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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Cole Exposed By Immigration Scam

Cole was alerted to the situation at De Lorenzo Ceramics, Baulkham Hills, during testimony by CFMEU NSW secretary, Andrew Ferguson, in June.

He assured Ferguson the situation would be dealt with but after three frustrating months the CFMEU and Labor Council took the matter direct to Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock.

Cole's failure to follow through underlines CFMEU bias allegations that will go before the Federal Court in Sydney, next month.

Throughout its time in Sydney, the Commission vigorously pursued anti-CFMEU allegations, often from dubious sources, while ushering hard evidence of immigration rorts, safety breaches, tax evasion and systematic employer corruption through to the keeper.

Before hearing evidence on the matter, Cole went on record saying that employer abuse of illegal immigration "would appear to be insignificant".

On the final day of his first session in Sydney Immigration officials rounded up 15 Korean and Chinese illegals employed by Modern Drywall at Waitara.

Last week's raid on De Lorenzo's factory showroom netted five alleged Korean illegals and another outpaced immigration officers in a foot race across surrounding paddocks captured by television news crews.

Angry union officials insist the six-person De Lorenzo haul was "merely the tip of the ice berg".

"They've got a lot more illegals and they use them, deliberately, to slash wages and conditions, and as strike breakers," the CFMEU's Phil Davey told Workers Online.

"These people are paid 50 percent of the going rate and they are forced onto sham sub-contracts that allow company principals to stand in front of the media and claim they are not the employers.

"This sort of set-up is not unusual in the Sydney construction industry but the Royal Commission doesn't want to know."

Davey flagged a heightened union campaign against De Lorenzo, starting next week, in a bid to finish the job started by DIMA.

"We're sensitive about this whole issue because our union has been to the forefront of opposition to the Government's tough stance against asylum seekers," Davey added.

"But the way these people are used by De Lorenzo, and companies like them, is a threat to every building worker in Sydney. They win contracts because they undermine wages, conditions, superannuation, workers compensation, insurance and safety."

Interestingly, De Lorenzo uses a mix of legal and illegal Koreans. When the unionised workforce struck for industry standard wages and conditions in March, it was the illegals who undermined the action.

Davey said the ongoing campaign was at the insistence of legal Korean immigrants "sick and tired" of having their families' living standards undercut.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005