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The Reverend Fred says the chador, the headscarf worn by Islamic women, could be used to hide explosives and is a perfect disguise for terrorists concealing weapons. He has called for the scarf to be banned in public places such as shopping centres and the Opera House.
In these militaristic times it's not surprising that the paranoia levels are hitting the top end of the Richter Scale, but Fred's loopy assertion has gone right off the end of the meter. His comments will fuel racial tension in this country and give a green light to those brave individuals that like to abuse women wearing the chador.
Thankfully, Premier Bob Carr had the wit to recognise that women going about their daily lives are not at the forefront of the terrorist threat.
The Independent Education Union called on Fred Nile to resign while Islamic leaders want an apology.
Dick Shearman, secretary of the union representing teachers in Christian, Islamic and Jewish schools, labelled Rev Nile's comments "a disgrace that does not befit a Member of Parliament."
"There is nothing Christian about this attitude; it is divisive and plays into the hands of extremists. All Australians should be appalled by this attitude - this is stuff from the fringe."
The Christian Democrat MLC remained unapologetic.
"This is not Iran where you don't have free speech," Reverend Nile said. No doubt he will next be calling for all those that support wearing the chador to get back to Iran where they belong.
The Reverend Fred came to prominence during his days with the Festival of Light, a rabid "Christian" group that spread their peculiar form of misery - consistently opposing such demonic institutions as Sydney's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with a prayer vigil. Nile is also on the record backing other discredited beliefs such as creationism and homosexuality being a "disease" that can be "cured".
As Fred's no-brainer continues the process of dismantling religious freedom, or at least limiting it to a certain brand of muscular Christianity, no doubt the usual ratbag element will be cheering from the sidelines.
To illustrate how Nile's comments provoke extremists in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard showed great leadership by saying that he had no opinion on the statement. "Fred speaks for the views of a lot of people," Mr Howard said.
Why stop at the chador? Those Catholics have always been a bit suss - after all many of them have sympathies with Irish Nationalist groups. That Sikh bus driver may not be so innocent after all, eh Fred? And what about the Buddhists? What's under the orange robes, eh?
So now we have the warrior-priest off to fight the crusades right here in sunny Sydney.
This is why we need leadership that can bring Australians together, rather than tearing them apart. Sadly that leadership is lacking. As a result we end up with the "my god can beat up your god" rhetoric that most of the secular world has spent 500 years trying to escape.
One wonders at the depths of ignorance and the darkness of a heart that would lead a "Christian" to stoop to this sort of vilification. The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney Robert Forsythe summed it up pretty well: "I think all Christians are embarrassed when other Christians say things that are unhelpful like that".
The outbreak has sparked calls for a reform for safety laws, with the disease currently recognised as a hazard for meatworkers but not for workers in the textile industry.
The concerns follows confirmation that 16 out of 25 staff at Riverina Wollcombing, which cleans and processes greasy wool, had tested positive for Q-fever.
Contracted from exposure with animal spit, urine and blood, Q-fever has symptoms similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. However, in people with existing heart and liver conditions it can create a fatal reaction.
It has been recognised a hazard in abattoirs since the 1930s when it first appeared in Australia at a Brisbane meatworks.
But the latest outbreak highlights the durability of the disease, which can live for more than six months on animal skin.
The workers, members of the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union and the Australian Workers Union, had been requesting screening for the disease since 1995.
Following the outbreak they are now demanding:
- WorkCover conduct an urgent health assessment of the workplace, including screening of the remaining 175 workers and their families.
- State wide testing of all wool plants and consideration of an immunisation program for wool workers
- Recognition of Q fever as an occupational disease for all wool processing workers, placing them on the same footing as meatworkers
For more details on Q-fever click here
http://www.unionsafe.labor.net.au/hazards/103785973520925.html
The Transport workers Union is running a special award test case in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to win 100 percent protection of entitlements across their industry.
Unlike federal awards, state awards cover all industry employers, meaning a benchmark could be established that would enable other unions to flow the provision across the economy.
Reporting on the union's industrial campaign, secretary Tony Sheldon, said short, sharp stoppages by 7000 transport workers had already delivered $18 weekly increases without trade-offs. Sheldon said the failure of Governments to adequately protect entitlements continued to rob workers of $456 million every year.
The TWU will argue that employers should have a "positive obligation" to protect entitlements, including redundancy money, through either a bank guarantee, a trust account or an underwritten insurance policy.
Labor Council is backing the TWU claim and will investigate how it can best be supported at a meeting of affiliated unions.
The site was launched at a meeting of more than 500 safety delegates at Penrith this week, where the CFMEU�s Brian Miller was honoured for his lifetime commitment to workplace safety.
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The delegates were briefed by NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca and WorkCover general manager Kate McKenzie on the impact of new health and safety regulations which came into force in September.
Under changes:
- elected safety representatives have a right to be involved in risk assessment at their workplace.
- safety representatives can also Safety Correction Notices that can be used in prosecutions against employers where they fail to comply.
- representatives will also receive pay for the time they spend discharging their duties
The Unionsafe site - at http://www.unionsafe.labor.net.au is designed to give delegates a one-stop shop to discharge their responsibilities. It will be upfdated with news and information regularly and includes an online help desk and discussion boards.
Bully-Busting
Labor Council secretary John Robertson says unions will focus on bullying as a major area of concern for workers across a range of industries.
"For the first time, the health and safety regulations include provisions for psychological hazards, such as bullying by managers or fellow workers," Robertson says.
"Workplace safety representatives now have enhanced rights to raise safety issues and Labor Council will be encouraging them to target bullying."
The Labor Council has produced new guidelines for dealing with workplace bullying including:
- identifying workplace bullies
- raising bullying with employers
- model workplace bullying policies
- and a workplace bullying checklist.
These are available online at: http://unionsafe.labor.net.au/delegates/index_10.html
"All workers deserve the opportunity to carry out their work free from intimidation and harassment," Robertson says.
"Unions will use their new powers to encourage delegates to tackle the issue head-on and create a more harmonious workplace for everyone."
Brian Miller Honoured
Meanwhile, Labor Council has recognised 46 years of commitment to workplace safety with a lifetime achievement award to OH&S watchdog, Brian Miller. John Della Bosca made the presentation at today's UnionSafe conference.
Miller, who started work as an apprentice cabinet maker in 1956, didn't take long to demonstrate his activist credentials. He was at the centre of a big strike at McDonalds Construction Matraville Paper Mills then, on his first day at nearby ICI Matraville, was elected BWIU union rep and found himself in the middle of a four-week strike over accident pay.
As a BWIU organiser he was active in the ground-breaking 1973 campaign that delivered portable long service entitlements to workers in the industry.
But it was as the CFMEU's widely-respected safety guru that Miller made his biggest mark. He was a central player in making safety the priority issue for a union operating in one of the country's most dangerous industries.
One of his responsibilities, as CFMEU safety co-ordinator, is leading investigations after workers lose their lives. He was at Lake Cagellico and BHP Newcastle within hours of highly-publicised recent accidents.
But his reputation has been built on the unknown number of lives his work has saved.
The successful Safety Field Day Committee, bringing together building industry employers and unions, was a Miller initiative. Ten years down the track he still chairs an organisation that has convinced employers of the need for a more proactive approach to OH&S and injects a major safety message into the annual industry expo, with a stand featuring the latest in safety equipment and materials.
Miller has worked hard to build understanding of the threats posed by asbestos, mdf and a range of toxic substances.
Insiders say one of his biggest contributions has been enthusiastically passing on his encyclopaedic knowledge of industry hazards to other trade unionists. He has mentored relative newcomers like Tony Papa and new safety co-ordinator, Steve Keenan.
Bus drivers, members of the Transport Workers Union, have flagged the claim of between $2 and $4 per hour during the period of the international showcase event.
TWU state secretary Tony Sheldon says the Rugby World Cup would increase the pressures, demands and expectations of NSW workers and their families - particularly those in the transport sector.
"Given the international security situation, the direct threat on Australia, and the heightened international interest that will be associated with this event," Sheldon says.
"The impact on workers and their families has the potential to be even more dramatic than that expected during the Sydney Olympics"
The call follows move by the NSW Labor Council to establish a recruitment vehicle for event staff at the World Cup modelled on the successful Unions 2000 campaign, which unionised a large proportion of the Sydney 2000 workforce.
The Labor Council will call a meeting of affiliates with members affected by the Cup to consider an all of movement claim.
The Maritime Union of Australia, fighting Coalition encouragement for Ships of Shame, warns Australia is susceptible to the sort of ecological disaster threatening Spanish wildlife and fishing communities.
"This latest disaster shows the Federal Government is asking for trouble," says MUA shipping campaign co-ordinator Sean Chaffer. "We've had a series of near misses around our coast and next time we may not be so lucky.
Two months ago a 50,000 tonne Filipino bulk oil carrier ran aground on a pristine section of coral reef in the Torres Strait. In July, the oil and coal carrier, Doric Chariot and the ANL Excellence, both ran aground off the Australian coast.
Ships of Shame, flagged in tax havens like the Bahamas to evade labour, safety and tax requirements, have been implicated in terrorist threats as well as major pollution scares. Osama Bin Laden used flag of convenience vessels to attack US interests in Africa.
Often registration is only a matter of swapping faxes, without requirement for any inspection of the vessel or its owners. This documentation can be purely fictional as exposed by a British journalist who registered a non-existent vessel under the name of a known terrorist as a Cambodian flag of convenience trader, earlier this year.
Howard and Transport Minister John Anderson have authorised the wholesale arrival of these ships in Australian waters at the expense of hundreds of Australian maritime jobs.
One hundred kilometres of Spanish coastline has already been saturated in crude oil since the midweek breakup of the Greek-owned, Prestige, a typical Ship of Shame registered in the tax haven of the Bahamas.
Fear and panic was spreading amongst traditional fishing and mussel gathering communities as oil covered birds and marine life washed ashore.
Flag of Convenience shipping is tied up with the oil companies price-driven reliance on older, single hulled transporters.
Big oil companies, including Shell, BP and ExxonMobil charter ships of a similar age to the Prestige, according to statistics compiled by a London shipbroker and the British Guardian newspaper. Older ships are considerably cheaper to hire than modern ones.
This week's Flag of Convenience crisis is the latest in a long list of environmental catastrophes at sea. Some of the worst have been ...
- the Sea Empress spilling 72,000 tonnes of crude oil and 480 tonnes of heavy fuel oil across 200 km of Welsh coastline in 1996
- the Braer releasing 85,000 tonnes of crude off the Shetland Islands in 1993. Fishing for prawns and mussels was subsequently banned for years
- more than 200km of Spanish coast being affect when Greek tanker, Aegean Sea, lost 74,000 tonnes of crude in 1992
- the 1991 explosion of the ABT Summer, spilling 260,000 tonnes of crude, much of it onto Angolan shores
- 2000km of Alaskan coastline being affected by the 1989 spill of 37,000 tonnes of oil from the Exxon Valdez. Clean-up operations cost more than $30 million.
Gloria Ramirez, president of the Colombian Teachers Union, set out the statistical reality of life in her country for delegates at this week�s Labor Council meeting.
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Labor Council secretary, John Robertson has vowed to get behind the campaign for human rights in the US-supported South American country where more than 4000 trade union activists, mainly teachers and petro-chemical workers, have been murdered in the past 16 years. Arising from all those deaths, only two people have been imprisoned.
Thirty million of her country's 44 million citizens survive on less than $10 a day, and the unemployment rate is 20 percent.
Colombia has been in the grip of armed conflict for more than 40 years as successive governments try to ensure big business maintains its dominance. While its people go without, 40 percent of GDP services foreign debt and another 25 percent finances the internal war.
Efforts to change such policies see mainstream trade unionists, affiliated to peak body CUT, killed every week - 192 were assasinated, often by paramilitaries, last year.
The country has more than three million displaced persons, many like Ramirez, moving constantly in a bid to say ahead of would-be killers.
The International Labor Organisation (ILO) calls being a trade unionist in Colombia the "most dangerous occupation in the world".
Delegates gave Ramirez a standing ovation after she urged Australians to form Committees of Solidarity with the Colombian people in an effort bring external pressure to bear on the decision makers in Bogota.
National Construction Division secretary John Sutton says Justice Catherine Branson's rejection of the union's bias application against Building Industry Royal Commissioner Terence Cole is a "blow" to Australians who believe Royal Commissions should be "fair and independent".
The union had sought Cole's dismissal on the grounds of bias, or apprehended bias, after public hearings in which more than 90 percent of time was taken up by anti-union topics. Conversely, only three percent of the Commission's time dealt with subjects reflecting poorly on industry employers, despite evidence dozens of them were involved in phoenixing, tax evasion, undermining safety standards, rorting wages or employing illegal immigrants.
Even the ATO furnished evidence that tax evasion and phoenixing were widespread in the industry.
The union had argued before Justice Branson that Cole's decision to hand down an interim report with recommendations for a taskforce, before hearing union testimony, was premature and evidence he had prejudged the issues.
Sutton said the judge had made it clear in her decision that she was not ruling on the day to day conduct of the Commission or Counsel Assisting, with regard to their fairness or accuracy.
"If it is not the role of the courts to ensure that Royal commissions are fair, then whose role is it?" Sutton asked.
"It should be of concern to all Australians that some Royal Commissions, it seems, are above the ordinary law."
The Building Industry Royal Commission was established by Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Abbott, on the basis of an 11-page report he received from Employment Advocate, Jonathan Hamberger.
Hamberger made a series of allegations against building unions in that document but conceded he didn't have evidence to support them. In the course of 10 months of public hearings, the most outrageous Hamberger allegations were not even addressed by Counsel Assisting the Commission.
"The sharp increase in demand for security has seen some shonky arrangements being created by quick-buck merchants," NSW LHMU Security Union assistant secretary Mark Boyd warned.
"Some security companies - stretched to the limits - are sub-contracting their work to other groups who have nothing to do with them but are simply wearing their uniform."
The union has written to NSW Police Minister, Michael Costa, calling for urgent talks on the the security industry - especially the practice of pyramid-subcontracting.
It warns property owners and business people to check the security company they contract with is actually the company they are paying to do the work.
Pyramid-subcontracting, where a master security contractor sublets it to another security company who in turn contracts it out to a third or fourth security contract, has spread rapidly in Sydney in the wake of heightened terrorist fears.
"Each company takes a cut - so while the client pays for a premium service they often get the other end of the market," Boyd says.
"By the time you get to the end of the security chain it is often a mom-and-pop outfit who do not have the equipment, the skills or the training to do the work and they get paid very little - sometimes only $12 an hour."
Boyd said businesses and property owners should insist - and check - that all security workers keeping an eye on their workplaces are properly trained, accredited and professional security workers.
Boyd said concerns over security at Sydney Airport would also be raised with the Police Minister.
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As aged care workers wore pink for a day to highlight their case the NSW Nurses Association released a snapshot of eight NSW aged care facilities - three in Sydney and five in regional NSW.
They confirm the results of a number of more extensive surveys conducted by the NSWNA in recent years, finding big cuts to nursing hours, heavy and even unsafe nursing workloads, reduced staff morale and problems retaining and recruiting nurses in the sector.
At one facility in the State's Mid West, the snapshot found that 60 pre cent of the 'hostel' residents are bed bound and should be in a facility that provides high care.
At another facility in the State's south east one registered nurse now has to run the hostel because of the number of high care residents.
The Fair Share For Aged Care campaign, included Thursday's state-wide Pink Day of Action tomorrow.
"Traditionally being "in the pink' means being in good health and the campaign, including the Day of Action, is aimed at restoring the NSW aged care system to good health after years of deregulation and nursing cuts," Nurses general secretary Brett Holmes says.
"Of special concern is the growth in the number of high care or nursing home residents now living in what used to be called hostels," Holmes says.
"This is a result of the Federal Government's 'ageing in place' policy, which allows people to stay in a low care facility even though they now require high care.
"Many of these facilities do not employ registered or enrolled nurses or if they do they have relatively few."
NSWNA members at nearly 400 aged care facilities joined the Pink Day of Action and wearing something pink, including badges, ribbons, t-shirts and even stockings and hair.
Nurses held community information events, collected signatures on a massive petition, seeking improved funding for aged care, to be presented to the Federal Parliament next year.
The national petition aims to collect at least one million signatures - more than the 900,000 collected by the breweries over the impact of the GST on beer.
The most significant aspects of the policy include Labor's commitment to reintroduce the Outworkers Protection, Federal Awards (Uniform System) and Child Employment Bills to State Parliament if re-elected.
VTHC secretary Leigh Hubbard says Labor's policy confirmed a commitment to providing fair, safe and decent workplaces for Victorian workers.
It also demonstrated a co-operative style of industrial relations management in stark contrast to the confrontational approach adopted by the Liberals.
"Why would anyone want to inflame industrial relations at a time when we are experiencing the greatest reduction in the number of working days lost as a result of industrial disputes in a decade?
"Yet this is exactly what the Liberal's are provoking when they threaten to introduce a police force into all workplaces in the State."
Mr Hubbard said it should be noted that great numbers of workers had been adversely affected by the deregulation policies of the Kennett Government in the early 1990s.
"In addition to the half a million workers who fell victim to Kennett's deregulation policies, there are up to 140,000 outworkers in Victoria being paid around $2.40 an hour.
"These workers have been neglected for far too long. The Liberal's are clearly disinterested and openly opposed to ensuring that Schedule 1A workers and outworkers achieve parity with most other workers in the state covered by federal awards."
After thousands of kilometres, a dozen town meetings and with hundreds of copies of a petition circulating rural communities, the 'Keep Our Railways Together' truck has returned to Sydney.
But Labor Council secretary John Robertson says the campaign is far from over, with the onus shifting to Macquarie Street to block John Howard's plans to transfer the track to the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
"It's been a spectacular campaign with positive coverage wherever we have been. It's a credit to all the unions involved," Robertson says.
"The message from Rail Towns is clear: one rail track under state government control."
Petitions will be circulated over the next few weeks and delivered to the Carr Government where the decision on handover rests with Treasurer Michael Egan.
Rank Xerox contractor, Compumenn, agreed to enter a union-negotiated agreement halfway through a projected 72-strike by photocopy technicians.
The workers had protested their extreme dissatisfaction on the doorsteps of clients, including City Bank, Fairfax Publishing and prestigious downtown law firms.
ASU official, Lisa Johnstone, warned Compumenn it had only bought time with its backflip.
"This is only the first step," she said, "whether or not there is more industrial action will depend on a decent wage outcome. Compumenn's opening offer was not very encouraging, it would only lift these people to the basic award."
Compumenn is a case study of how big business uses contracting out to defeat worker entitlements and drive down incomes.
Rank Xerox is party to an agreement with the ASU that provides $45,000 annual salaries for its photocopier technicians.
Compumenn pays a below-award $13.50 an hour, approximately $26,000 a year, to employees on individual contracts. While the scope of the work performed by
Compumenn staff has broadened Rank Xerox has dumped around 40 of its direct employees over the past 12 months.
But they are still threatening to do it in three weeks time.
The LHMU has meetings scheduled with the company next week where it hopes the threats will be withdrawn.
McGuigan Simeon, the fifth largest wine company in Australia, recently acquired Yaldara Winery as part of a drive to extend out of its base in the Hunter Valley.
Relationships between the old owners of Yaldara and workers had been positive but, under the NSW owners, things deteriorated, leading to the first strike in more than 50 years.
LHMU representatives, led by delegate Jason Hutchins, handed out literature explaining the Yaldara crisis at the company's Sydney shareholders meeting on Wednesday.
"We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of interest and support we got from shareholders in Sydney who stopped and chatted about our problems," South Australian state secretary Mark Butler said..
by Stuart Mackenzie
Almost 170 union and non-union staff attended a meeting this week to discuss the implications of a controversial administrative service review, which many learned of in a university newsletter.
It was one of the biggest meetings of academic and non-academic staff since the Bendigo campus was integrated as a faculty of La Trobe University in 1994, according to National Tertiary Education Union branch vice-president Mary Martin.
"It shows the level of dismay felt by staff over this administrative review and the ongoing loss of control over decision-making at the Bendigo campus," says Ms Martin.
The meeting unanimously voted against endorsing the review and called upon community leaders in Bendigo to undertake steps as necessary to retain quality university education for central and northern Victoria.
The review will examine aspects of the relationship between the Bendigo campus and La Trobe's main campus at Bundoora, Melbourne that were set out in the 1994 integration agreement between the former Bendigo College of Advanced Eduction and La Trobe University.
Many of these issues were subsequently reviewed in November 2001 in a comprehensive report on the University's regional operations that involved wide consultation with regional stakeholders.
At the time of integration Vice Chancellor Prof Michael Osborne promised that Bendigo would be an autonomous part of a larger organisation, according to Ms Martin.
"All we are demanding is that capacity to be autonomous as Prof Osborne promised," she said.
"What this administrative review does is remove that capacity and this is just one more example of decision-making occurring at a distance."
University management have strongly denied that Bendigo jobs are at risk and have said the review is intended to find ways of transferring funding from campus administration to academic departments.
However, Ms Martin said that university management could not guarantee that there would be no job losses and have said nothing is set in concrete.
Disclaimer: A relative of the reporter is an employee at La Trobe University, Bendigo.
The A.C.T. Legislative Assembly has endorsed the scheme, which combines solid legal protections with the development of an effective system to help guide concerned consumers - from ordinary shoppers up to Government Departments - in their everyday shopping choices.
Along with churches and other concerned social groups, the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (T.C.F.U.A.) has long fought against this exploitation at home -- a system of exploitation which threatens the health and family life of vulnerable outworkers who can earn as little as a mere two dollars ($2.00) per hour.
"Australian consumers with a conscience have long been concerned about exactly what lies behind the label of so many highly priced fashion garments," ACT MLA Katy Gallagher says.
"On too many occasions in the past, shoppers have been shocked to discover that textile, clothing and footwear products on the racks of swanky retail outlets have actually been made by exploited migrant women slaving away in sweatshops and in homes tucked away in our very own Australian towns and cities. "
The TCFUA has congratulated the A.C.T. Legislative Assembly for its decision to protect exploited outworkers and assist concerned consumers.
As a first step, Labor Council will write to the Prime Minister and Immigration Minister, urging reconsideration of their decision to deport up to 1400 people who have settled in Australia since the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre.
IEU official Patrick Lee said Australian hypocrisy over its nearest neighbour "knew no bounds", bringing back embarrassing memories of its acceptance of the half-island's brutal assimilation into Indonesia, whilst arguing against the acceptance of refugees on the basis that East Timorese were Portguese citizens and should, therefore, seek resettlement in Europe.
"Australia's history with East Timor over 25 years was not adequately redeemed by our military involvement over independence. Everyone knows John Howard had to be dragged screaming and kicking into that," he said.
News of the Government's move against the Timorese broke last week with revelations of letters of demand, requiring refugees to justify why they should stay. It says changes in East Timor mean no further special visas will be issued to cover these people, many of whom have built new lives for their families in Australia.
Lee, who has visited the world's newest state as an active supporter of independence, pointed out that it still confronted "debilitating" unemployment, and the infra-structural problems associated with the wholesale 1999 destruction of homes, schools, official buildings and whole villages.
WTO staff met last week and unanimously decided that the Staff Council should formulate a strong action plan that would steadily escalate. They have now begun a work-to-rule regime based on strict adherence to contracts - which includes a ban on all overtime.
The result is that there is little or no staff support for WTO Committee meetings, minimal translation and distribution of documents and frequent interruptions to computer and email systems.
The Staff Council has sent a circular to all WTO members headlined - Crisis in the WTO - and pointing out that promises of a pay review have been reneged on, as well as discussing the effect of their industrial action on Committee Members.
The circular says that an independent study has found that WTO pay is 11% behind pay at similar organisations, including the UN.
There has been no real adjustment in pay for 12 years.
Its Time to Walk Aagainst the War
Next Saturday, 30th November people from around Sydney will gather at Sydney Town Hall to show their opposition to a war in Iraq.
In October in Melbourne 45 000 people rallied against the war. In Sydney on the 30th a crowd of 20-25000 is expected to gather at Town Hall and march to the Domain for performances and speeches from many prominent Australians - all opposed to the war.
There will be speeches from ACTU President Sharan Burrows, journalist John Pilger and actor Judy Davis. Religious leaders including Bishop Pat Power and Sheikh Al Hilali will speak. The march will be lead by prominent Australian social and political leaders. In the Domain there will be performances by Jenny Morris, the Chaser (CNNNN), Leonardo's Bride and Caf� at the Gates of Salvation. The MC for the event will be actor John Howard.
WALK AGAINST THE WAR
No war on Iraq, No Australian involvement.
Saturday, 30th November, 12 noon
Sydney Town Hall and then walk to the Domain
Organised by the Walk Against the War Coalition: WAWC is a broad alliane of over 50 religious, student, trade union, community and peace groups
For more information: former senator Bruce Childs 9386 1240, Hannah Middleton 0418 668 098, Nick Everett 0409 762 081.
For more information about the peace movement subscribe to the email list: [email protected]
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Owing to the City of Sydney Licensing inspectors cracking down on venues without "Entertainment Licences" the proposed 'East Timor Women's Benefit Nite Concert' is now happening at the new location of THE PERFORMANCE SPACE Theatre, 199 Cleveland St, Redfern (between George St and Chalmers Sts, opposite Prince Albert Park, just next door to a backpackers).
People who are attending 'Politics in the Pub' first (6-7.40pm) @ 64 Devonshire St, to hear speakers on East Timor (James Dunn), West Papua (Rex Rumakik), Free Aceh Movement (Mohammed Dahlan) are advised that this event will finish 20 minutes early to allow time to walk diagonally across Prince Albert Park to The Performance Space.
We regret that no further live music (including benefit nights) are permitted in the Gaelic Club (UPSTAIRS BAR) because of the strict enforcement of 'entertainment' laws in Sydney. We have all lost a great venue that has helped many causes from Timor to Bougainville to the striking Hunter Valley Miners....to say nothing of the historic and very musical St Patrick days celebrations there...Such is life?..."Tanks for da memories Mick, Dennis and da rest..."
Please note the Friends of Maliana Benefit (Thursday November 28th) the previous Nite at Leichhardt Town Hall begins at 7pm and now includes folk performer Fred Smith between 10.30pm and 11pm.
BACK-TO-BACK BENEFIT NIGHTS FOR EAST TIMOR.....
#Thursday November 28th, 8pm, Leichhardt Town Hall, 'Friends of Maliana' Benefit Nite, "The Tekee Tokee Tomak Tour" with Solidarity Choir, Charisma, Anin Murak quartet, Multimedia works from Martin Wesley-Smith and Jazz Pieces from Morton Gould. Entry $20/$10. This event will tour to Frensham School, Mittagong, (Friday 29th November) and then Kangaroo Valley Hall (Sat. 30th November). Details Ros Dunlop (02) 9810-2253,
http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/ttttour1.html
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#Friday 29th November 6-7.40pm 'Politics in the Pub' speakers on East Timor, Aceh, West Papua, Gaelic Club 64 Devonshire St., Surry Hills, followed by "Girls in Our Town.......A Benefit for the Women of Timor" 8pm-11.30pm various performers at The Performance Space ,199 Cleveland St, Redfern (between Chalmers and George Sts).
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Nov29th Benefit...
NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE...HERE...
# Friday 29th November 8pm-11.30pm (immed. following 'Politics in the Pub')
"A Benefit for the Women of East Timor"
BOOKINGS : THE PERFORMANCE SPACE (02) 9698-7235
The Performance Space ,199 Cleveland St, Redfern (between Chalmers and George Sts). .
performers include
Rachel Hore, Zulya Kamalova, Trude Aspeling, Lemon Tarts, Jodie Catherine (poet), Colleen Burke (poet/author), Solidarity Choir, Margaret Bradford, Songket (Indonesian/World Music), Linda Campbell, Katherine Thompson (playwright/'Mavis Goes to Timor'). Details AETA 9500-1638.
Some food available and bar open. Entry.....$15/$10 for Timorese and/or conc.
All money raised will go to Kirsty Sword 'Alola Foundation' for Timorese Women.
BOOKINGS : THE PERFORMANCE SPACE (02) 9698-7235.
I have just read 'Begging to Work' by Phil Doyle.
Some time ago, at Doyle's request, I met with him at The Big issue offices when he was a delegate with Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and claiming to represent several vendors.
He had been campaigning against The Big Issue for several years prior to my appointment as Managing Director in 2000. The IWW has two Big Issue vendors as members and I have met with IWW and the members whenever requested.
Doyle knows full well that the word begging does not apply to Big Issue vendors. He rang me recently, stating he no longer represented IWW and now worked for Labornet. I explained to him in detail how The Big Issue works.
In Melbourne, our premises are provided free by Wesley Mission. Phil knows that a toilet is provided for vendors and is available to the vendors as required, except of course when being used by another vendor. It is unfortunate that Doyle portrays The Big Issue as a Bad Boss based on the statements of a vendor about the facilities provided, given that the facilities are the only ones available for The Big Issue and are provided very kindly by Wesley Mission.
Big Issue in Australia Limited is a not-for-profit organisation which publishes Australia's best-known street paper, The Big Issue. Sold on the streets by vendors, The Big Issue provides people who are socially excluded or at risk of becoming destitute - through homelessness, unemployment, family breakdown, disability, psychiatric illness, financial pressure, drugs alcohol and other addictions - the opportunity to earn an income and take steps towards social inclusion.
The street paper model is unique in that it offers excluded people an immediate means of work and income as self-employed vendors, which combined with contact with people on the streets where they sell enables them to take steps towards social inclusion. Vendors, who are having a go and seeking to positively change their lives, keep half of the cover price from each magazine sold and in six years vendors have earned more than $2.25m.
The Big Issue is sold on the streets of Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. This year we have expanded into Adelaide and Perth with the support of state governments, city councils and the business and community sectors. The magazine is an independent public affairs publication with integrity and a sense of humour. We now sell more than 15,000 magazines per edition, up from 9,000 a year ago.
Currently the magazine is campaigning for a change in Australia's electoral laws to enable homeless people to have special arrangements for enrolling to vote.
The Big Issue commenced in London in 1991 and now operates also in Australia and South Africa. It established the International Network of Street Papers which has 43 street papers as members. There are now more than 100 street papers throughout the world.
The majority of Big Issue vendors are able to make positive changes to their lives soon after commencing as vendors - earning money, meeting people, establishing new relationships, feeling part of the community, regaining self confidence and taking steps towards social inclusion. The Big Issue employs staff to support them in their endeavours.
The heading 'Begging to Work' in Workers Online is grossly misleading and an insult to all Big Issue vendors.
Bill Manallack
Managing Director
The Big Issue
Firtsly I want to say how great last weeks anti-WTO actions were. Over the course of the week thousnads of people attende rallies, demos and meetings to oppose the anti-democratic exploitation of the third world that the WTO big guns are planning. Congrats to LC, AFTINET and everyone else involved.
There are some immediate implication for our actions as active unionists however.
From the violent police response and the refusal for permits to march there are threats to our human rights.
Now Bob Carr is threatening public servants, such as teachers like myself, with dismissal if we are found to have broken their laws such as "assault police"
Many workers would know , particularly after last years workers comp blockade of parliament, that the police are more than willing to use a bit of force to pursue their ends and if you are in the way you could be under such charges.
It is interesting to note that the judicary dismissed almost all charges laid against the WTO protesters last week.
Michael Costa and Bob Carr should continue to be sent a message that the current hype of terrorism and war is no pretence for taking away the rights our brothers and sisters have won in struggle.
John Morris
In the past you have all been very helpful and supportive with my research. I was wondering if I could impose on you again to put a link or send a note to your subscribers about my new survey - which looks further into the issues of surveillance of the Internet in the workplace. It is important that many Australians contribute to this debate and it is my goal to find as many voices as possible.
The web site can be found at: http://cs1.uws.edu.au/ashs/
Best Regards
Monica Whitty
Dear Sir,
How much arrogance will the electorate suffer from these offensive clowns, before offering an election rejection?
"'Carr to Sartor' you can be MP or Mayor". Daily Telegraph, Wednesday November 6 ,2002.
The contrived brouhaha over the apparent chicanery and machinations as contrived by the power brokers in an attempt at distracting the electorate abrasive self promoters such as Frank Sartor , is arrogance unseen since Mussolini's' threat to March on Rome.
Has Frank threatened to March on Macquarie Street?
If so 'Can I come to'? , and there I will publicly burn my well known "I hate Frank Sartor Shirt", and don my sartorially more appropriate and freshly ironed Black Shirt.
While , through ignoring the unashamed arrogance to the electorate , I personally am pleased with the confidence as to his re-election and displayed by the Premier in his declaration "That he has an important position for Frank " , this statement must be sending tremors through the Unions that have had to deal with this 'ascendant shooting star' , prior to its burn out.
I also have an important position for Frank.
Underneath the Lamp post with Lili Marlene.......
Yours faithfully
Tom Collins
Those 75 years have spanned a World War, a Depression, a long, lean period in Opposition, two decades in ascendency where it seemed for a time the ACTU was part of the Executive and now another term in the political wilderness.
It survived the Depression, the Split and the Cold War, helping create an egalitarian Australian society and producing our longest-serving Labor Prime Minister.
Along the way its achievements have been significant: a 40-hour week, basic wages, leave entitlements, equal pay, superannuation, redundancy rights and the recognition of indigenous Australians.
But there have also been defeats, none more so than the way the movement managed to lose half its base at the very point where its political influence was at its greatest.
There's been another dynamic underpinning the ACTU's lifespan that reflects the broader tensions in the Australian polity between the States and Canberra.
Like the Federal Parliament, it was actually state bodies that established the ACTU, principally the Labor Council of NSW recognising the need for a unified voice for the new nation.
It's folklore that the Labor Council established the ACTU in Melbourne because if it succeeded it would be far enough away and if it failed it would be far enough away.
As Australia's Federation has strengthened, so has the ACTU's profile as the focal point of the entire union movement; until the Accord era where the man at the peak of the apex sat down with the Prime Minister to determine the wages and conditions of a nation.
But herein lies the ACTU's challenge, in an era when industrial relations has been devolved to the workplace, how can a peak national body ever be responsive to the needs of individual workers?
At its best the ACTU is at the cutting edge of the national political debate, leading the charge on contemporary issues like paid maternity leave and reasonable working hours.
Where it struggles is in complementing grass roots industrial campaigns being run by affiliates, helping to lift a local dispute onto the national stage by the stature of its office.
Granted, the ACTU's Organising Centre is a laudable attempt to train individual unions to run campaigns; but this is really the role of state bodies far closer in culture to the state branches that eventually have to do the hard yards.
It is in this light, that we call on the ACTU to mark its 75th Anniversary by relocating to Canberra, recognising that it is the lobbying of our national politicians that should be the its function.
Along with the business, industry and employer lobbies, the union movement needs a permanent force in Canberra, not just to run the movement-wide agenda but provide a base for individual affiliates.
Meanwhile, state branches should receive a larger slice of the pie to continue the organising agenda at a grass roots level, recognising that it is here that the real battles for the future of the movement will be fought.
Done the right way, the move to Canberra could create a new type of hierarchy - less a pyramid and more a coat-hanger, less on the top and much more closer to the base.
Food for thought, anyway. So Happy Birthday, ACTU; but maybe it's time to get a new pad.
Peter Lewis
Editor
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