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Issue No. 164 06 December 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

The Politics of Security
Long before the Tampa sailed onto our political stage, politicians of all colours knew security was the hot issue in the electorate.

F E A T U R E S

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.

N E W S

 We Paid Witnesses Who �Lied�

 African Immigration Scam Widens

 School Staff Block Parents� Pay

 Yarra Operators Dodge Accident Probe

 Financial Windfall in Radio Sale

 Liza Fights For Her Stud

 Vic Anti-Union Campaign Backfires

 Car Workers Rev Up For Fight

 Coles Myer Breaks Out Of Sweat

 Police Sick of Being Kicked Around

 Jobless Dumped on Drought Farms

 Men Only Scholarships Hit Snag

 Vale: Peggy Errey

 Activists' Notebook

C O L U M N S

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 ��

L E T T E R S
 Old Silver
 The Golden (Th)Ong
 Overtime Cap is Flawed
 Outsourced Education
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Letters to the Editor

Overtime Cap is Flawed


The ACTU campaign for a cap on overtime hours work is fundamentally flawed, is out of touch with the workplace reality and reinforces employers' born to rule mentality that they know whats good for their employees.

Has anyone at the bloody ACTU ever had to grub for a living or are u all bunch of university trained activists who have only worked in an ergonomic chair within air conditioned comforts and easy reach of tea and biscits.

The issue is low pay full stop.

Dont dictate to people the hours they have to work. The ACTU needs to realise that in the past 12 months you can no longer purchase a home on a single wage. It now requires more overtime than ever before. Working overtime is far better and much safer than having a second job and easier on tax.

The job the ACTU needs to do is make sure that penalty rates on overtime continue to be paid, upgrading skills of people so they can compete for higher paid jobs and paid time off to achieve that, such as an employer/government paid allowance would be a worthwhile goal.

Cut out the paternalistic rubbish and and stick to the fundamentals. Now how does someone who has actually worked in the real world get a job at the ACTU?

Paul Palmer


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