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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.
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.
 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
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 �
Letter to Howard #1
Letter to Howard #2
Letter to Howard #3
Jump Before You're Pushed
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News
Thumbs Up for Super Deal
A mass meeting of 1000 steelworkers at Wollongong has endorsed a deal that gives workers choice on superannuation under terms negotiated between BHP and steel unions this week.
AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten told workers the negotiated deal - which would give steelworkers the right to choice between the AWU-endorsed Superannuation Trust Australia superannuation fund or the company-preferred fund - was a victory for commonsense.
The AWU has been fighting since last year - when BHP announced it would outsource employees' superannuation - for steelworkers to have a choice over where more than $600 million of their superannuation funds would be invested.
BHP had argued that its preferred fund, a subsidiary of Towers Perrin, should be the only fund despite an independent report by accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu finding the AWU-endorsed fund, STA, offered a "similar range of services" at lower cost.
Features of the negotiated deal include:
- Total Risk Management (the wholly owned subsidiary of Towers Perrin) and STA to start information sessions for BHP steel employees
- STA and BHP to set up a team to assist members with the transition from their existing fund to STA
- TRM will be the successor fund in the context of all employees being required to exercise compulsory choice between STA and TRM prior to upcoming BHP Steel spinout.
- STA will be the default fund for new award employees after spinout
- TRM will be the default fund for new staff employees post spinout
- BHP Steel has agreed to consult and seek agreement from unions regarding superannuation arrangements for any future acquisitions
- Unions to be given access and paid time meetings to brief members on superannuation issues
Shorten said the intervention of BHP Steel vice president of human resources Ian Fraser, had contributed to delivering steelworkers the best superannuation options available. The deal will be considered by BHP Superannuation trustees for endorsement next week.
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Issue 129 contents
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