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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.
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.
 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
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.
Luke and Learn
Due Credit
Tom's Foolery
More Latham
More Tom
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News
Della Picks Up Manslaughter Baton
Seven days after Commissioner Cole was forced to listen to the harrowing details of a teenager’s building site death, NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca has moved to put teeth into the way his state deals with culpable employers.
"I am concerned to ensure we have the best system to deal with criminal culpability in industrial manslaughter," Della Bosca says.
He has suggested working with Labor Council on terms of reference that will bring workable recommendations from the Workplace Compensation and Occupational Health and Safety Council.
The issue was sparked by union disquiet over the lack of WorkCover action on criminal sanctions available in the state's Occupational Health and Safety Act.
That statute provides for imprisonment and first offence fines of up to $550,000 for employers judged criminally liable for the deaths of employees but the provisions are rarely, if ever, used.
Last week CFMEU members offered prayers for killed workmates outside the Cole Royal Commission after it had stated its intention to brush workplace deaths out of widely-reported public hearings.
The mother and father of the 17-year-old killed on Broadway travelled from Tamworth to force a brief about-face from the commissioner.
Next week Maori and Polynesian workers will hold a church service for a young Maori killed on a building site just around the corner from where Cole is sitting. They are expected to march to the Family Court and issue another challenge to respect the issue, via a traditional haka.
Labor Council will refer Della Bosca's proposal to a meeting of affiliates considering the criminal liability of employers for OHS breaches.
Secretary John Robertson hailed the initiative as a step in the right direction.
"It's a way in which the issue can be addressed," Robertson says. "We have a concern but it is not about the capacity to have culpable employers charged, rather the willingness of WorkCover to take the appropriate action.
"This is a good first step towards dealing with the problem."
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Issue 140 contents
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