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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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News

Cole Snubs Injured Worker


Experienced steel fixer Chris Gillespie is the latest to join the �stitch-up� refrain being directed at the Cole Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry.

Furious, at being invalided out of an industry he had served for 20 years without any compensation, Gillespie decided to spill the beans on �systematic and widespread corruption� amongst steel fixing companies.

He presented at the Royal Commission, in Goulburn St, Sydney, on Friday, July 12, armed with names, addresses and dates.

Gillespie told Workers Online he was interviewed, on site, by commission investigator, Andrew Russell.

"I had information about tax evasion, workers compensation fraud and other corruption I had experienced, first hand," Gillespie said. "But it goes right across the industry and costs taxpayers millions of dollars every year.

"I went to the commission to tell them how they could wipe it out and clean up the industry. It's something I've thought about a lot since I was put on the scrap heap by employers who didn't pay workers comp levies.

"But they weren't interested at all. They told me they were only really interested in corrupt union officials."

Gillespie says steel fixing could be cleaned up in a matter of months.

On every major site, he says, principal contractors keep meticulous records to cover themselves. Workers from all sub-contractors go through site inductions and, most times, have to sign-in every day they are on site.

The fix the commission didn't want to know about would see authorities:

- gather up the induction forms to identify the steel fixers

- cross check the daily numbers against the head counts done by the builder

- inspect the steel fixer's books and, Gillespie says, you will find "without fail" that the figures don't tally

- cross reference your findings against the sub contractor's records and "you still won't find any records most of these blokes".

- finally, check the steel fixer's claimed employees against how much steel he has placed, according to the contract.


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