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Demonising Unions
There's a common streak running through the Liberal Party's prosecution of its witch-hunt of the building industry unions and the federal ALP leader's push to reduce the influence of trade unions within the Party. That's the view that unions are on the nose.
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.
 Cole Suffers Credibility Crisis
Councils Armed To Drown Sweatshops
Miners Win Record Payouts
Bracks Crew Not Family Friendly
Time to Charge Directors
Waterfront Truth One Step Closer
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
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.
Simon and the Creanites
In Defence of Latham
Swans A Pathetic Con-Job
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News
Getting it Wrong on Training
The Federal Government is slashing $10m from a highly successful program that ensures uniform national training standards are maintained.
Unions say the decision to defund the Industry Training Advisory Boards (ITABs) will lead to the privatisation of the national training agenda.
ITABs are government funded bodies, made up of union and employer representatives who advise government and industry on training.
They help tailor training programs to the meet the needs of their state or territory while also meeting national standards, and ensure programs provide a practical benefit to trainees, employers and the industries in which they operate.
Most importantly their input feeds back into creating and maintaining high national standards, provides form of quality control, and produces workers with transferable skills that are not limited only to one particular employer's agenda.
In the NSW forestry industry alone, the ITAB program has resulted in a 450% increase in traineeship enrolments.
Its decision to decimate funding of Australia's Industry Training Advisory Boards (ITABs) has angered unions and prompted the ACTU to hold an emergency meeting to determine its full impact.
In NSW the move translates as a $3m funding cut, effectively siphoning $70k from each of the state's 20 industry ITABs.
The money is crucial in ensuring each ITAB has a full-time worker to coordinate operations, and that basic administration support and infrastructure are provided.
Labor Council's Michael Gadiel says the result will be a Government increasingly providing direct inducements to employers who will now be free to provide watered-down training programs tailored for their needs alone and carrying no guarantees of meeting basic industry standards.
According to NSW Nurses' Association general secretary Sandra Moait the value of advice delivered by state ITABs have been "seriously underestimated and were ITAB to be no longer available, any credibility the national training agenda has will cease to exist because it will have disconnected from its information conduits".
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Issue 138 contents
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