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Issue No. 151 | 06 September 2002 |
Looking for the Light
Interview: Packing a Punch Bad Boss: Basher Takes Back Passage Unions: Five Star Shafting Economics: TINA � Rest In Peace International: Against Bush's "War on Terrorism" Environment: Saving the World History: A Radical Scribe Poetry: With A Little Help From My Friend Satire: Colonel Gaddafi Promotes Himself to General Review: Workplace Dictatorship
Grassroots Drives Safety Campaign Deloittes Curry Favour on Sub-Continent Rail Workers Buck Individual Contract Wage Bribe Bush Regenerators Weed Out Dodgy Deal Hairdresser Wins Fight For Wage Justice Cabin Crews Argue for �Safety in Numbers� �Slave Labour� In Insurance Industry Beattie Plods into Risky Territory
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review Bosswatch Women
Charity Begins At Home
Labor Council of NSW |
Tool Shed Master of Business
We've always had our suspicions about Fitzgibbon. He's one of the 'new breed' of Labor MPs who believe labour history began at the point when they were elected to Parliament. As someone who inherited his seat from his old man, this is an intriguing position to hold. Nonetheless, Fitzgibbon believes that Labor's union ties are a millstone around the neck of the upwardly-mobile young Turks like himself who have attained power by dint of their own personal brilliance. Thus, the logic follows, Labor should liberate itself from the unions' influence so they can appeal to more 'aspirational' voters. Voters like Joel. Proof of his own aspirations became national news this week when a former staffer claimed Joel had engaged a retired academic to help him complete an essay for an online Master of Business Administration degree he is completing through the University of Newcastle. Fitzgibbon, we hasten to add, has denied the charges, which are being investigated by the University. What he doesn't deny is that he's found time from his duties as both a local member and a shadow minister to pursue study for what can only be interpreted as a career parachute. Regardless of the plagiarism charges, we want to know where this guys gets off doing an MBA on public time. We're all for self-improvement, but there's something a little sick about a Labor MP trying to squeeze in an MBA. These are the bosses' arts degrees - known in the trade as 'Married But Available' certificates - completed by the upwardly mobile set in an effort to enter the elite class who receive seven figure salaries and tasty share option packages. They may have their place, we just wonder if they are the sorts of extra-curricular interests a Labor MP should be pursuing. The revelations have got us thinking just how influenced has Fitzgibbon been from his course notes (presuming he's been reading them? Some of his recent public statements read like a standard boss' text. Straight after the election it was a rant against the requirement that Labor Party members join a union. Then he pops up in the Illawarra Mercury attacking Labor Council secretary John Robertson for opposing the Crean agenda of cutting union influence on the shop floor. All that's missing is a rant about the need for individual work contracts, more flexible practices and the greater trust implicit in a direct relationship between bosses and their workers. Of course, there is a party that meets Joel's requirements. It sees an MBA as a rite of passage to a life in the boardroom. It sees winners as better than losers and sees community as the backdrop for this Darwinian contest. If you need, some help Joel, we'll do the research for you.
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