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Work and the Meaning of Life
The high-profile case of Kamal El-Masiri takes the debate over the intersection of work and family onto an altogether higher plane.
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.
 Muslims Snubbed in Discrimination Laws
Workplace Racism Rife Post S11
Mad Monk’s World In Turmoil
Qantas Directors Bust Wages Freeze
Deregistration on Cole Agenda
Aussie Wharfies Save Farmers
Victorian Libs Block Pay Rise
Dad’s the Word For Steelworkers
Funeral Workers Dig in Their Heels
Unions Expose Truth Of McDonalds’ People Promise
Gay and Lesbians Workers To Meet
VTHC Urges Compassion For Colombian Refugees
New Zealand Workers Win Paid Parental Leave
WorkCover Inspectors Off the Road
Mine Guards Shoot Own Workers
Unions On Call For Working Young
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.
Who Is Farmhand?
Direct Voting Rights
Iraq is a Gobalisation Issue Too
Letter to George Dubya
WTO and Schools
Casual Thought
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News
Muslims Snubbed in Discrimination Laws
NSW anti-discrimination laws may not cover Muslims because their religion spans more than one culture, sparking calls for an urgent legislative review.
The Labor Council of NSW has called on the Carr Government to review the legislation in the wake of the case of a Muslim IT worker who has been threatened with sack for praying at work.
Kamal El-Masri, a member of the Australian Services Union, has been threatened with dismissal from telecommunications company TPG over his commitment to praying, in his own time, at work.
Company management issued the edict, even though Kamal had negotiated the afternoon prayer time in return for a shorter lunch break for the last two years.
He's taken an action to have the dismissal threat withdrawn to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, which will hold further hearings over the coming week.
ASU assistant secretary Sally McManus says that Kamal has been forced to choose between his religion and his job
"The ASU has seen a rise in these instances over the last year and is concerned that it is indicative of a general rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in the community," McManus says. "The stubbornness and inflexibility of this company demonstrates this."
Broader Review Required
El Masiri's plight has highlighted anomalies in NSW anti-discrimination law, which confine protection from religious discrimination to 'ethno-religious groups".
This means that religions - such as Islam and Christianity that span more than one culture - are not covered by the Anti-Discrimination Act.
"It is outrageous that workers should be forced to choose between their jobs and their religions," Labor Council secretary John Mr Robertson says.
"In Kamal's case, there is no evidence that his beliefs were infringing on his work - indeed he was making up the ten minutes in his own time."
Robertson says it's also disappointing that the Australian Services Union, who acted on El Masri's behalf, had been the victim of hate calls today.
"Trade unions are a leading voice in celebrating cultural diversity, we will continue to do so and do not believe our staff should be subjected to such bigoted behaviour."
The Labor Council has convened a meeting of all affiliates to discuss the rise in religion-based discrimination.
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Issue 156 contents
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