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Issue No. 145 19 July 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Two Wings Flapping
The one element missing from the current debate about the relationship between the labour movement and the ALP is any discussion about what's in it for the unions.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: In The Tent
The Australian Services Union's Martin Foley on the dilemma facing trade unions affiliated to the Labor Party.

Bad Boss: The Desk Nazi
Everyone�s mail is on the money this week. Yep, Australia Post, courtesy of the born-to-rule attitude so beloved by the Workplace Relations Minister has been nominated for the Tony Award.

Media: Hold the Presses
The withdrawal of mainstream news outlets from the reporting of industrial relations is playing right into the bosses' hands, writes Andrew Casey

Workplace: Putting Bullies In Their Place
Ever wonder where the schoolyard bullies from your formative years ended up? Chances are they are still making someone�s life hell in an Australian workplace today. Even worse, one of them might be your direct supervisor.

Industrial: Women and Work
The last fortnight may well prove a turning point for working Australian women and their families, argues ACTU President Sharan Burrow

International: Whine and Dine
The political and industrial wings of British labour are at each other's throats, reports Andrew Casey.

History: Black Adder
Old King Cole had good tutors. Roger Milliss captured the style of conservative government witch-hunts in Serpent�s Tooth, his cathartic apology to his father, Bruce.

Review: Bad Movie
While the search for Australia's worst boss is well underway, Joel Schumacher's Bad Company seems to point the finger squarely at the US Government - albeit accidentally.

Poetry: I Remember
Dermott Ryder knocks our Resident Bard off his podium this week with a little ditty about a bloke called Honest John

N E W S

 Builder Blows Whistle on Kangaroo Court

 Alarm Over Unis in Detention

 Unions Spark New Super Push

 Abbott Trips on Entitlements - Again

 Picnic Day for Union Members Only

 Memo: John Travolta - Come Fly With Us!

 Cole Comfort to Bodgey Builders

 Unions Eye SA Casuals Victory

 Burrow: Paid Mat Leave Just First Step

 Mayne Warning � But Will They Listen?

 Drought Relief Should Extend To Rural Workers

 Coca Cola Action Bubbles Globally

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Royal Circus
CFMEU organiser Terry Kesby gives a first hand account of his experience before the Cole Royal Commission.

The Locker Room
Bravely Running Away
Phil Doyle is bewildered by the Australian Cricket team�s reluctance to join John Howard�s War On Terror.

Bosswatch
Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
As the world market lurches under the weight of its own amorality, regulators and business lobbies are locking horns over the need for more rules.

Week in Review
A Share of the Action
Sharemarket jitters produce mea culpas from the magnate set but, as Jim Marr discovers, loyal followers in the Howard administration aren�t likely to join the chorus any time soon.

L E T T E R S
 Make My Week!
 Real Reform
 Hooray for Frank!
 Reform or Die
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Rural

Drought Relief Should Extend To Rural Workers


Measures to assist the victims of the drought in NSW should be extended to include rural workers unable to secure work because of the crisis, the Australian Workers Union says.

Commenting on the NSW Government's Drought Relief Assistance package announced this week, AWU state secretary Russ Collison said that farmers were not the only victims of the drought.

"While we welcome any assistance the government can provide farmers, the thousands of seasonal workers who make a living shearing, harvesting and picking crops should not be forgotten," Collison says.

Collison has called on the Federal Government to come to their aid by providing Exceptional Circumstance Relief Payments (ECRP) to rural workers who gain more than 80 per cent of their annual wage through rural work.

Currently the ECRP assistance, that provides interest rate subsidies, income support and access to health care cards, family payments, youth allowance and AUSTUDY, is only provided to farmers.

"Drought effects all the members of a rural community, none more so than the battlers who work off the land to keep farms operating," he says.

Collison says the problems rural workers faced were heightened by the federal government's decision to close Employment National - which has left many regional centers without an operational point of contact for unemployed workers.


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