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Issue No. 161 15 November 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

From New Labor to True Labor
Holroyd Council�s commitment to labour rights, embodied in the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the NSW Labor Council this week, is a ground-breaking commitment by a leader in this important tier of government.

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

 Worker Rights Battle Goes Local

 Scourers Face Q-Fever Risk

 Suncorp Feels Heat Over Candid Camera

 Living Wage Claim Not Enough?

 African Chefs Claim Visa Abuse

 Bushfire Volunteers Pay Heavy Price

 Win in Battle For Tea Break Rights

 Reith Adviser Plots New Era of Lawlessness

 Kinko�s Workers Win Copybook Campaign

 Sparks Fly as Build A Life Rolls On

 Rail Towns Fight For Jobs

 Win For Aboriginal Health Workers

 Safety Crisis in Detention Centres

 Miners Take Up Westfund Cudgels

 Wine Workers Go the Full Bottle

 Performers Close to National Deal

 Blair Caught in Industrial Fire Storm

 Nurses Call Public Into The Pink On Aged Care

 Environmental Research Washed Away

 P&O�s Shame as Inspector Banned

 WTO Must Incorporate Labor Rights

 STOP PRESS: Esso Is To Blame

 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.

L E T T E R S
 Costello's Mad Plan
 Bravo Costa!
 Deck Chairs on the Titanic
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Tool Shed

An Itinerant Tool


Victorian Liberal casualty Robert Dean has resolved doubts about his correct address by taking up residence in the Tool Shed.

*****************

Tools come in many shapes and sizes but just when you think you've gone through the range, there's someone else out there to surprise you. Move over super-tool and mega-tool, Workers Online introduces the incomparable, unsurpassable Robert Dean, fresh out of Parliament and, without doubt, a bloody big spanner in the Liberal Party works.

Most people are ambivalent about a stint in the Tool Shed but Dean has positively beaten down the door to demand admission. Just for the fun of it, let's recap.

Forty eight hours ago, Robert Dean as shadow treasurer, was a pivotal figure in Robert Doyle's bid to wrest state government away from Steve Bracks. He got there by dint of a messy pre-selection win in the seat of Gembrook and the clinical stalking of finance predecessor, Robert Clarke.

So far, so good? Wrong.

Dean, a doctor of law and close personal friend of Doyle, had made a balls-up of mammoth proportions. In order to win pre-selection, he had rented a house in working class Berwick, apparently, without any intention of moving in. He did, however, enrol there, for obvious reasons.

Comfortably ensconsed in his real home in the leafy outer-suburbs he was blissfully unaware of correspondence between the real occupier of his stated address in Gardiner St, Berwick, and the state's electoral commission. Essentially, this amounted to forms and reminders to the absent one which, understandably, were returned with explanations that Dean was "not known at this address".

Thus, it came to pass, that weeks out from polling day the forgetful Dr Dean found that, not only was he ineligible to contest the state election but he didn't even have the right to cast a ballot.

Media outlets took the greatest pleasure in interviewing Gardiner St residents about their phantom political neighbour and would-be MP.

One, who had been there for 28 years, said he had never seen any sign of Dr Dean in the street. Present occupants of his claimed residence told the Sydney Morning Herald they had "never heard of the guy".

Dean, who entered Parliament 10 years ago, stands to lose a $60,000 pension for life but the stakes for one-time buddy Doyle are much higher.

Doyle put a brave face on it, telling the electorate he had sought Dean's resignation - entirely redundant in the circumstances, but no doubt designed to bolster his image as a tough leader.

His claims to be a sound manager, however, have frayed more than somewhat. Besides which, he now faces the tasty prospect of running with the candidate defeated by his man in the original Gembrook pre-selection, not to mention resuscitating Clark to the key finance spokesmanship, barely three months after overseeing his demise.

Former Victorian Premier and Liberal hardliner, Jeff Kennett, was not best pleased. He described the incident as a "f-up".

Dean can mull over the question of where he really lives during his week in the toolshed.



Show Us YOUR TOOL!

The most inspiring interpretation of this week's tool get's a souvenir edition of Ship of Tools. Deface the Tool of the Week, click the button above to post your artwork, fill out the form and send your entry in and we'll post the winners next week in the Tool of the Week Gallery.

 
 

Ship of Tools - All the tools in one shed!

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