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End of Ignorance
The tragic events in Bali have touched all Australians, brought the human face of terrorism into our lives and created a few brief moments of political bi-partisanship.
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.
 No Night Shift for Sunset Workers
Workmates Back Kamal�s Right to Pray
Unions Target Corporate AGMs
Nurses Short-Changed On Parking
Abbott Makes Grab for Broken Hill
Unions Get Ready to Wobble
Brogden Flags Assault On Injured Workers
�Build a Life� Gathers Steam
The West Gets with the Best
Child Carers Get $18 Living Wage
Victorian Workers Rally for Kingham
Woolies in Redundancy Fight
Unions Call for Peace
Clown Nearly Shuts Darwin Hospital
Teachers Eye Historic ATSIC Alliance
Support Grows for US Waterfront Workers
Work Stress Kills The Healthy
Unions Back Sinn Fein Mandate
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.
Talking Frankly
Memo to Junior
Defence Signals
Pandora's Box on Prayer?
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News
No Night Shift for Sunset Workers
Australian Workers� Union delegates have voted to scale back night shift and end stressful work patterns for workers expecting to retire within a year.
The scaling back of shiftwork for retiring workers is part of a major wages and hours campaign in the manufacturing industries to be conducted in Victoria in 2003.
Under the proposed clauses an employee (aged over 50 with 10 years service) wishing to retire must give 12 months notice to enable the four staged retirement plan.
(i) First 3 months the employee trains their replacement
(ii) Second 3 months No more night shift
(iii) Third 3 months Employee works Monday to Friday
(iv) Final 3 months employee enrols in training programs relevant to their interests, and they get retirement and financial advice.
About 300 delegates have voted in support of the Smart Hours Campaign. AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten say that too often workers approaching their sunset years suffered a tumultuous transition from work to retirement.
"One day they are working 60 hours a week and the next day they are at home with too much time on their hands. This sudden transition is not good for workers' health or family lives,'' Shorten says.
He says any worker doing shift work, or working long hours, needed time to adapt before retiring. "Workers approaching retirement are about to undergo a major life change that affects their income and spending patterns, as well as their leisure time, sleeping patterns and attitude.''
He said the union had a role to play to minimalise the stressfulness of retirement by taking a smarter approach to working hours. "We will seek to put a clause in every work agreement that allows employees approaching retirement to scale back their shift work.''
The Smart Hours Campaign, which was preceded by Campaign 2000, also promotes better wages and conditions in the manufacturing industries. The Campaign involves up to 1000 manufacturing companies and workplaces whose enterprise bargaining agreements expire early next year.
Key bargaining issues include securing:
� Improved Wages
� Safer working Hours
� Fair Superannuation increases
� Paid Education leave
� Consultation prior to major changes or termination
� Better conditions and entitlements for Casual employees
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Issue 157 contents
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