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Issue No. 159 | 01 November 2002 |
Why The User Should Pay
Interview: Life After Keating Industrial: That Friday Feeling Bad Boss: Begging to Work Organising: Project Pilbara Unions: Off the Rails International: Brazil Turns Left Environment: Brown Wash History Special: Learning from the Past Corporate: Will the Bullying Backfire? Technology: Danger Lurks For The Passive History: In Labour�s Image Politics: Without Power Or Glory History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship' Culture: Blood Stains the Wattle Satire: Iraq Pre-empts Pre-emptive Strike Poetry: The Executive Pay Cut Review: Time Out
Deadly �Slave Labour� Racket Exposed Zoo Workers Buck Indecent Proposal Cabinet Takes Stick To Abbott's Carrot Cyber Action Behind Hilton Win City Workers To Help Country Cousins Government Grounds Ansett Levy TAB Workers Winners as Cup Strike Averted Aussie Post Gets Mail On Sick Leave Council Backs Community Radio Venture Workers Out! Conference Opens In Sydney Aussie Union Rep Power, Yes Please: TUC
Month In Review The Soapbox The Locker Room Indigenous Postcard Bosswatch
More Bali Feed Back Clean Election Laws Now! And Now, Some Fan Mail! Policy Vacuum Tom's Postscript
Labor Council of NSW |
Tool Shed Wisdom of Solomon
In desperation, Solly has taken on Lynton Crosby's PR firm to push poll shareholders with underpaid backpackers working out of a call centre in Artarmon. They are phoning the estimated 560 000 shareholders of Coles Myer as part of a multi-million dollar campaign to keep his seat on the board of the retail giant. "The work is shite, but at least it's pretty easy,' one backpacker was reported as saying in the [I] Financial Review. [/I] Despite the spin-doctor's efforts to stop the smell, Solly's history is coming home to roost, which makes the member of the Business Review Weekly's wealthiest 200 list's effort to paint himself as 'the friend of the little guy' all the more pathetic. His effort to save his seat on the board has all the hallmarks of a slick political campaign, complete with the usual fertiliser. Like John Brogden, he's prepared to run around and tell anyone want they want to hear in order to grab their vote. Some media reports have the one time rag merchant shelling out over $10 million in publicity. His call to re-introduce the Shareholders Discount Card is another gimmick, as it would be unlikely to succeed at the board level. There is also some confusion over what Lew's position was when the generous scheme was terminated back in March. Similarily his charge against overpaid executives reeks of no small amount of hypocrisy, given his own remuneration during times when retail staff at Coles Myer have faced the sack. And how could we all forget when Solly threatened to save Ansett jobs, before he took his bat and ball and went home. Now he wants shareholders to forget the controvertial Coles Myer-Yannon deals, which ended up costing shareholders $18 million, and was seen as a hangover from the excesses of the eighties and nineties. There must have been great sighs of relief around Coles Myer when an Australian Securities and Investments Commission inquiry recommended no prosecutions. The inquiry lasted four years and raised eyebrows across the big end of town when no suggestion of impropriety was found. Those opposed to Solly keeping his seat on the board at Coles Myer point to his numerous other business interests and their transactions with the Coles Myer company. In the 2000-01 Lew companies supplied Coles Myer goods worth $63 million, down from $75 million a year earlier. Lew, as an old retailer, should know that, regardless of the propriety of such transactions, it's the perception that can bring you undone. Coles Myer is Australia's biggest private-sector employer, with more than 160,000 employees on its books. The group includes the Coles supermarket chain, Myer, Grace Bros, Target, Kmart, Officeworks and Harris Technologies. All of this talk of millions here and millions there must be re-assuring to the tens of thousands of retail workers who face the axe as the company gears up for yet another round of 'restructuring'. It's just a pity there isn't a corporate player out there who can't show as much commitment to the staff that make the profits, rather than the shareholders that reap the rewards.
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