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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.
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.
 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
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.
Costello's Mad Plan
Bravo Costa!
Deck Chairs on the Titanic
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News
P&O’s Shame as Inspector Banned
The International Transport Federation has condemned the banning of its Australian-based coordinator, Dean Summers, from foreign-registered Ships of Shame berthed at P&O docks.
The Maritime Union of Australia has called on P&O to immediately lift the ban on the ITF inspector and allow him to proceed unhindered in his inspection of ships during this ITF Week of Action in Australia and the South Pacific.
The ITF Week of Action targets the notorious Ships of Shame for inspections. Prior to the P&O ban, it was expected that some 100 ships would be inspected at Australian ports this week. In the past, these inspections have uncovered cases of gross underpayment of crews and exposed some shocking cases of dangerous rust-bucket flag of convenience vessels described as floating time bombs.
The P&O ban was sparked by attempts by Dean Summers to inspect the foreign-registered flag of convenience ship, ANL Excellence, following reports of the Pacific Island crew being paid low wages. Dean Summers was also concerned for the crew's welfare. The German captain of the vessel refused to cooperate with the ITF inspection and shortly after Mr Summers was informed by P&O that he was banned from entering ships berthed at its ports.
"P&O told me that they were reacting to complaints by 'clients' but refused to say who they were", Summers says. "This ban is a complete break from past practices.
"This ITF Week of Action has been incredibly successful in the past in exposing all kinds of rip-offs of crews by Ships of Shame. ANL has a sorry record in this regard and only recently had to settle after we intervened on behalf of the crew of the ANL Progress when they complained of being paid lower wages than they were entitled to".
Summers remains concerned for the Kiribati crew of the ANL Excellence. Summers is the ITF's National Coordinator for Australia and Kiribas. "I'm keen to find out what they are hiding from us and we also want to know why P&O is conspiring with the Ships of Shame to ban the ITF from what we believe could be an attempted cover-up", he said.
Protests in Queensland
Meanwhile, Queensland unions Queensland Unions have condemned the impending arrival at the Port of Brisbane of a notorious 'ship of shame', following the direct intervention of the Federal Minister for Transport, John Anderson.
The MV Stadacona, owned by flag-of-convenience operator Canadian Steamship Lines, was last month denied a licence to ply Queensland waters by the state government.
However this decision was overturned by the Federal Minister for Transport, setting a dangerous precedent of intrusion by a federal government into the maritime affairs of Queensland.
"The contrast between the approaches of the Beattie and Howard governments to Australian Shipping could not be starker," Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Grace Grace says.
"While the Queensland Government puts the interests of Australian workers ahead of the commercial interests of a foreign corporation, the Howard government is prepared to aid and abet a flag-of-convenience outfit whose employees pay no income tax and yet ply our waters at the expense of local workers."
"It's obvious that Howard government is prepared to flout its own immigration laws in its obsession with pursuing the maritime unions and their members."
Grace says the foreign crew of the Stadacona have no immigration visas allowing them to enter Australian territorial waters. It defies belief that in these times of heightened security concerns, they are not subjected to background checks.
Unions and community groups picketed the Stadacona on Thursday as the ship berthed at Bulk Terminals wharf, Fishermans Island.
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Issue 161 contents
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