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Lessons from History
History has a seemingly infinite capacity to create and debunk myths, as the latest offering from the Journal of Labour and Social History shows.
Interview: Trade Secrets
Federal Labor�s trade spokesman Craig Emerson is on a mission to bring the shady world of trade talks into the open
Industrial: It�s About Overtime, Stupid
An overtime free-for-all is at the heart of Australia�s hours explosion and it's time to look at a cap on hours, reports Noel Hester from the ACTU�s Working Hours Summit.
Unions: Full Steam Ahead
After two weeks of rallies around the state, rural Rail Towns are making a stand for jobs and safety. Jim Marr reports.
Bad Boss: The BBQ Battle Axe
Manly restaurateur, David Diamond, is a shoo-in for this month�s Bad Boss nomination, leaving Workers Online looking for a good employer who can undo some of his damage.
Economics: Different Dimensions of Debt
Professor Frank Stilwell presented the big picture on debt policy at the Evatt Foundation�s Breakfast Seminar
History: Raking the Coals
Labour historians Rae Cooper and Greg Patmore explain why today�s organisers have much to learn from the lessons of the past.
History Special: Wherever the Necessity Exists
Rae Cooper tracks NSW union organising between 1900-1910 to argue that today�s activists should be looking closer to home for inspiration
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.
History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship'
Barbara Webster looks at Rockhampton between 1916 � 1957 to debunk the �dependence� theory of trade union growth.
Politics: Regime Change for Saddam
Labour lawyer Jim Nolan looks at the challenge for the Left in the current geopolitical stand-off in the Middle East.
International: World War
Europe has suddenly come aflame with industrial action, Andrew Casey reports.
Corporate: Industrious Thinking
Neale Towart looks at the influence of German immigration on Australian industry policy in the post-war period.
Review: Jack High
Mick Molloy�s new flick Crackerjack tells the tale of a traditional bowling club struggling to stay afloat in an industry dominated by pokies, pokies and more pokies, writes Tara de Boehmler.
Culture: Duffy�s Song
Former Labor Council official Mark Duffy�s Sydney super band Sundial clocks in a bit of a corker.
Satire: A Nation of Sooks
The Strewth Institute's Tony Moore looks at the spate of defo suits and wonders if Australia has gone soft.
Poetry: Mr Flexibility
One of the key challenges facing unions, as the ACTU celebrates its 75th anniversary, is confronting the problems of increasing working hours and work intensity under the guise of "flexibility". Our resident bard, David Peetz, takes up that theme this week.
And On the Seventh Day � Satan Joins Union
Security Masks Political Bans
Members Offered Spotters' Fee
Casuals Written Out of the Script
New Mining Bully On the Block
ACTU Examines The Cap Option On Hours
No Sweetener for Diabetic Workers
Pressure Goes on Apartheid Employers
ASIC Turns Blind Eye on Dodgy Boss
Family Test Case a Priority Campaign
Echoes of Prestige Hit Home
Brutal Bashing Sparks Prison Strike
Minister Challenged by Cleaners
ABC Journos Off The Air
Union Says RSCPA "Kills"...
Guards Demand Campus Security
Uni Backs Down On Regional Review
Peace Returns to US Docks
Activists Notebook
The Soapbox
Economic Migrants
A man - a worker - risks death by machine gun to escape what he is told is a 'workers' state'. He flees East Berlin through a tunnel, dug beneath a cemetery. Awards
And the Winner Is �
It�s that time of the year when we honour the best. In the past week, both the IR Writers fraternity and ACTU have got in the act with more to come. The Locker Room
More Post-Colonial Madness
Phil Doyle joins the fools and Englishmen out in the midday sun, and finds that it all comes at a price. Bosswatch
Call Waiting
The Howard Government backs off its plans to privatise the rest of Telstra under market pressure. But it�s nothing like the pressure that former HIH directors are under.
Month In Review
Way Down
As Elvis might have said, if he had had a longer-term perspective �ooh, what a month it was, it really was such a month ��
Oh Bugger Me!
State Based Organising
Gino on the Gong
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Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
ABC Journos Off The Air
Journalists at ABC radio, television and online across the country will strike for 24 hours on Tuesday, 3 December, over stalled enterprise bargaining negotiations.
ABC management has so far offered pay rises of 11 percent over four years - which would leave wages lagging in real terms.
It has also refused to increase annual leave for journalists to compensate for loss of public holidays and penalties; and made no move towards removing the inequities of the performance management system.
MEAA federal secretary Chris Warren says the ABC can't continue to fund its operations by cutting real wages.
"Our members voted to strike in support of our claim for a fair wages outcome that would make up for the recent fall in real wages, and rewards increased productivity," Warren says.
According to the CPSU's Graeme Thomson the decision to take this action was not taken lightly. "We have been in negotiations for the past five weeks, yet management has failed to put a workable offer on the table."
"Years of budget cuts have depressed real wages at the ABC and we fear that even more talented ABC staff will be forced to leave the broadcaster for better paid positions outside unless the slide is stopped."
The industrial action follows four years of federal government budgetary constraints; compounded by a system where many salaries are "capped" indefinitely, regardless of performance or productivity, in order to hold down costs.
Jobs Overboard At Aunty
Meanwhile, rumours of political appointments to the ABC Board continue, with speculation this week that former defence minister Peter Reith is a frontrunner to replace Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger.
The Friends of the ABC said appointing Reith would continue a vicious circle of political appointments at the national broadcaster.
Newspaper reports said Reith was heading a shortlist of candidates to replace Kroger, whose five-year term expires in February.
Labor, the Australian Democrats and the Friends of the ABC said the government was determined to saddle the ABC with another Liberal stooge and called for a more transparent process of Board appointments.
For more on the Reith putsch go to the Tool Shed
http://www.workers.labor.net.au/tool
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Issue 163 contents
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