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Issue No. 160 08 November 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

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.

F E A T U R E S

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.

N E W S

 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

C O L U M N S

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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News

Nurses Gear Up for Aged Care Action


NSW nurses want Australians to �Think Pink� on Thursday, November 21, in a bid to boost funding for elderly care.

The nurses are urging federal government to meet its responsibility to elderly Australians in fulltime care and have nominated November 21 as a day of statewide action.

They will wear bright pink embellishments to their uniforms in an effort to draw attention to a crisis caused by under-funding; a lack of accountability for public monies; and growing wage disparities between aged care and public hospital nurses.

Nurses Association secretary Brett Holmes says conditions for aged care residents and nurses have plummeted since the Howard Government came to power in 1996.

"There is chronic under-staffing with the result that nurses cannot take industrial action in the way you and I understand it," Holmes told Labor Council delegates.

"Instead, nurses will take part in a range of pink activities to draw attention to the problem and they need community support.

"We all know about the drastic shortage of nurses in the acute public sector but, let me tell you, it is much worse in aged care. It is not a sexy industry to be in and I hope nobody here has to go there but we have to work towards a system that respects all our loved ones."

Nurses will launch a wage-parity petition as part of their campaign.

A significant problem for the Nurses Association has been the ability of Government, as aged-care funder, to hide behind the skirts of a range of immediate employers, from private enterprise providers to charity.

A primary purpose of November 21 activities will be to smoke Government out and force it to defend declining real funding levels.


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