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Issue No. 138 31 May 2002  
 
F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Star Chamber
CFMEU national seretary John Sutton surveys the limited progress of the Cole Royal Commission.

Politics: The Odd Couple
After spending years yelling at each other, a couple of young factional players started talking to each other in the name of refugees.

Tribute: I-Conned
A rogue priest and Philip Ruddock have combined to leave master artist, Rados Stevanovic, living in a suburban park, as Jim Marr reports.

Media: Audiences Before Politics
The real challenge facing the new managing director of the ABC is how to make audiences central to what the national broadcaster does, argues Tony Moore.

International: The Off-Side Rule
It may be kick off time at the World Cup but unions in South Korea and around Asia are using the world�s biggest sporting event to focus attention on workers� rights, as Andrew Casey discovers.

Economics: The Fake Persuaders
Companies are creating false citizens to try to change the way we think, writes George Monbiot.

History: Terror Tactics
As the Howard Government prepares terror legislation to ban organisations, Neale Towart remembers a similar attempt at censorship in the name of security.

Poetry: Food, Modified Food
That old school yard joke "what do you get if you cross a ... with a ...?" is becoming startlingly true. The latest development is a featherless chicken.

Review: Spiderman Spins Out the US
Red Pepper's Rick Giombetti scales the big screen and puts Spiderman in his place, flying in the face of right wingers who would claim the Marvel Comic legend as their own.

Satire: England's World Cup Disaster: Star Hooligan Breaks Foot
The English World Cup 2002 campaign is in tatters after star hooligan Gerard Wilson of Chelsea broke his foot.

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L A T E S T   N E W S

Cole Suffers Credibility Crisis
Independent polling of CFMEU members nationwide highlights the credibility crisis afflicting the Cole Commission on the eve of its Sydney hearings.

Sixty six percent of CFMEU respondents told Melbourne-based pollsters they believed the Royal Commission into the Building Industry was �politically motivated�, while 55 percent said it was established to �crush unions�. [full story]

Councils Armed To Drown Sweatshops
Five Sydney councils hold the key to rooting out clothing industry sweatshops that employ predominatly immigrant, female labour for as little as $2 an hour.

The Councils � covering the key centres of Sydney sweatshop production � have been given new powers to flush out sweatshops under State Government changes to WorkCover regulations. [full story]

Miners Win Record Payouts
The Howard Government is being urged to rewrite Federal industrial laws in the wake of the country�s biggest unfair dismissal settlement.

CFMEU Miners Union president Tony Maher made the call just hours after mining giant Rio Tinto agreed to split $25 million amongst 190 mineworkers it sacked in 1998 and 1999. The union claimed Rio Tinto had introduced a �so-called merit-based system� to victimise union activists at Mt Thorley and Hunter Valley No 1 mines.  [full story]

Bracks Crew Not Family Friendly
The Victorian Government has been found guilty of failing to uphold its own family friendly policies.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the State Government indirectly discriminated against one of its workers by failing to implement a work plan that would have allowed her to retain her job while fulfilling carer responsibilities. [full story]

Time to Charge Directors
Company directors should be routinely charged with manslaughter when workers die in their care, the union movement has told NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca.

Labor Council secretary John Robertson has called on WorkCover to start enforcing the criminal code after Della Bosca rejected a push for a separate law of 'industrial manslaughter' on the grounds that the criminal law already dealt with the issue. [full story]

Waterfront Truth One Step Closer
A Federal Court directions hearing this week could chip another brick out of the wall Government has erected around its dealings over the 1998 waterfront dispute.

The Howard Government successfully fought to deny Australians pre-election access to information contained in cabinet papers but, slowly, its avenues for denial are being blocked off. [full story]

ALSO MAKING NEWS

 Speedy Flow-On for NSW Workers

 Star Sin-Binning Prompts Inquiry Call

 New Chief Puts ABC Back In The Picture

 Getting it Wrong on Training

 Gravy Train Gets Richer For Max and Mates

 Reward For Delegate Who Stood Up

 Casino Workers Hit Mat Leave Jackpot

 Drug Haul Sparks Security Warning

 East Timor�s MPs Take Australia On

 ACTU Officials Denied Visas Into Fiji

 Commemorate 100 Years of Votes for Women

email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet
"The Federal Government is facilitating the abuse of this man�s skills while trying to drive down the wages and conditions of Australians� - Andrew Ferguson

E D I T O R I A L
It makes you wonder how out of touch the Canberra political cabal really is, caught up in a debate based on a false premise, that organized labour is a political liability.

Constitutional Terrorist

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Modernising Labor?
NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson argues that genuine reform of the ALP would go beyond the 60-40 rule, to increase the voice of unions within the Party.

The Locker Room
Juego Bonito
Forget the dour contests of the Premier League and Serie A, it�s the World Cup which transforms football into the beautiful game. Noel Hester analyses the form.

Week in Review
He Who Pays The Piper
Money comes in all colours but, in politics, the hue is usually blue, as Jim Marr discovers �

Bosswatch
Rich Pickings
Australia's wealthiest were on display this week as BRW released its annual Rich 200 list.

Postcard
About Last Night
The CFMEU's Phil Davey, on an APHEDA -Union Aid Abroad delegation to Palestine, recounts his experience trying to get back to his hotel after dark.


LETTERS to the Editor
 Simon and the Creanites
 In Defence of Latham
 Swans A Pathetic Con-Job

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