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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

Nurses Reject Band-Aid Solution


The NSW Nurses Association has hit out at health department plans to band-aid the problem of declining nurse numbers by simply importing workers from overseas.

Recruiters from the health department are understood to already be leaving for the UK, Ireland and Hong Kong where they will attempt to recruit more than 100 nurses.

The department is attempting to poach the nurses from countries already struggling with shortfalls of their own, promising them cheap airfares and cut-price accommodation.

NSW Nurses Association assistant secretary Brett Holmes says that while "each and every one of the nurses will be welcomed at hospital bedsides once they get here", the exercise will not solve the ongoing problems with the NSW system.

Currently a 15% wage claim is before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, with hearing dates scheduled until October.

The Nurses Association hopes that success in the Commission will go some of the way in addressing the problem of nurses not feeling valued or adequately rewarded for the service they are providing.

He says the problem is largely caused by a global trend towards 'cost containment' in the health and medical fields. "This means more patients are released from the system quicker and sicker, placing more pressure on our nurses," Holmes says.

He adds that for an institution denying there is a nursing crisis, the department of health is taking "extraordinary steps" to contain the problem.

Meanwhile, in Queensland nurses have put to song their hopes of rebuilding nursing as an attractive career option.

While work bans continue around the state and nurses gear up for one of the most extensive strikes in Queensland history, their new theme song Worth Looking After has been put to disk and video clip.

The song is written and sung by nurse and Queensland Nurses Union information officer Jude Mullane


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