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Issue No. 148 16 August 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Peak Performance
Leaders of the NSW trade union movement gathered this week to consider the role of their peak council in an increasingly deregulated labour market.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Labor Law
NSW Attorney General Bob Debus expands on how he's bought a Labor agenda to the justice system

Unions: Critical Conditions
Jim Marr looks at one man's story to expose the workers compensdation rorts that are rife in the building industry

Bad Boss: Shifting The Load
Barminco, the biggest mine operator in Tasmania, has put its name forward for a Tony after being labeled the �boss from hell�.

History: Peeking Out
As unions push for workplace privacy, Neale Towart argues that its not just employers who might be peeking.

Safety: Flying High
Blaming the individual worker has always been at the heart of calls for random drug and alcohol testing, Neal Towart reports.

Corporate: Salaries High, Performance Low
As part of Labor Council's inquiry into executive pay, Bosswatch's Chris Owen has compiled this overview.

International: War on the US Wharves
Thousands of US dockworkers held rallies this week up and down America�s West Coast as well as in Hawaii, as the Bush Administration threatened to break one of America�s most powerful unions by using troopers as strike breakers.

Review: And the Signs Said...
Philip Farruggio argues the new horror flick 'The Signs' has a subtext that should resonate with working families.

Poetry: Tony Don't Preach
Melbourne car park attendant and LHMU delegate Tony Duras rewrote the Madonna and Kelly Osbourne hit Papa Don�t Preach.

Satire: Latham Dumps Rodney Rude as Speech Writer
ALP front-bencher, Mark Latham has fired speech writer Rodney Rude after calling the Prime Minister an 'arse-licker'.

N E W S

 Qantas Dressed Down Over Uniform Backflip

 Virgin Threatens Delegate Over Net Use

 Email Protection Hits Firewall

 Yarra Gets Rowdy Welcome Home

 Cole Snubs Injured Worker

 Victorian System Needs Reform: AIRC

 First NEST Payout to Workers

 Qld Public Sector Battle Heats Up

 Community Workers Eye Canberra Show Down

 Lift Techs Face Redundancy Lock Out

 Council Workers Win Picnic Day Fight

 School Support Staff Demand Recongition

 Black Chicks Talk At Refuge Fundraiser

 Colombian Left MP Applying For Asylum

 Activist Notebook

C O L U M N S

Politics
Colour By Numbers
Labor council secretary John Robertson argues that the 60-40 debate ignores the real changes necessary in the ALP.

The Soapbox
Peas in a Pod
ACTU President Sharan Burrow gives her take on the new fetish for Public-Private Partnerships

The Locker Room
Go Dogs Go
As a student of form, Phil Doyle discovers that the Greyhounds are coming up in class and are all the better for recent racing.

Bosswatch
Rayland And Other Adventures
More evidence emerges in the HIH Royal Commission of the joys of life at the Top End of Town.

Human Rights
Tampa Day
Monday 26th August is no celebration, but the first anniversary of a National Shame should be recognised, writes Amanda Tattersall.

L E T T E R S
 Miranda's Not Fair on Outworkers
 Another Capitalist Party?
 Justice For All?
 Kill the Photos!
 Right Wing Lackies
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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International

War on the US Wharves

By Andrew Casey

Thousands of US dockworkers held rallies this week up and down America�s West Coast as well as in Hawaii, as the Bush Administration threatened to break one of America�s most powerful unions by using troopers as strike breakers.

" We're hoping there rallies send a very strong message to the Bush administration to keep its nose out of our negotiations," Jack Heyman from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in San Fransisco told local media.

Along with the military threats, a Bush administration task force is reported to be considering declaring a national economic emergency, which would delay any possible strike by 80 days or introducing federal legislation stripping the ILWU dockworkers of their collective bargaining rights.

At the heart of this dispute are issues very similar to the ones fought over in Australia by the MUA in their War on the Wharves a few years back.

Pacific port bosses' want to slash workers' health benefits and introduce new technology aimed at outsourcing union jobs rather than train union workers to operate the new technology as has been the practice in previous contracts.

Big Business Eggs on George Bush

The big retail chains and auto importers - like Wal-Mart, Gap, Mattel, Target Stores, Toyota and Yamaha - who are all highly dependent on the Pacific ports to import into the USA their cheap globalised products have set up a lobby group - the West Coast Waterfront Coalition - to pressure the White House to act against the ILWU - and to bring in the troops if necessary.

In the USA - as in Australia - the ILWU is seen as a key militant union hated by these global corporations.

Backed by capital the Bush Administration would dearly like to break this union, just as John Howard wanted to break the MUA.

And ordinary unionists throughout America know that if they can break the ILWU - then they can break any other workers' organisation.

The Aussie Unionist who set up the ILWU

Relations between Australian port workers and the US dockworkers are traditionally very close - not least because the traditional militancy and power of the ILWU was established by an Australian unionist - Harry Bridges - who today is considered an icon of the American union movement.

Contract negotiations between the ILWU and the employers resumed this week after nearly three weeks of refusal to talk and public slanging matches. The ILWU contract for some 16000 members expired July 1.

During the month of media slanging matches news reports started leaking Bush Administration plans to use troops to keep West Coast ports open in the event of a strike or lockout by management..

Steve Stallone, ILWU communications director, confirmed the media reports when he said that in a meeting with union negotiators, a US Labor Department lawyer "threatened to bring in the National Guard to militarily take over the ports."


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*    Updates on the dispute from the MUA

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 148 contents



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