The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 137 24 May 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

An Aussie Icon
The public deification of the Last Anzac, Alec Campbell, proves the adage that when you scratch the surface of an icon you'll invariably find a far more interesting reality.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Just Done It?
Nikewatch's Tim Connor gives his verdict on the global giant's latest innovation: ethics.

Tribute: Lest We Forget
Rowan Cahill goes looking for the real Alec Campbell and finds a story the Telegraph will not be publishing.

History: Solidarity Forever
Neale Towart looks at the enduring relationship between the union movement and the defence forces and finds it all comers down to solidarity.

Technology: Unblocking the Superhighway
Michael Gadiel argues the case for Open Standards as a way of breaking the grip of big business on the IT industry.

International: Gloves Off
Workers and their unions are facing a battering throughout South America as a wave of economic turmoil sweeps across the continent.

Unions: Out Of Work
Jim Marr travels to the frontline to witness the impact of the Howard Government's decision to close Employment National.

Review: Strange Business
Tara de Boehmler looks at a new flick that exposes the dark side of the Material World.

Poetry: The Lawyer's Lament
One of the big issues of recent weeks has been the explosion of insurance costs for public and community events, many of which have had to be cancelled as a result.

Satire: Government Mourns Loss Of Last Anzac
Treasurer Peter Costello has lamented the death of Alec Campbell, the last surviving ANZAC, bemoaning the lost revenue the government could have gained at his expense following the Budget.

N E W S

 Workers Honour Radical Digger

 Retailers in Outworker Spotlight

 Nurses, Teachers Snare Agenda

 Syd in Vicious Backpacker Stand-off

 Microsoft Monopoly Under Challenge

 Kiddies Not Exactly Having a Ball

 NSW ALP Faces Asylum Seeker Test

 Canberra Acts on Industrial Manslaughter

 Carr Delivers on Dismissals

 Santa Claus Strikers on Christmas Island

 Abbott Believes Management Should Dictate

 Low Paid Not To Blame For Beer Price Rise

 Casino Award Covers Eastern States

 Security Workers Want Bosses Sacked

 Sydneysiders Rally For Western Sahara

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Cold Hard Truth
The Rail,Tram and Bus Union's Nick Lewocki argues our hard-hearted treatment of refugees is a betrayal of our proud immigrant history.

The Locker Room
The South Melbourne Football Club Pty Ltd
A spectre is haunting football; it is the spectre of revolution; a free market revolution, writes Phil Doyle.

Bosswatch
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Jobs are under threat in the textile and trye markets; but there's better news in the Newcastle mills and the Nike factories.

Postcard
Gas Treaty - The Raw Deal
East Timor is getting less then 40%�not 90% royalties from the oil and gas revenue in the Timor Sea, reports HT Lee.

Week in Review
Origin of the Species
Phil Gould, Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus may have buried the laughable notion that Rugby Union is the sport they play in heaven, but outside Stadium Australia life goes on, as Jim Marr discovers.

L E T T E R S
 Dancing With Trotsky? Not Bloody Likely.
 Your Tools Page is Down
 Big Dave Foster
 Give Us a Click!
 Will the Real Mark Latham Please Stand Up?
 Unified Labour
 The Last Survivor
 Not Hate Mail
WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch



Bosswatch

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly


Jobs are under threat in the textile and trye markets; but there's better news in the Newcastle mills and the Nike factories.
 

Sheet Maker Folds Jobs

Linen and bathroom product company Sheridan will cut 70 jobs from its Adelaide plant. The company says the Adelaide job losses resulted from the closure of Sheridan's printing plant in Hobart. Sheridan says a changing marketplace and future changes to world trade structures are other factors in the job cuts. It is reducing its manufacturing workforce and would get more products from overseas. Last November, Sheridan cut 53 jobs in Adelaide and warned of more job losses.

Lower Tariff Would Kill Tyre Industry

Australia's largest tyre maker, South Pacific Tyres, would have to close its remaining factory if automotive tariffs were reduced below 10 per cent after 2005, the company has warned. SPT has already closed three plants and consolidated its remaining operations at its Somerton, Victoria, site following inundation of the tyre market by wave after wave of cheap imported tyres in recent years. And the Ford Motor Company, while not throwing doubt over its local operations, has warned that the risks associated with any reduction in the proposed new tariff would "significantly outweigh any marginal benefits that would accrue". SPT employs about 4000 people, 500 in manufacturing.

No Frills Franklins Back In Business

The iconic Franklins name will live on with South African supermarket giant Pick `n Pay relaunching the chain along with its `No Frills' products. While the major Australian retailers who helped themselves to large chunks of Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd's Franklins business merged the operations into their own stores, Pick `n Pay is keeping the Franklins name. The No Frills range will be the key driver for the 69 store NSW-based chain with some products and ingredients changed and packaging upgraded. Dairy Farm's 287-store Franklins chain was sold off in a $300 million carve up last year, with the majority handed to independents including through Metcash. The remainder went to Woolworths, Foodland and Coles Myer.

Open May Soon Close

Almost exactly a year since One.Tel went belly-up, another Packer and Murdoch telecommunications play appears to be headed for the scrap heap. Open Telecommunications is believed to be on the brink of financial collapse, after its managing director and chief financial officer both quit yesterday. The telecommunications software developer informed the Australian Stock Exchange that the resignations of managing director Colin Chandler and chief financial officer Shane Hodson were effective immediately. Open's undoing has been its failure to win a major contract in more than a year, as it struggles to withstand the telecommunications industry downturn. The company lost $43 million last year, a sharp turnaround from the $11 million profit made in 2000.

Reprimand for ACCC over Fines

A Federal Court judge has rebuked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for not aiming high enough when asking courts to sanction fines negotiated with errant companies. In an unusual dressing-down for the ACCC, Justice Mark Weinberg indicated that it had pulled up short when it requested that Colgate Palmolive be fined a total of just $500,000 for two breaches of the Trade Practices Act. The maximum penalty was $10 million on each count. He suggested that the fine levied might not be sufficiently bruising to dissuade big companies such as Colgate from breaking the law in future.

Newcastle Steels for Industry Revival

Newcastle is set to become a steel producer again, with the New South Wales Government giving approval to the first stage of a new $1.8 billion steel mill. The Protech Steel Mill, to be built on Newcastle's Kooragang Island, will eventually create more than 1,000 jobs. NSW Planning Minister Andrew Refshauge says the $650 million first stage of the project, a cold mill facility, will create 700 construction and 360 full-time jobs. The cold mill should be operating by the latter half of 2004, producing 520,000 tonnes of coated and painted carbon steel per year for the building industry.

Government Compensates for Green Protest

The Federal Government has given Southern Pacific Petroleum a $36 million handout to the company which was struggling because of environmental protests.

The ignited the battling company's shares, sending them 22 per cent higher in early trade. The Brisbane-based company said the Government's decision to "reshape" the existing excise rebate arrangements on oil produced from the Stuart oil shale project was "far-sighted and significant" for Australia's reputation. The move was necessary after Australia's four refineries refused to take the product. Although none stated a reason it is believed to be based on Greenpeace protests.

Nike Claims It's Now Clean

US sporting apparel giant Nike claims has lifted its game since coming under attack in 1997 over the working conditions of its workers in developing countries. Nike vice president for corporate responsibility Maria Eitel, currently in Australia, is now trying to get her message across to the public that Nike is doing the right thing by its workers in third world countries. She says Nike is attempting to fast track the education of its global management about human rights issues and why it will benefit their business. This includes allowing independent monitors to make spot checks of Nike factories in free Trade Zones.

Free World Leaders Aint Cheap

President George W Bush is a millionaire at least nine times over - but he's still behind his second-in-command. In financial disclosure forms filed with the Office of Government Ethics, the president and first lady Laura Bush reported assets between $US9 million and $US19 million ($A16.4 million and $A34.7 million), most of it in a blind trust. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, reported between $US23 million and $US70 million ($A42 million ($A128 million). Before returning to government, Cheney was chief executive of Halliburton, an oil services firm based in Dallas. Among his assets, Bush listed his 633 hectare ranch near Crawford, Texas, valued between $US1 million and $US5 million ($A1.8 million and $A9 million). Cheney listed undeveloped real estate in McLean, Virginia, in the same value range.


------

*    Visit Bosswatch

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 137 contents



email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet


Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/137/c_tradeshall_boss.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET