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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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News

Council Takes Up Discrimination Challenge


NSW unions are taking a tickle-up from former Liberal Senator Chris Puplick on the chin and pledging to join him in the fight against workplace discrimination.

Puplick, now president of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, told Labour Council the record of its affiliates on sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination, while impressive, was not perfect.

He rattled delegates with examples of unions apparently supporting discrimination.

- when two women cleaners had been deliberately exposed to pornographic posters, threats and sexually-explicit grafitti

- in a meatworks where women packers were exposed to racist insults, sexist rumours and harrassment

Puplick admitted the "trepidation" he always felt passing through "the portals of the Labor Council building in that most dreaded of addresses, Sussex St", but warmed to his task.

He warned unions they were not entitled to sit idly by while damage was done, citing the case of an apprentice at a Sydney worksite who had been tied to a tree and sodomised, by bottle, as part of some bizarre initiation ceremony.

Puplick, who has taken an active role in challenging agreements considered discriminatory in the Industrial Relations Commission, also told delegates of the dangers inherent in being party to indirect discrimination.

Council secretary John Robertson, whose organisation helped draft the anti-discrimination guidelines which Puplick was launching, took up the challenge.

Describing the Puplick address as "typically provocative" he urged affiliates to step up to the plate.

"We have a responsibility to address these issues," Robertson said. "Trade unions have a key role to play in ensuring that racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination are eliminated from our workplaces."

Read the full speech from Chris Puplick.


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