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Issue No. 141 21 June 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Bitter Pills
It had to be one of the greatest frauds of history, we had reached a stage of evolution where we no longer needed to be regulated.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Fels Guy
ACCC chair Professor Alan Fels on big business attacks, the waterfront dispute and where unions stand under the Trade Practices Act.

Solidarity: Life or Death?
Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora � the eternal warriors� dilemma - filled the Sydney air this week. Jim Marr was there.

Unions: Back to Basics
Tony Papa made it to the top of the Australian union movement; now he's back at the frontline organising building workers. And he's never been happier.

International: Global Terror
The annual report into violence against trade unionists was released this week. But, as Andrew Casey reports, the killings continue.

History: Sorry Business
Dr Rosalind Kidd lifts the lid on the use of forced labour of Aboriginal people in Queensland right through to the 1960s.

Technology: Future Active
In his new book on net activism, Graham Meikle arges that ideas will ultimately triumph over assets.

Satire: Executive Presents PowerPoint Eulogy at Mother�s Funeral
A corporate affairs manager from a leading Sydney company yesterday delivered a moving presentation at his mother�s funeral, utilising the many features of Microsoft�s PowerPoint software.

Poetry: Santa Claus Was Coming to Oz
As we commemorate world refugee day, what can we learn about our treatment of refugees, from the case of one man from far away who tried to enter Australia last Christmas?

Review: Dial 'M' For Minority Report
Imagine a place where everyone knows your name, the streets are filled with smiling faces, and murder has all but been obliterated. Anyone who finds this scene idyllic has clearly not seen Minority Report.

N E W S

 Fair Share: Link Executive Pay to Wages

 Abbott�s 'Rule of Law' Faces Court Challenge

 Royal Gaze Averted as Bosses Shut Down and Fined

 Molten Metal Sparks Safety Probe

 Consumer Boycotts Don't Break Law: Fels

 Korean Own Goal in World Focus

 STOP PRESS: Court Ticks Off on Service Fees

 Zero Tolerance on Casino Violence

 GIO Workers Challenge Bosses' Union Wages

 Nurses Reject Band-Aid Solution

 Saving Lives In Killer Productions

 McDonalds Vandal Becomes Global Hero

 Debate Rages Over Chinese Unions

 Paul Howes' Activist Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Jock or Janus?
Roland Stephens looks at Labor's progression through the eyes of 'Jock' the legendary David Williamson character.

The Locker Room
The World Game
Former Socceroo Dennis Yaager gives his take on the Cup Finals while Labourstart's Andrew Casey rates the labour performance of the nations left in contention.

Week in Review
A Law Unto Themselves
Law, domestic and international, is centre stage but Jim Marr discovers 7.1 billion reasons why big business seems to rise above it.

Bosswatch
Who Wants To be a Millionaire?
There are more of them than ever before, according to a new global survey of the world's richest.

L E T T E R S
 Tanya Inc
 Tom Bites Back
 Root Canal Therapy
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News

Fair Share: Link Executive Pay to Wages


Executive pay levels should be capped or linked to workers wages under radical proposals put forward by the union movement.

In an effort to kick-start community debate on executive pay, NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson says wage relativities are worth investigating.

Robertson says a national response is needed to address spiraling executive pay levels and will take the issue up with the ACTU.

"It's a complex issue that involves the mix between shareholders, wage-earners and executives," Robertson says. "But what is clear is that executive salaries are running rampant - often with no connection to the profitability of a company.

"We are seeing the debate run internationally, with some European nations calling for statutory limits; they're recognising that this is an area that might need some form of regulation.

"I think it would be useful to go a step further and actually link executive pay to wages - it would build in an inceptive for CEOs to actually increase wages rather than cut them."

The call follows a wave of CEO wage rises. Recent revelations include:

- Macquarie Bank CEO Allan Moss receiving a $1 million pay rise, taking his salary to $24,500 per day.

- news that NAB paid three executive of the failed HomeSide venture in the US a combined bonus in excess of $ 8million.

- a push by Treasurer Peter Costello to present foreign CEOs with a $50 million tax break. That move is being challenged by the Federal Opposition.

- new statistics from the USA showing the average CEO salary has risen from 45 times the average weekly wage in 1973 to 450 times the average today.

"Workers struggling to survive on average wages are dumbfounded at the multi-million pay-outs going to CEOs," Robertson says. "Any political party that came up with a response to this would be on electoral winner."


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