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The Hijacking of May Day
Unionists watching the shambolic and violent affair that was the M1 protest could be forgiven for wondering what has become of the traditional workers' day?
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.
 Yarra Seamen Take Border Stand
War on Terror Targets Unions
Year Zero for Building Unions
Kinkos Copies Anti-Union Script
Nike Told to Shoosh on Sweatshops
Rapper Wins Wobbly Anthem Prize
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
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.
Doctors in the Bush
M1 Open Letter
Julian Online
May Day Debacle
Mothers Day Musings
Greetings From Canada
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Evatt Foundation
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News
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.
Sweatshop opponents were shocked by the claims and took Nike to court.
The footwear company had tried to protect itself from the court case claiming the controversial adverts about Asian sweatshops were protected by 'free speech' and did not have to comply with 'false advertising' rules.
But on Thursday the court ruled that Nike's big dollar adverts were not protected by the US Constitution's free speech provisions.
The California court said the ads were about protecting Nike's bottom line, its commercial interests - and as such had to comply with that state's regulations about false advertising.
The court decision opens the sportswear giant to the possibility of a range of costly false advertising court cases.
The majority ruling found that a business enterprise wanting to promote and defend its sales and profits, must make factual, truthful representations about its own products or its own operations.
In strongly worded dissenting opinions, three justices argued that Nike should enjoy free speech protections when attempting to protect its labor record.
Nike's lawyers are now expected to appeal the California court decision all the way to the US Supreme Court.
The court decision is the result of a lawsuit brought in 1998 which said Nike had willfully misled the community about the working conditions of Asian workers in Indonesia, Vietnam and China, producing Nike footwear.
The legal case was one a number of high-profile attacks on Nike over conditions at Asian factories in the 1990s. The sweatshop advocated said that Nike had violated California's false advertising laws when it tried to promote itself as a 'good corporate citizen'.
The campaign workers said Nike knew their workers were subjected to physical punishment and sexual abuse, endured dangerous working conditions, and were often unable to earn a "living wage" despite workdays that could be 14 hours long.
Alan Caplan - one of the lawyers involved in the case - said the California decision meant that a company cannot lie to customers about the labour conditions in its factories in advertising campaigns.
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Issue 134 contents
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