The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 158 25 October 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

The Sirens' Song
There is nothing for trade unionists to celebrate from Labor�s loss in the Cunningham by-election.

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

 Email Use Sparks Pay Claim

 Melbourne Cup Strike Threat

 10,000 Rally in Support of Kingham

 Negligent Bosses Labelled �Serial Killers�

 Ambulance Officers Win $6 Million Back-Pay

 Strike Pay to Bali Appeal

 Boral Bosses Bag Bulk Bucks

 Bid to Block New ACCC Chief

 Cuts Equals Profits for ANZ

 First Takers for 36-Hour Week

 IT Outsourcing Agencies Called To Account

 Pay to Work Spreads to Hornsby

 Howard Opens Waters to Rogue Ship

 Work a Suicide Factor

 Unis Drop RDO Assault

 Boxes of Books for Good Causes

 Activist 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
 Heaps of Bali Feedback
 Brooklyn Phil Says ...
 Here Comes the WTO
 From Little Finks ...
 The Mouth From the South!
 Ushering the Rusted Shield
 Echoes of DLP
WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch



News

Strike Pay to Bali Appeal


CPSU members at Tony Abbott�s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations have called for the pay from their half-day strike to be donated to the victims of the Bali tragedy.

Staff, who have been locked in negotiations with DEWR management over a stalled EBA, last week deferred strike action after the events in Bali

Sticking points include access to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission for individual staff members, cuts to remote localities assistance for staff in Darwin, Townsville and Cairns, and a pay offer that is below the Australian Public Service standards.

"We will be approaching the department to ask them to contribute to the Bali fund and give the wages to those who are suffering most," says Geoff Baker from the CPSU of the initiative, which came from rank and file CPSU members at DEWR.

The CPSU action was very successful, particularly in regional locations, with staff walking off the job around the country.

Hundreds of staff joined in a sausage sizzle and rally outside the department's head office in central Canberra. Many CPSU members enjoyed a game of 'pin the pay rise on the Boxall' (named after departmental head Peter Boxall) at the well-supported rally.

"Those at the workplace relations end particularly enjoy practicing industrial relations," says Baker. "Everybody that took part enjoyed it very much."

After the strike action DEWR have signalled that they are interested in talking to the CPSU as soon as possible.

"The CPSU is now looking forward to resuming productive negotiation," says Baker. "It will be interesting to see where it moves from here."

CPSU Maternity Win in Territory

Meanwhile, the CPSU has also welcomed the Northern Territory Government's decision to increase paid maternity leave entitlements to 14 weeks for all women working for the NT public service.

The decision by Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin sets a new national benchmark for public sector maternity leave provisions in Australia.

ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said he hoped the Federal Government and other States would follow the NT Government's lead in providing 14 weeks paid maternity leave.

"The Northern Territory Government should be congratulated for setting the pace on paid maternity leave entitlements in Australia," says Combet.

"Balancing work and family commitments is a critical issue for most employees. All working women should have access to 14 weeks paid maternity leave as a basis for building family friendly workplaces."


------

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 158 contents



email workers to a friend printer-friendly version latest breaking news from labornet


Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/158/news6_dewr.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET