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Less Is More
Sometimes working in the union movement, weeks flow into each other and what should be a series of discreet campaigns begins to feel like one long struggle.
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.
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
Satire: Iraq Pre-empts Pre-emptive Strike
Saddam Hussein has launched a pre-emptive strike on the United States to prevent it from pre-emptively striking Iraq first.
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
 Retailers Lift Veil on Outworkers
Is Cole Bad For Your Health?
Super Fund Leads Options Assault
Libs Flag Forced Job Cuts
Pressure Grows for Refugee Debate
Vale: Jack Ferguson
Cyber Campaigns Byte Bosses
Abbott�s Mates Apply the Hilton Slipper
Sydney Airport Wins On Casuals
Bushfire Recovery Rights Recognised
Millionaire Pleads Poverty
Combet Talks Up Global Ties
Premier Oil Pulls Out of Burma
Harry Bridges Comes to Town
Pub Trivia With YUM
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. 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 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�
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
War Talk
Why We Are a Terrorism Target
Radio Doco on 1973 Ford Strike
An Atmospheric Piece
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Letters to the Editor
An Atmospheric Piece
Dear Sir,
No matter how large we perceive our World, or how small we perceive our careless actions, the immutable law that demands; for every action, there is an equal reactor, is inevitably invoked.
Our environment, which is probably an already mortally wounded and fragile ecosystem, every assistance or respite, that we can offer it, gives humanity, as we know it a few more years of comfortable existence.
Should we then take note of reports from the Observatory of European SMEs, an organisation funded by the European Commission, which has been reporting on Europe's SME's for nine years recently released evidence of these gases from refrigerators as seriously affecting our environment The depletion of the ozone layer high up in the stratosphere has received widespread publicity because of the link between exposure to UV-B radiation and human skin cancers. UV-B radiation is also detrimental to aquatic ecosystems, limiting the production of phytoplankton (the basis of oceanic food chain) and affecting the early developmental stages of fish and crustaceans.
There is now no doubt that the cause of the depletion is CFCs and Halon gases released into the atmosphere from refrigerators, aerosols and fire extinguishers.
International policy has reduced the global annual production of such substances by up to 90% and also significantly reduced emissions. The problem is that the recovery of the ozone layer is expected to lag significantly behind the introduction of remedial policies. In fact, the depleting effects of the gases now in the atmosphere have yet to peak; this is expected to occur between 2000 and 2010 if no further substantial emissions are made
With the recent expos�' of possible environmental damage by Parramatta Council , through their exposure of Parramatta River to damaging pollutants, and the transfer of massive amounts of Asphalt Chippings from the North Shore , into Rydalmere, one must also question their unusual and apparently unchecked policy of "White Goods" collection , including Air Conditioners. This is a potential environmental time bomb that all Councils who collect these types of goods and dispose of them irresponsibly are sitting on.
What happens to the gases contained in these appliances- is it possible that rather than safely extracting the toxic gases and disposing of them in a responsible manner, these appliances are crushed and mangled with the gases being released into the atmosphere.
The mind boggles at the amount of toxins have been released into the atmosphere over the years from dumped refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions and computer monitors, because of this outrageous incompetence.
Tom Collins
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Issue 153 contents
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