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Issue No. 135 10 May 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

The Costs of War
John Howard's chickens will come home to roost in the next week when Peter Costello delivers a dog of a federal budget.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Squaring Off
NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca looks beyond last year's WorkCover dispute to rebuild relations between the wings of the labour movement.

Industrial: Heroes Betrayed
Seafaring veterans joining the protest against the CSL Yarra sell-out this week were fighting for their heritage, reports Jim Marr

History: At The Coalface
An oral history of working life on the NSW coalfields has been brought to life by ABC Radio.

International: Wobblies With Chinese Characters?
Workers in China's industrial heartland have started killing their bosses as a form of labour protest., writes Andrew Casey

Politics: Dancing with Trotsky
John Passant re-reads an old political favourite and argues that as fascism in Europe grows the Left must learn the lessons of history.

Economics: You Are What You Eat
Something's eating at Neale Towart, all those Aussie food brands in foreign hands.

Poetry: Alexander's Bragtime Band
When the foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, announced this week that �Australia, internationally, has never been better regarded,� the leaders of the world sagely nodded their heads.

Satire: Stott Despoja Celebrates Engagement With Minor Party
Australian Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja says she will celebrate her engagement to public relations consultant Ian Smith in typical Democrat style, with a minor party.

Review: Painting Paradise
NSW Upper House MLC Ian West meets Currawong's artist in residence Sophie Haythornthwaite.

N E W S

 Gun-Runners Threaten Aussie Coast

 Kings Cross Date For Commissioner Cole

 Sunbeam Irons Out Sydney Grand Mother

 Low-Paid Gridlock Melbourne

 NSW Libs Open to Abbott Takeover

 Ten Points for IT Workers

 Low Paid Target Rose Bay Toff

 Terror Bill Needs More Work, ACTU

 Wage Clerks Duck For Cover

 Burma Release Fails to Blunt Campaign

 East Timorese MPs oppose Timor Sea Arrangement

 Airport Screeners Face Men in Jocks

 Black Label Roots For Hessian

 Back Chat for Child Laws

 Barking The Wrong Way In NSW

 Unions Push into Regional Queensland

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Live a Little!
MEAA state secretary Michel Hryce tells Young Labor the party needs to get funky.

The Locker Room
Something To Chew On...
Peter Filandia gave sports commentators something to chew on with the recent revelations regarding his activities with the old choppers, writes Phil Doyle.

Postcard
Slow Train Coming
Union Aid Abroad's Phil Hazelton sends another missive from South-East Asia where union money is helping the people of Lao.

Bosswatch
A Share of the Action
Big half-yearly results for the banks, a kick-along for a bomb-maker and a debate about executive options at the 'Woodstock for Capitalists'.

Week in Review
Too Much Telly
That little box in the corner takes top billing as the cypher through which the comings and goings of an eventful week are best relayed, as Jim Marr finds out �

Tool Shed
The Speculator
Labor frontbencher Mark Latham has taken out a controlling stake in this week's Tool Shed with his whacky idea that Labor should be underwriting speculation on the stock exchange.

L E T T E R S
 Heaps and Heaps of Hate Mail
 No Choice
 Who Rules Australia?
 No Wrap for Song Comp
 Abbott's Contempt
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Sunbeam Irons Out Sydney Grand Mother


It won�t be much of a Mother�s Day for Lakemba grandma Rina Karagiorga this Sunday, thanks to appliance manufacturer Sunbeam.

After 30 years service at the company�s Campsie plant she was fired because of an injury sustained on the job and denied $70,000 in redundancy entitlements.

Labor Council is informing affiliates of Sunbeam's behaviour in the lead-up to Mother's Day.

ETU secretary, Bernie Riordan, said Karagiorga had had an unblemished work record before injuring her back and shoulder in May, 2000. Eleven months later the pain became unbearable and she filed a successful workers compensation claim.

Karagiorga went back on a return to work program and the company steadily increased her hours. Then, in January of this year with the plant facing closure, Sunbeam sacked her, citing the injury.

Riordan said Sunbeam had refused to pay $500 for a medical report it had insisted on, which declared her fit for employment.

"It is clear Sunbeam fired Rina after 30 years of loyal service, purely to escape their obligation to pay her her entitlement," Riordan said.

The Karagiorga case, and Mother's Day, highlight Sunbeam's diminished Australian links.

The company used to brand itself the Great Australian at this time of the year but, more recently, has stripped Campsie of plant and machinery for domestic appliance manufacture and shipped them to China.

Irons and frying pans carrying the Sunbeam brand no longer provide wages for Australians and the entire Campsie operation is marked for closure on May 15.

ETU organiser Steve Robinson has watched the site being gutted over recent years.

"Sunbeam is as good as dead as an Australian operation," he told Workers Online. "All the appliances you associate with the brand are now made offshore.

"They decided they could get a better return for shareholders by slashing labour costs and went ahead without any consultations."


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