E D I T O R I A L

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.

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.

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

N E W S

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

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.

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

L E T T E R S

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Retailers Lift Veil on Outworkers

In an international first, the Australian Retailers Association has signed a Deed with the Textile Union committing its members to meeting legal wages and identifying where all production is carried out.

The deed, witnessed by NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca, commits retailers to providing the union with information on suppliers - including contract prices and locations.

The TCFUA will use the data to check on sub-contracting operations, including outworkers. A key part of the agreement provides for out-clauses to be written into future supply contracts that will see them negated on the union supplying proof of worker exploitation.

Under the deed, signatories will refuse to contract with breaching suppliers until the problems are fixed.

Della Bosca urged other states to pick up on the NSW agreement, shepherded through by the Ethical Clothing Trades Council, established by his department.

Key members of the Retailers Association include big clothing outlets K-Mart, Big W, Grace Bros and David Jones.

TCFUA NSW secretary Barry Tubner said one the disclosure element of the deed gave it international significance.

"For the first time retailers will be committed to knowing the location of sub-contractors and the charge for each unit supplied," he explained.

"We won't be asking suppliers for the info, retailers will supply it on 14 days notice. This puts the onus on retailers, as the final beneficiaries, to take responsibility down the chain.

"It's better than us having to take suppliers to court. It will shortcut the system and make compliance more likely."

The deed heads off a strong campaign waged by right-wing pressure group, IPA, and its Daily Telegraph apologist, Miranda Devine. They mounted a "hands-off" argument, based on a contention that sweatshops didn't actually exist.

Key pillars of the deed oblige retailers to:

- supply the union with a list of suppliers on 14 days notice

- ensure the registration of suppliers who will be obliged, in turn, to list subcontractors to the union

- provide details of contracts with registered entities

- those details to include numbers of units, turnaround time, and prices

- signatories will write out-clauses into future contracts

- the supply of misleading information and/or underpayment of outworkers will trigger the out-clauses

Big League Campaign

Meanwhile, Workers Online understands the Labor Council and TCFUA are on the brink of delivering sweatshops another blow.

Months of negotiations with the NRL and suppliers, including international sportswear giants Nike, Puma, Fila and Classic are expected to be concluded in the near future.

Industry insiders suggest an agreement could be announced within days.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005