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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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Letters to the Editor

Deck Chairs on the Titanic


The Republicans did not "win" this election 2002- the Democrats "gave it away"! When you have 2 parties so close in "core" philosophies, all else becomes window dressing to the voters. For years, progressive Democrats like Kuchinich of Ohio (he should be our next President) and McDermott of Washington and but a handful of others, have been tugging at the sleeves of the current DLC and national Democratic leaders. They have been literally pleading for a party platform of "substance" over hype. A platform of real positions and plans for a fairer America: Federal and Statewide Clean

Election laws, finally ending the corrupting process of "money talks or you don't walk"; real healthcare reform, not the sell-out offer of prescription drug plans for seniors. What the Democrats should have been trumpeting for years was Universal Medicare for all Americans. Goodness, even the majority of physicians are willing to accept it! Meanwhile the DLC should have hounded the Bushes on the criminal corporate rip-offs of average American investors. Chaney's "closed door" national energy policy meetings with Enron, the lead culprit in the scandal, should have brought this administration to face an impeachment order. (Alas, too many skeletons in the Democratic corporate donation closet, so that idea was squashed before it even gained momentum.)

Remember the recent Patriot Act and the soon to be preemptive war with Iraq (the most perilous international action this nation will take since Vietnam, mark my words)? Most mainstream Democrats walked lockstep with Bush on it. I recall the Missouri Senate debate last week. I saw, to my disgust, Sen. Carnahan "reciting" proudly, how she "stood behind my President on the resolution regarding Iraq". How she "voted many times with this administration". Yet, it was the Green candidate who spoke of a "war about oil, nothing more" and the need for Nat'l Healthcare for all, not just the very wealthy and very poor. He was the only candidate to call for a halt to this obscene overflow of money in campaigns; the only candidate calling for public funding of all elections. By the way, when Democrats and Republicans protest vehemently how "I am against using hard earned taxpayer dollars to pay for my campaign'; remember that public funding of State elections would cost each taxpayer approximately 3 bucks per election year. Federal public funding about 5 bucks per election year- that's not even every year!!

The only hope for this nation is the following scenario to play out: - Millions of Americans must bombard the DLC demanding that the above stated ideas be supported or the Democrats lose their vote. We need millions of such calls and letters-now! - Once the party leadership agrees to become more progressive, they can use their money, usually spent foolishly on hot button phony issues, to " educate' the American public on what is really going on. To explain how 1% of the population controls 85% of our wealth. To explain the many trillions the "war economy" corporations receive in taxpayer dollars.

Finally, the DLC, made up (hopefully) of true progressives (and not the hacks), should pinpoint 2 or 3 key concerns and focus entirely on them, rather than being all over the place. Imagine if there was a concerted effort by the mainstream Democratic party to educate the public while demanding universal Medicare for all Americans? Once the general public realizes that national health care is not a free ride - rather everyone contributes according to ones income (like FICA), many would see the merit vs. this current failed "privatized" system.

Imagine if the same were done for Clean Election laws? How many of you reading this actually know how the nation's model, the Maine Clean Election Law, actually works? My point: we Americans are not "stupid", just purposely misinformed (or not at all) by the media in cahoots with this "One Party" system. If they do not want something, then you and I do not hear about it properly, over airwaves that we the people actually own!

Finally, as Pogo said: "we have met the enemy and he is us". The "nine to five" working folk, who by the way make up the MAJORITY of the voting pool, are foolish, to say the least. Few out there investigate, or question, or seek out options. They watch the corporate owned media and accept the garbage passed as news. The same media determines (what arrogance!) what "issues" voters are concerned about. I guess they do not have problems paying their health care costs. I guess they do not see how difficult it is to run for office while working full time and earning less than a million or two a year.

In the recent Statehouse race in my district (Florida), the winner spent over two million dollars and her opponent $600,000 - for a job that pays less than $100,000 per year. Would any sane businessperson invest two million (or $600K) on a business that earns less than $100K a year? Finally, if we still had a military draft, how many parents of 17 and 18 and 21 year old young men would "line up behind my President"? Isn't it time for the working stiffs, and retired working stiffs, and poor working stiffs, to demand a better life?

When the ship of state is "going down" don't rearrange the deck chairs- get a bloody life preserver!!

Philip A Farruggio

Brooklyn


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