Don Rawson writes.

Industrial: Rocky Road
Thirteen hundred Rockhampton workers are putting cars and houses on the line in an effort to beat off bully-boy tactics from Kerry Packer-owned Consolidated Meat Group.

Economics: Cracking a Coldie
As Australian icons fall around him, Neale Towart charts the rise and fall of the Great Aussie Esky.

Poetry: The Right Was Wrong
A glimpse of history shows that waterfront workers deserve the high moral ground.

Satire: Heffernan�s Evidence Conclusive: Proves He's An Idiot
The evidence released by Senator Bill Heffernan to substantiate his allegations against Justice Kirby have proved conclusively that the senator is an idiot.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs
Robert Altman's latest movie Gosford Park is hard yakka no matter what side of the class system you sit on.

N E W S

 Giant Rat Fights Cole Commission

 Dodgy Bosses To Get Life

 Unions Back Rugby World Cup

 Queue Jumper Abbott In Cash Grab

 Refugees Face Bank Imbalance

 Guards Act to Plug Leaks

 Rabbit Fence Leads Reconciliation to Classroom

 Spy Bill Under Fire

 Council Takes Up Discrimination Challenge

 Power Workers To Decide Own Fate

 Thumbs Up for Super Deal

 G-G Warned Off State Schools

 Fee Pressure Builds on Beattie

 Nobel Committee 'Subordinates' Union Rights

 Columbians Level Death Charges

 Call To Blockade Burmese Junta

 Indonesian Threat To Unions

 Activist Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Dealing with Prejudice
Former Liberal senator Chris Puplick did not pull any punches launching a new guide for union reps dealing with discrimination issues.

The Locker Room
The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall
Phil Doyle tries to get sport off the front pages and back where it belongs ...

Postcard
Greetings From Lao
In the first in a new series, Union Aid Abroad's Phillip Hazelton, reports from Lao, where he is establishing a vocational training centre.

Cole-Watch
Go West
The Building Industry Royal Commission caravan has rolled into Perth.

Week in Review
Top of the Pops
Johnny Howard and his Masters of Deception kept the beat during a week in which secrecy took over from blatant fibbing as the dark art or choice, leaving the national Hit Parade looking something like this �

L E T T E R S
 Letter to Howard #1
 Letter to Howard #2
 Letter to Howard #3
 Jump Before You're Pushed
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Postcard

Greetings From Lao


In the first in a new series, Union Aid Abroad's Phillip Hazelton, reports from Lao, where he is establishing a vocational training centre.
 
 

: Mrs Na Lone (Vice President, Hatsaifong District Women's Union), Mrs Vhan Pheng (Project Manager for Vientiane Municipal Women's Union), Phillip Hazelton (Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA)

********************

I arrived in Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR (Peoples Democratic Republic), in mid-January 2002 to set up the project Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is undertaking with our local partners, the Lao Women's Union. The preparation for this program has been going on though for many years.

In 1997 staff from the Cambodian office of Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA researched needs for vocational training in Laos and funding was sought from AusAID to begin a program of support. It wasn't until 2000 though, with the help of donated funds from Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA supporters, that we started a small pilot project in vocational training for young women in Vientiane. This pilot is now being expanded with funding from AusAID and individual donations.

In this first 2 months since I arrived, one of the first activities besides setting up the office has been the negotiation and tendering for the building of a new Vocational Training Centre located 20 kms south of Vientiane. A partially built and currently unused building (pictured) has been donated by the District and will become over the next 4 months a four classroom training centre with dormitories. Training initially will be in skills to enable young women and men to raise their own families' income. This includes tailoring, hairdressing, handicrafts and food processing.

A feature of the project is to help the local women's union build their own capacity - so training of trainers, developing curriculum, improving facilities, supporting effective management and monitoring of what's working best - all form part of the project.

Another early activity is taking representatives of the 2 Provinces involved in the project to Cambodia to review what Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has been supporting there over the last 14 years. A group of 7 of us will head off on 24th March 2002 to Cambodia to visit a range of women's and education centres in Cambodia. The group includes 2 current trainers from the project who will be placed for a week in centres in Cambodia to work with local trainers.

Over the next year we will also be recruiting Australian trainers to help with upgrading curriculum and teaching methodology.

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has been keen to begin a program in Laos as it is one of the poorest countries in South East Asia (with an average income per person of just $360US per year in 1998) and is still very directly affected by the aftermath of the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s.

Aftermath of War

While not a problem here in Vientiane, there are thousands of unexploded bombs left over from the war in most other Provinces - and clearing them will still take many many years. Over 1.9 million metric tonnes of bombs were dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973 - part of Kissinger's secret war - and the broader Indochina war. This has earnt Laos the distinction of being the heaviest bombed country per head of population in the history of warfare - 10 tonnes per sq kilometre.

Country Profile

Laos is a small country with only 5 million people, sandwiched between China, Vietnam Thailand and Cambodia. Only 3% of the land is cultivated for agriculture and the Mekong River provides important food and transport links for much of the population. Tourism too is increasingly important to the economy. Since the end of the Indochina war in 1975 Laos has been a communist state with close political and economic links to Vietnam and China and more recently Thailand. Laos has been a member of ASEAN since 1997.

For now that's all from me her in Lao PDR. Perhaps another postcard after the Cambodia study tour - and from some of the participants.

For more information about the work of Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA go to:

http://www.apheda.org.au/

For more information about what Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is doing in Lao, go to:

http://www.apheda.org.au/campaigns/lao.htm


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