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Wrong Way, Go Back
The weekend machinations over the structure of the ALP are in danger of missing the fundamental point: Labor�s current malaise is caused not be an excess of core values but through a deficit.
Interview: The Wet One
NSW Opposition industrial relations spokesman Michael Gallacher stakes out his relationship with the union movement.
Bad Boss: Like A Bastard
Virgin Mobile is sexy and funky, right? Well, only if those terms have become synonyms for dictatorial or downright mean.
Unions: Demolition Derby
Tony Abbott likens industrial relations to warfare and, like a good general should, he is about to shift his point of attack � from building sites to car plants, reports Jim Marr.
Corporate: The Bush Doctrine
For the powerful, consumerism equals freedom, and is all the freedom we need, writes James Goodman
Politics: American Jihad
Let�s get real. The origins of modern Islamic terrorist groups are in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Langley, Virginia not Baghdad, argues Noel Hester.
Health: Secret Country
Oral history recordings are an inadequate tool in trying to find out what happened to Aboriginal stockmen and their communities on cattle stations in Northern Australia, writes Neale Towart
Review: Walking On Water
On the 20th anniversary of the first AIDS-related death, Tara de Boehmler witnesses the aftermath of losing a loved one to the illness in Walking On Water.
Culture: TCF
Novelist Anthony Macris captures life on the shop floor in this extract from his upcoming novel, Capital Volume II
Poetry: The UQ Stonewall
The University of Queensland has sought to join the ranks of union-busting companies like Rio Tinto in trying to sack the president of the local union - and made the mistake of thinking they were dealing with an array of acquiescent academics.
 Corrigan Fires Shot in Rail Showdown
Fight Begins For Long Weekends
Experts to Arrest Drug Test Outbreak
Jobs Auction Hitting Bank Workers
Libs Pledge Moderate IR line
Workers Kick Grand Final Goal
NSW Screws Down Lid on Funeral Scams
Hilton Strike Break Plans in Tatters
Detention Centre Workers Demand Safety Search
Religious Teachers Win Legal Coverage
Pressure Builds on Parking Sting
US Docks Lockout Hits Sea Trade
Activists Notebook
The Soapbox
I Walk The Line
American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has weighed into the Hilton Hotel dispute with this special message to the workforce. Postcard
Mekong Daze
Union Aid Abroad's Phil Hazelton fires off a missive from Laos where he is spending a year working with the community. Month In Review
Bush Whackers
It was a month where the world teetered on the brink of peace, no thanks to the leader of the free world, writes Jim Marr The Locker Room
The Laws Of Gravity
Phil Doyle goes looking for the fine line that separates sport from an exercise in time-wasting Bosswatch
Snouts in the Trough
It�s AGM season in the corporate world, and deal after shady deal is being exposed as highfliers treat company accounts like the proverbial honey-pot. Wobbly
Songs of Solidarity
There has been a proud history of pro-worker tunes dating back to the early days of the 20th century, which will be continued in a new CD, writes Dan Buhagiar.
Jacks and Jills
Shame on Murray
Use or Abuse of Long Term Casuals
Speaking in Tongues
Casual Days
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News
NSW Screws Down Lid on Funeral Scams
Reports of gross funeral industry irregularities, including the storage of bodies in suburban garages and keeping a foetus in a kitchen fridge, have led state government to tighten regulations.
Health Minister Craig Knowles' decision has been welcomed by the Funeral Industry Council, headed by Labor Council assistant secretary Mark Lennon, the Funeral Workers Union and peak industry bodies.
Just this week, those organisations approached the Government with evidence of a St Mary's operator who had forged 60 death certificates, presumably to save fees that would normally be paid to a doctor.
The man at the centre of the scam has now opened a funeral director's business, on his own account, at Penrith.
"NSW already has the toughest funeral industry regulations in Australia and we will strengthen them by giving the Director General of NSW Health the power to throw out of the industry any funeral director who repeatedly breaches the Public Health Act," Knowles said.
"On top of those powers, NSW Health has reached agreement with the Funeral Industry Council to develop an accreditation scheme for funeral directors."
Accreditation of directors and key workers is seen by the union, and Labor Council as a key health and safety issue for workers and quality guarantee for customers.
Lennon greeted the tougher regime as "a signficant step in the right direction".
Included in a raft of new NSW regulations are provisions for:
- minimum vocational standards for anyone embalming bodies
- invasive body preparation on bodies with List A diseases to be restricted to those having completed approved training in mortuary practice, infection control and occupational health and safety
- mortuary operators to maintain detailed registers of every body handled
- mortuary and crematoria operators to disclose full details of their businesses on the public record
- authorised officers to enter and inspect facilities and vehicles
- tougher penalties for offences
Government will also set up an 1800 number to encourage members of the public to report breached of Public Health regulations.
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Issue 155 contents
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