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Issue No. 140 14 June 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Abbott's Rule of Law
Tony Abbott has had a bit to say about the Rule of Law in recent times; how respect for the law should be at the centre of industrial relations and that anyone who flouts it is a national traitor.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Party Girl
Former ACTU president Jennie George on women in politics, life in Canberra and the ALP-union relationship.

Unions: Touch One, Touch All
The tribes of the union movement gathered outside the Cole Commission this week to repay the CFMEU for its generosity.

Industrial: Condition Critical
Nurses have taken their claim for financial recognition from the hospital ward to the courts, Jim Marr reports

International: Innocence Lost
There are nearly 250 million child labourers in the world, and every one has a story. As the ILO launches the first World Day Against Child Labour, here are just three.

History: Strange Bedfellows
Women�s first successes in adult suffrage came without much campaigning, and was in fact supported by Mormons, in defence of polygamy.

Organising: Just Say No
How would you react if you had to run a "no vote" campaign to oppose a non-union agreement issued by a company whose 3000 strong workforce was spread over 3500 kilometres. React quickly and expect to travel is Will Tracey's advice.

Review: Choosing Life Beneath The Clouds
Ivan Sen's Beneath Clouds is a road movie of the highest order, in which the destination becomes secondary to the choosing of a path.

Poetry: Did We Make a Big Mistake
It's one hundred years ago this week that Australia gave women the vote, and jumped early onto a bandwagon than would roll across democracies world-wide.

N E W S

 Building Workers Gagged By Commission

 Labour Hire Veil Lifted

 Unionists Hit HP Fire Wall

 Combet Drives Car Industry Summit

 Green Ban Protects Aussie Timber Jobs

 Unions Launch Gucci Boycott

 Della Picks Up Manslaughter Baton

 Jockeys Crisis Worsens

 Billions Of Reasons For Reasonable Hours

 Swans in Dark as Lights Go Out

 Workplace Wishes Walked All Over

 Airport Security Flies High

 Canucks Boycott Starbucks

 Campaign Steps Up To Stop Child Labor

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Conviction Unionist
In his speech to the National Press Club, ACTU secretary Greg Combet expands on his breed of unionism and charts the resurgence in the movement.

The Dressing Room
Give Greg a New Look!
We have converted the Tool Shed into a Dressing Room to give you the opportunity to give ACTU secretary Greg Combet a make over.

The Locker Room
The Other Les Murray
Those pesky colonials have been making life difficult for the natural order of things again, reports Phil Doyle.

Week in Review
Quelle Horreur
Jim Marr drags himself away from a four-yearly fascination with people of one name � Raul, Rivaldo and co � to discover fouls are still being committed on the international stage.

Bosswatch
The Great CEO Swindle
Breath-taking figures from the USA show the extent to which executives are taing a bigger and bigger slice of the corporate pie.

L E T T E R S
 Luke and Learn
 Due Credit
 Tom's Foolery
 More Latham
 More Tom
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Green Ban Protects Aussie Timber Jobs


A new green ban in the building and construction industry will prevent further wastage of priceless rainforest timer at the same time as protecting Aussie forestry jobs.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union has joined forces with the Greens and the Wilderness Society to ban the use of tropical rainforest timbers on NSW building sites.

A growing trend for developers to request a style of concrete finishing which is achieved using rainforest wood as a mold has outraged unionists and environmentalists alike, inspiring them to forge an alliance to fight the wastage.

Currently the rainforest timber is being sourced from South East Asia at a price so low it is easy for developers to justify using it as 'throw-away' formply molding. Formply is used as a mold for concrete pouring operations such as footpaths, hoardings and bricks.

Because it is so cheap, South East Asian rainforest formply will dominate the market if nothing is done to require developers to use only sustainably produced formply from Australian forests. Thousands of Australian plantation jobs could be lost if the situation is not addressed now.

CFMEU state secretary Andrew Ferguson says the green ban was part of NSW building workers' continued commitment to protect the environment and congratulated the Greens and Wilderness Society for their stance on the issue.


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