E D I T O R I A L

The Legacy of 11/9
From the orgy of righteous indignation that has enveloped the �Free World� this week a more chilling truth is emerging: if the suicide bombers were attacking Liberal-Democracy they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Still Flying
Flight Attendant�s Association international secretary Johanna Brem looks at life in the air since last September�s terrorist attacks.

International: President Gas
NSW Firefighter�s president Darryl Snow sent this missive to his members on the anniversary of a day when 343 of their colleagues died in the line of duty.

Politics: Australia: A Rogue State?
ARM director Greg Barnes argues that September 11 has summoned a new era of isolationism and international lawlessness.

History: Levelling September
Counterpunch�s Peter Linebaugh reminds us that September 11 is the anniversary of another seminal battle: the fight for the English commons

Unions: Welfare Max
Maximus Inc is big, American and controversial. Right now its knocking on the door of Australian welfare delivery and there is every chance the Howard Government will usher it inside, reports Jim Marr.

Bad Boss: Welcome to Telstra!
A Telstra call centre has joined the race for Bad Boss after sacking a pregant woman who had the audacity to need to use the toilet

Health: Fat Albert: The Grim Reaper
Workers Online�s cultural dietician Mark Morey chews the fat over this week�s conference on child obesity

Poetry: A Man From the East And A Man From The West
Resident Bard David Peetz has penned this ode to the sacked Hilton hotel workers

Review: The Sum Of All Fears
Tara de Boehmler checks in to see that America�s cultural cringe is alive, well and sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes

N E W S

�Robbed Generation� Seeks Stolen Wages

One Year On: Ansett Crash Still Hurts

Cole Exposed By Immigration Scam

Car Workers on Howard Hit List

Mystery Windfall for Hilton Workers

Shock: Abbott Backs Workers

Union Billboards Censored

Track Grab Ignores Lessons of Glenbrook

Casual Approach to Air Safety

Bosses Say No Living Wage For NSW Childcarers

Pastry Workers Tell Boss To Get Puffed

Injury Toll Mushrooms

Victorian Zookeepers Down Buckets

Pride and Safety for Workers Out!

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

Legends
Gough's Plaza
Labor's living legend challenged NSW Labor to lift its game as he attended a renaming of 2KY House to Gough Whitlam Plaza.

The Locker Room
Support The System That Supports You
This system is a certainty, a moral, a good thing and a knocktaker; well, at least according to Phil Doyle

Bosswatch
RIP Chainsaw Al
One of the heroes of corporate downsizing has been cut down but his memory lives on with golden handshakes for leaders of failed businesses still thick on the ground.

Week in Review
Lest We Forget
You can�t help a sneaking suspicion, Jim Marr writes, that George Bush is conscripting the dead of September 11, 2001, to lead his push for another war in the Gulf�

Awards
The Importance of Being Ernie
It was the tenth annual �Ernie� Awards for sexist behaviour and Labor Council�s Alison Peters was amongst the noisy punters

Activists
Workers Out!
Gay and Lesbian trade unionists are organising an international conference to develop a global response to homophobia in the workplace, writes Ryan Heath

L E T T E R S

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Keeping it Clean

Dear Sir,

The hypocrisy of some private organisations/ multinational conglomerates in relation to their vandalism of our environment, while not acceptable, can be understood at least contextually in our current worship of the "Almighty Dollar" but offences should still be classified as Crimes against the people and punishable by imprisonment or in deliberate acts of poisoning our environment, with capital punishment, with executives, Ceos' or company directors, being held responsible.

Sadly it is in the public sector that appears to have , a total disregard for community health , and ratepayer values , these not only being ignored, but in many cases the ratepayers and residents being confrontationally fingered.

Recently, Parramatta Council was caught exposing the Parramatta River to pollution, through inadequate catchment in their Morton Street , North Parramatta Depot , this is a circumstance that had for years , either been deliberately ignored or those charged with responsibility for this depot , were negligent or incompetent or perhaps both.

Yet when one visits Parramatta Council web site, it is sprinkled with motherhood statements of how they are protecting the environment and in particular the river and creeks.

Then there is the Collex Waste Facility, at Clyde, which was touched on by Kel Livingstone in last weeks Workers Online. (Not Red Ken?)

According to "Kel", Parramatta Council, ALP councillors, along with some others have waffled on about opposing the use of Western Sydney as a dump for the North Shore Waste, and well they may have! But were these the same ALP councillors, on this same council, who organised the use of their transfer depot at Mary Parade, Rydalmere, to recycle the hundreds of tonnes of carcinogenic asphalt road chippings for North Shore councils, processing them with lime, cement, concrete and other toxic chemicals and then returning these chippings as road base. While experimenting with my new digital camera, and on a photographic expedition, looking for exciting graphics for a new Web Site, I happened to drive through Mary Parade, late last week, and was confronted on a public street, with large trucks and bogies causing obstructions, rubbish in the form of blue metal and road chippings, on the road from uncovered loads, truck drivers wandering around like stunned wildebeests in the Serengeti desert after a lion attack.

The effects of this inappropriate use of public property could be measured as environmentally dangerous to the immediate community as the Old Sydney City Council, Asphalt Plant with it asbestos roofing, its asbestos and fibre insulation, and the bottomless tar pit, that was situated on top of the tidal swamp at Wattle Street , adjacent to Black Wattle bay.

In fact, I think that even after using water sprinklers ,in this Mary Parade , Rydalmere site , it would be appropriate for the EPA, to check out the pollution, Work Cover to check the disregard for High visibility clothing, ear and eye protection, chaotic traffic control, and if they have time in their busy schedule , perhaps a cursory glance at the heavy machinery being used and the method of Safety Guards against moving parts , and DUAP, to exercise their responsibilities in respect to their obligations to the community, with an emphasis on not only the possible misuse of this land, but also the legality of the use of this land for anything other than "Parkland".

While in the broader society here are always those who believe that they are, not like the rest of us, made in the image of God, but that they actually are God, local government appears to be overly populated with these individuals , along with refugees from "Richmond & McClure" .It is only through every citizen accepting the reality that; we are our brother's keeper, that we can stop any of these Bastards continuing poison us all by polluting the ecosystem, thereby ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.

Or is this just a simple case of reaching a local government level of incompetence and another precursor to Sartor's destiny as Il Duce of the Regions , or is that legions?

I think Not!

Tom Collins

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005