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War On The Collective
While Saddam Hussein is the primary target of George W Bush�s ham-fisted crusade to destroy a noun, the United Nations is also under its heaviest attack in its 57 years.
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
Unions Join Anti-War Chorus
ACM Fails Port Hedland Report
Abbott Adds Fuel to Bias Case
Murray�s Millions Dwarfs Workers Wages
Rogue MP Faces Grassroots Backlash
Harry Bridges Speaks from the Grave
Councils Deny Multi-Lingual Workers
US Rabbi Fights Lowy Malls
Ansett Ticket Levy Not Reaching Workers
Something Stinks at the Zoo
Virgin in Delegate Situation
Pampas Workers Baste Boss
International Shame for Aussie IR
Sydney Trade Talks Face Backlash
Activists Notebook
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
The Shame (Sham) of the Democratic Party
Weapons of Destruction
Tears From Tom
Good Hearts
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Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
ACM Fails Port Hedland Report
Port Hedland detention staff have given a bad report card to Australasian Correctional Management�s performance on 11 key operational issues ranging from workplace safety to ACM�s procedures to stop detainees� acts of self-harm.
The four-page report based on interviews of 42 detention centre officers and supervisors comes as tensions at Port Hedland boiled over into a four-day strike.
It is based on similar criteria that the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) uses to evaluate detention centres.
The reports findings include:
� Inappropriate use of prison staff (flown in from interstate) to replace detention officers during dispute
� Extremely poor fire fighting training of staff and too few fire drills and smoke detector inspections
� Inappropriate use of fire fighting equipment to water gardens
� Absence of a fire prevention sprinkler system in some areas
� Detainees classified as At Risk are not always being observed according to Port Hedland detention centre protocol; management plans inadequate and suffer from staff shortages
� Only a minority of staff are trained on how to treat a detainee who has harmed themselves by attempted hanging
� Overloaded bathroom facilities; repairs not carried out when reported
� Flawed detainee identification and recording systems, which rely on out-of-date photographs of detainees
� Checks of contractors for dangerous goods and equipment hampered by low staffing levels
The four-day stoppage of detention centre staff, who are demonstrating outside the detention facility, failed to be resolved at today's meeting between the AWU and ACM in the WA Industrial Relations Commission. Further Commission meetings are planned for the weekend.
The AWU is calling for:
� A full search of the Port Hedland facility to find and remove homemade weapons. (the last comprehensive search was May 2001.)
� A minimum agreed manning level shift.
� Escorts of detainees be done with a minimum agreed number of officers
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Issue 154 contents
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