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A Dry Argument
It�s interesting to watch the way the mainstream media has handled the devastating drought that has laid waste much of rural New South Wales.
Interview: Life After Keating
Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd looks at the world and wonders what might have been ...
Industrial: That Friday Feeling
Anthony Stavropoulos has been working six days a week for the last eight years and now he wants his weekends back. �Remember that Friday feeling?� he asks. �You just don�t get that anymore.�
Bad Boss: Begging to Work
They may put themselves about as the Saints of the Fourth Estate, but bosses at the Big Issue Magazine have been nominated by their own vendors for this month�s Tony award.
Organising: Project Pilbara
Sydney University�s Bradon Ellem reports on how unions are bouncing back in Rio territory
Unions: Off the Rails
The Federal Government is attempting to turn NSW Railways into a political football with a proposal that threatens the safety of freight and passenger trains in NSW and life in our rail Towns, writes Phil Doyle.
International: Brazil Turns Left
Union stalwarts throughout the American hemisphere are cheering the election of Lula � the peanut seller and shoeshine boy, turned union leader - who has been elected as the first working-class President of Brazil.
Environment: Brown Wash
Stuart Rosewarn argues the Johannesburg Sunmmit was a gripping showcase of Australia�s lack of a strategic vision.
History Special: Learning from the Past
Ray Markey looks at union membership growth in the 1880s & 1900s to argue that today�s unions must engage to grow.
Corporate: Will the Bullying Backfire?
Job insecurity, unemployment, a growing gap between rich and poor, massive global poverty and environmental danger are the big issues for the protests at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Sydney.
Technology: Danger Lurks For The Passive
If unions fail to exploit opportunities on the web to gain members, other organisations are likely to fill the void and provide services to workers on the internet.
History: In Labour�s Image
Neale Towart looks at a long-overdue initiative to around NSW through the eyes of the workers.
Politics: Without Power Or Glory
South Coast contributor Rowan Cahill gives his take on the Cunningham by-election result.
History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship'
Barbara Webster looks at Rockhampton between 1916 � 1957 to debunk the �dependence� theory of trade union growth.
Culture: Blood Stains the Wattle
Former Queensland Treasurer Keith De Lacey has turned up in print with a rollicking tale of life during the famous Mt Isa strike of the 60s.
Satire: Iraq Pre-empts Pre-emptive Strike
Saddam Hussein has launched a pre-emptive strike on the United States to prevent it from pre-emptively striking Iraq first.
Poetry: The Executive Pay Cut
Executives accepting pay freezes, or even pay cuts? This outrageous proposal has been put on the table by some capitalists themselves, and taken up by our bard.
Review: Time Out
When a family man invents a new life after losing his steady job, Tara de Boehmler watches his charade escalate until there is no turning back.
 African Immigration Scam Widens
Unions in New Economy Breakthrough
Water Workers Told to Stay Home
Rural Campaign Against Rail Carve-Up
Seven's Deadly Sin: Email Access Denied
Vic Election: It�s Bracks �v- Jeff junior
Aboriginal Health Workers Denied Minimum Wage
Zookeepers Settle But Pay Stink Continues
Nurses Gear Up for Aged Care Action
Stoppage Over Rubbish Protection
Nurses Care For Themselves Too
New Roster Undermines WA Prison Security
Strike Rocks Israel
ICFTU: Japan No Workers� Paradise
STOP PRESS: Libs Plan $70m Arts Heist
Activist Notebook
Month In Review
War and Pieces of Work
The Bali Tragedy dominated the news this month, leaving many questioning the motive and wondering if this is fallout from Australia�s unquestioning support of George Dubya�s �War On Terror�. The Soapbox
Beware of Greeks Bearing Historical Allusions
Roland Stephens argues that the current popular line that the USA is a modern day version of the Roman Empire is flawed. The Locker Room
Over The Fence Is Out
Phil Doyle warms up for another season of hard hitting and fast bowling in the park, making the rules up as he goes along. Indigenous
The Sea of Hands
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation are five years old. Spokeswoman Dameeli Coates addressed labor Council to mark the event. Postcard
Tokyo Youth Call
Tokyo unions are relying on young organisers to infiltrate workplaces as part of a major organising campaign, which focuses on non-unionised companies, reports Mary Yaager. Bosswatch
Still Crazy After All These Years
With new research suggests CEO carry similar personality traits to psycho-paths, the AGM season is proving that there�s little room for logic in our nation�s board rooms.
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Editorial
A Dry Argument
It�s interesting to watch the way the mainstream media has handled the devastating drought that has laid waste much of rural New South Wales.
The farmers are portrayed as the heroes of this tragedy, victims of forces beyond their control, ignoring their own contribution through salinity and soil erosion; while glossing over our collective responsibility for global warming. This, we are told, is an act of God.
The farmers receive our compassion, our sympathy and our charity. We raise millions through glossy funds that talk of turning back rivers with the proceeds of Telstra, and distribute millions more through government funding that we never refer to as welfare.
But today's farmers are businessmen first and foremost. They are also employers. And it seems to us that it is not the farmers but the rural workers who have become the silent victims of this drought.
Workers like the 125 Murray Irrigation employees being told to stay at home are not isolated examples. As the water dries up so does the work, leaving families with nothing but the dole.
As for seasonal workers, when there is no crop to pick there is no work, no safety net, not even a face to put to this breed of drought victim
And when things are tight rural workers are forced to take risks, working on dodgy projects like the water tower that collapsed under sensational circumstances at Lake Cargellico; or forced to undertake untried or irregular processes like the transfer of grain from a silo which claimed a farm hand's life this week.
As the drought continues the pressure on rural workers will only get greater, human tragedies going beyond the ability to turn a profit for a year to more basic struggles like putting food on the table.
Governments at all levels need to look beyond the clich�s of drought to chart its full impact on rural communities.
To its credit, the Carr Government in NSW has recognised the plight of rural workers. To its disgrace, the Howard Government continues to regard the bush as farmers first, second and third.
It should not surprise anyone that it is the trade union movement that is left to stand up for rural workers in times of drought. A movement born of the shearing shed is filling the leadership vacuum created by the directionless National Party.
The challenge for all of us who care about equity is to ensure that the real battlers of the bush become the focus for any relief efforts.
Peter Lewis
Editor
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