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Issue No. 157 18 October 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

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.

F E A T U R E S

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.

N E W S

 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

C O L U M N S

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.

L E T T E R S
 Talking Frankly
 Memo to Junior
 Defence Signals
 Pandora's Box on Prayer?
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Woolies in Redundancy Fight


Forty-one female Australian Services Union members facing redundancy have taken Woolworths to the Industrial Relations Commission over a shocking display of discrimination by the retail giant.

The ASU says this is a total reversal of the situation in May when, despite the eight weeks redundancy pay stipulated in the Award; workers were paid up to 40 weeks.

"Earlier this year Woolworths negotiated a deal with its distribution staff and paid them up to 40 weeks pay," says ASU Secretary Michael Want.

"Now when it's time to pay their Finance Department staff they are refusing to negotiate beyond the 20 weeks stipulated in the Award."

"How can the company possibly argue that the male employees require more redundancy then the female staff?" Want says.

"If the company will not budge we will be taking this dispute to the Anti-Discrimination Board. We have had advice from the Board that Woolworths' action could be discriminatory and we will act on this."

Woolworths is shifting its accounts department to Tasmania and the women, some with more than 30 years of service, feel they have been "thrown on the scrapheap".

"They spout all these words about being an equal opportunity employer - well, let's see it in action," says ASU member Roslyn Stanborough, who is being short-changed by $12,000. "After 17 years with the company, its pretty shabby treatment."


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