E D I T O R I A L

Our Historical Mission
It has often been argued that unions would cease to exist when employers civilised workplaces. Our historical mission would have been fulfilled and we could pack up and spend out time enjoying the equitable society that would be the fruit of our victory.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Something Smells
The Postal Union's Jim Metcher lifts the lid on the very strange goings-on in Australia Post

Cole-Watch: Credibility Crisis
Counsels Assisting the Cole Royal Commission face a humiliating public back down in an effort to bring some balance to proceedings, reports Jim Marr.

Unions: Union Cities
Labor Council's Adam Kerslake has returned from the USA with some new ideas on community unionism

Industrial: Lib Men Gang Up Against Working Mums
Working women are in danger of missing out on an adequately funded paid maternity leave scheme, if recent bleatings are acted upon says ACTU President Sharan Burrow.

History: Eureka!
Neale Towart finds an alternative to Baden-Powell�s imperialist scouting movement, where the youth of Australia was fed such radical ideas as solidarity, collective action, equal rights and internationalism.

East Timor: Don�t Rob Their Future
After 24 years of often brutal Indonesian occupation East Timor on 20 May 2002 finally achieved their independence, writes HT Lee.

Review: Black Chicks Say It All
Dorothy can be whatever colour she wants to be and black chicks can talk about anything, writes Tara de Boehmler

Poetry: Self Regulation
While President George W Bush,leader of the heart of unregulated capitalism, has responded to the recent spate of corporate cowboydom by whipping out a swathe of new corporate controls, Australia's Prime Minister has responded with a feathered touch.

N E W S

Cole to Hear of Criminal Takeover Conspiracy

Mad Monk Stamp on Aussie Post

Calls To End Woodlawn Logjam

ANZ Fined Over Freedom Of Speech Breach

Hotels Eat Up Living Wage

Qantas Union's Gorilla Tactics

Shearers Black Ban Their Hall Of Fame

Democrats Fire Shot for Workers

Teachers Walk Out At Aust College of Technology

Rail Operators Off Track

Airport Security Worker Spat At And Assaulted

CBA Workers Say Enough Is Enough

Union Made Songs For Masses

Doco Dishes Dirt On Howard�s Gas Wrangle

Activist Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Cole Comfort
The election of a federal coalition government in 1996 marked the advent of an aggressively anti union agenda that continues to be played out to this day, writes Paul Davies

The Locker Room
Salary Crap
Phil Doyle goes wading through the hypocrisy and hubris, and discovers where the smell is coming from.

Postcard
All At Sea
It�s on again - the coastal battle between the maritime unions, the government and the shipowners, reports Zoe Reynolds.

Week in Review
The Dogs of War
The battle drums were a-rattling across this wide, brown land and Jim Marr was getting a bit tetchy

Bosswatch
Speak No Evil
The majority of Australian firms stay silent on options they offer their executives as John Howard continues to stonewall corporate law reform.

L E T T E R S

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Lib Men Gang Up Against Working Mums

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John Howard, Peter Costello, John Anderson, Nick Minchin and Tony Abbott have all attacked proposals before Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward's maternity leave inquiry.

A common theme in the chorus of criticism from the top of the Government is the claim that paid maternity leave for working women would "discriminate" against women who are not in the workforce.

Instead of paid leave based on women's income, the Prime Minister has floated the idea of a much lower welfare-style maternity payment to all mothers.

Mr Howard's claims of "discrimination" make no sense.

Firstly, maternity leave payments, like all employment benefits such as wages, annual leave or sick pay, are of course only available to people in the workforce.

For Mr Howard to argue against paid maternity leave because it "discriminates" against non-working women is as silly as to argue that annual leave or sick leave payments should be abolished because they "discriminate" against the unemployed.

Secondly, introducing paid maternity leave for working women in no way prevents or hinders Governments from also providing adequate family support to women who are not in the workforce.

Of course all Australian women deserve adequate support from Government policies to enhance their family choices, whether or not they are in the workforce. Many women fall into both categories at different stages of their lives, as they move in or out of the workforce while balancing their careers and family responsibilities.

A number of European nations have introduced a family payment to allow choice in child care of older babies and toddlers, but all have maintained long periods of paid maternity leave as well.

Mr Howard is ignoring the advice of his reputed family policy guru, Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics, who wrote recently: "I do not suggest that policy makers should choose between maternity leave rights and a home-care allowance. Social policy should no longer be seen as a zero sum game."

Mr Howard's plan for a welfare-style payment to all mothers has been estimated to deliver anything from around $50 to $200 a week - well below the levels needed by many working women to meet ongoing financial commitments. Maternity leave would remain an economically impossible choice for most working families.

By comparison, the ACTU's 14-week maternity leave scheme proposed to the Goward inquiry would provide full pay to 87% of Australian working women. Women who earn up to average weekly earnings would receive full income replacement. Higher-paid women would have their payment capped at average earnings ($897 per week) but employers would be free to further supplement the payments.

Paid maternity leave and a decent family payments system are affordable for Australia now. The Federal Government is this year spending $19.3 billion on family measures, including the baby bonus, childcare benefits and family tax payments. The impact of many of these measures is regressive and unfair and in need of review.

The ACTU's maternity leave scheme would be funded jointly by the Commonwealth (at less cost than the current baby bonus) and by an employer levy (of less than $1-a-week per employee). Small business employees would be paid the leave, but it is possible that small business employers would not have to pay the levy.

The Federal Government should use the Goward inquiry to make a real difference to the lives of Australian families. But John Howard's small change solution will offer working women no room for new choices.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005