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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.
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.
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
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 ��
Old Silver
The Golden (Th)Ong
Overtime Cap is Flawed
Outsourced Education
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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
Coles Myer Breaks Out Of Sweat
Coles Myer this week became the first retailer to sign the National Ethical Clothing Code of Practice, representing a major breakthrough in the TCFUA and Fair Wear�s long-running outworkers campaign.
Under the Code, Coles will monitor clothing supply chains to ensure wages and conditions reach workers who produce the garments.
Many of them earn as little as $2 to $5 per hour, work 12-hour days, do not get paid superannuation and frequently suffer work-related injuries, Fair Wear says.
It says the Code will force larger players in the industry to take some serious measures to generate a new culture of work for clothing outworkers that does not involve degrading their wages and conditions.
"After six years of solid campaigning in NSW and around Australia the TCFUA and Fair Wear have succeeded in pushing industry and government towards steps aimed at eradicating the exploitation of outworkers in the fashion industry," according to NSW Fair Wear Chairperson Debbie Carstens.
The move comes some two months after the new Code was ratified by the Australian Retailers Association and the Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA).
It was drafted to replace the old Retailer Code after that code was proven ineffective in making retailers accountable for the treatment of clothing workers.
Yet although individual retailers were involved in negotiating the new code most of them are now dragging their feet in signing up, Carstens says.
Many retailers continue to argue that they have no control over the treatment of clothing workers, but Fair Wear remains adamant that the buck stops with them.
"Ultimately retailers must be held responsible for the culture of exploitation that has developed as a result of the drive for higher profits at an ever mounting human cost," Carstens says.
To spell it out to those retailers choosing to remain in the dark Fair Wear is staging a demonstration at the Pitt St Mall in Sydney CBD Tuesday 10 December. Actions are also being staged in Adelaide and Melbourne on the same day.
The organisation has promised to "name and shame" retailers who fail to sign the code by this date, which is also International Human Rights Day.
The demonstration will kick off at midday at the Grace Bros end of the mall.
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Issue 164 contents
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