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Brand Spanking
Some of the biggest names in corporate Australia are copping a spanking right now – and while the troubles are of their own making the fall-out may have broader consequences.
Interview: Generation Next
The Australian Services Union's Luke Foley is one of a group of thirty-somethings taking the reins of the union movement.
Legal: We’re All Terrorists Now
The Government’s hastily cobbled security laws are so all-encompassing that jamming the boss’s fax could see you eating porridge in Long Bay for the rest of your life, reports Noel Hester.
Unions: Holding the Baby
The concept of Carers’ Responsibilities doesn’t appear to have penetrated the ageing walls of the Australian Retailers Federation, reports Jim Marr.
International: Taking It To The Streets
In the past few days 22 million workers have taken to the streets in two countries over the global push to cut workers rights, as Andrew Casey reports.
History: Off the Wall
Creative campaign posters provide a colourful archive of worker struggles from the past, writes Neale Towart.
Economics: Financing International Development
John Langmore details the significance of the first International Conference on Financing Development held in Mexico in March.
Satire: Queen Mum's Life Tragically Cut Short
The world has been numbed by grief and shock, after Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother unexpectedly died last night at the tender age of 101.
Review: Return of The People’s Parliament
The last two weeks has seen the return of the most democratic program on the television, Big Brother. Cultural theoritian Mark Morey reports.
Poetry: Silent Night
Our resident bard, David Peetz, turns his hand to the Senate Inquiry into a Certain Maritime Incident.
 Tobacco Giant's New Smoking Gun
Evidence Proves McJobs A Reality
Workers Die Waiting For Justice
Abbot Sparks Nuclear Reaction
Sick As A Dog Or Pissed As A Parrot?
Workers’ Anthem – Hip Hop or Grunge?
DOCS Crisis – At Risk Kids Slipping Through Net
Call Centre Workers Stiffed - Survey
Broadcast Blues at SBS
South Coast Medical Centre in Della’s Sights
Sydney Take-Off For Security Campaign
Israel On Dangerous Ground
Technicians Take Aim At Canon
Intel Faces Email Censure Challenge
Megawati Reopens Marsinah Case
Activists Notebook
The Soapbox
The Politics of Unfair Dismissal
Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations Robert McClelland finally nails down the Labor line on the Abbott sackings laws.
The Locker Room
Tipping the Scales
Jim Marr argues that policing of the ten-metre rule is creating havoc for footy tipsters. Bosswatch
Stand and Deliver
It might be tough for some - but for shareholders and executives, life is just dandy. Week in Review
Stretching the Truth
The political porkie still reigns supreme on the big stage but, good news in the form of a warning, some tall tales from the past are unravelling with embarrassing consequences…
Free Trade??
Where's the Silver Tail?
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News
DOCS Crisis – At Risk Kids Slipping Through Net
Community Services workers walked off the job this week to draw attention to the escalating number of child abuse and neglect cases slipping through the net.
A meeting of disgruntled Public Service Association members in Sydney's Metropolitan West resulted in a one-day strike as concern over resourcing and poor management escalated.
The PSA has given a commitment to the IRC there will be no further industrial action until it meets the Community Services Minister on Monday but general secretary Maurie O'Sullivan warned the mood of strikers mirrored that of others DOCS employees.
"Essentially, the issue is one of resourcing and the failure of senior management to accept responsibility for the Department's deepening crisis," O'Sullivan says.
New child protection legislation, introduced in December 2000, has seen child abuse and neglect reports escalate from 72,000 a year to more than 140,000.
O'Sullivan says less than 10 percent are now being investigated.
"Even worse, a number of urgent cases, requiring a 24-hour response, are being left unallocated," he says.
The PSA has been hammering departmental management about the crisis since last April but, O'Sulluvan said, the necessary resources had not been forthcoming.
Management, he claimed, had washed their hands of the issue by shifting blame or denying the existence of a problem.
"This is never more evident than in the event of a child death when the department will automatically blame staff by initiating disciplinary action and failing to acknowledge the chronic staffing issue," he said.
Labor Council will join the PSA in campaigning for an adequately funded service in NSW.
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Issue 132 contents
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