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Issue No. 134 03 May 2002  
 
F E A T U R E S

Interview: Youth Group
Federal Labor's youngest frontbencher, Nicola Roxon, on how the ALP can win back the hearts and minds of the young.

History: Back To The Future
As building unions put old animosity aside, Neale Towart looks at the history of the 'demarc' - and the steps taken to avoid them.

Industrial: On the Street
Jim Marr looks at the human cost of Treasurer Peter Costello's refusal to fund a pay rise for community workers.

Unions: The New Deal
Adam Kerslake outlines the importance of the ground-breaking pact between unions in the building and civil construction industries.

Legal: The Police State Road
Rowan Cahill argues that the Howard Government's new anti-terror laws carries echoes of a more sinister past.

Women: What Women Want
When 300 ALP women from around Australia converged on Canberra for the National Labor Women�s Conference they had more than quotas on thier minds, Alison Peters reports.

Politics: Street Party
Paul Howes looks at how May Day was celebrated around the Globe by those involved in trade unions and those who are not.

International: The Costs of War
Ariel Sharon is facing growing pressure from Israeli unions over the conduct of his war on Palestine, reports Andrew Casey.

Review: Songs of Solidarity
It had rock, grunge, pop and rap. The May Day union anthem song contest had everything, including an element of surprise thanks to competition winner Swarmy G.

Satire: Bono Satisfies World Hunger for Preachy Rockstars
U2�s lead singer Bono has launched a daring solo mission to end the world�s hunger for rock stars who use their high profiles to crap on self-righteously about charitable causes.

Poetry: Woomera
Divide and rule, that age old tactic...the lips of defence personnel inexcusably sewn to dehumanise an imaginary threat, the lives of asylum seekers incomprehensively dehumanised so as to defend a threatening image.

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L A T E S T   N E W S

Yarra Seamen Take Border Stand
A tense stand-off involving a Canadian shipping magnate and 17 seafarers could decide the future of the Australian shipping industry.

Crew on board the CSL Yarra have been denied food and other supplies by the ship's owners as the stand-off at Port Pirie enters its third day with ship workers refusing to lower the gangway. [full story]

War on Terror Targets Unions
The Howard Government�s proposed anti-terrorism laws are as draconian as Malaysia�s reviled Internal Security Act, unionists have been warned.

Malaysian labour activist Irene Xavier says proposals, providing for detention without trial and the strip-searching of children, were �uncannily similar� to the first steps her country took in dismantling democracy. [full story]

Year Zero for Building Unions
NSW building unions have agreed to turn their back on historical differences and work as a single movement in a groundbreaking industry-wide agreement.

All six trade unions with coverage in the NSW construction industry have signed an historic cooperation pact in the lead-up to industry wide wage negotiations later this year. [full story]

Kinkos Copies Anti-Union Script
The worker who led the campaign against enforced easy-listening at office supplies retailer Kinkos is facing dismissal, while the company has targeted the CFMEU for legal harassment.

AMWU Printing Division delegate Keith Salter, who resisted company directives over which radio stations staff were allowed to listen to, was this week handed a final written warning. [full story]

Nike Told to Shoosh on Sweatshops
You just can�t lie about the �swoosh� when you tell customers that all is hunky-dory in the Indonesian factories where Nike products are made � that�s what a California courtroom has just decided.

Angered by effective union campaigns about Nike�s Asian sweatshops the multinational mounted an advertising campaign in the mid-1990s to tell Americans it was a good corporate citizen. [full story]

Rapper Wins Wobbly Anthem Prize
A 24-year old Campbelltown rapper has walked away with $5000 after winning a competition to write a contemporary anthem for the trade union movement.

Swarmy G � a.k.a Adam Dunn - was awarded the prize, sponsored by the Labor Council of NSW and its web-based radio station Wobbly Radio, at the May Day Toast this week.  [full story]

ALSO MAKING NEWS

 Technicians Take Aim At Canon

 Unions Target Labour Hire Bidding War

 Rally Targets Tight-Arse Costello

 Councils To Be Audited On Language Allowance

 Scope For Payback In Privacy Limitations

 Heavyweight Push For Medibank Private To Stay Public

 What About Dad? - TWU

 East Timor MPs Question Timor Gap Plan

 Artists' Union Bans Voice For Peace

 Activist Notebook

email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet
"We went looking for the contemporary heart and soul of unionism and found it in the terrific compositions that came in for this contest" - Labor Council of NSW secretary John Robertson

E D I T O R I A L
If they want to smash the state, good luck. If they want to bring about meaningful change in a Democracy, they should rethink their tactics.


C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Maurie on May Day
PSA supremo Maurie O'Sullivan had them in the palms of his hands when he delivered the traditional May Day Toast.

The Locker Room
Impractical Punting
Most of life is six to five against. That is, unless you know a Packer or a Waterhouse. Phil Doyle expands.

Bosswatch
Show Me The Money!
It may be May Day - but life in the banking industry has never been sweeter - unless you're in the gambling caper.

Week in Review
Two Bob Each Way
The double standards of modern life have left Jim Marr scratching his head.

Tool Shed
Border Insurgent
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson has blockaded himself into the Tool Shed this week for opening Australia's borders up to flag of convenience ships with Third World crews.


LETTERS to the Editor
 Doctors in the Bush
 M1 Open Letter
 Julian Online
 May Day Debacle
 Mothers Day Musings
 Greetings From Canada

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