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Terror Australis
When the historians get down to chronicling 2002 their analysis will read simply: the Bali bombing brought the new era of terror home to Australians and heightened our feelings of insecurity and fear at our ill-defined place in the world.
Interview: Taking Stock
Labor Council secretary John Robertson reflects on 2002 and outlines the challenges for the year to come.
Bad Boss: Pushing the Envelope
Ongoing and resolute commitment to principles advanced by Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott have seen Australia Post make history as the first recipient of the Tony Award, recognising Australia's worst employer.
Unions: The Year That Was
From Cole�s witch-hunt to funky union tunes, Peter Lewis reviews the biggest stories from the world of work in 2002.
Republic: Still Fighting
Three years since the constitutional referendum, and despite constant reports of its impending demise, the Australian Republican Movement is still around and active
International: Global Ties, Global Binds
Labourstart's Eric Lee files his annual wrap-up of the year from an international perspective.
Politics: Turning Green
Union support for the ALP is no longer a given, with trade unionists turning to the Greens, as Jim Marr reports.
Technology: Unions Online 2002
Social Change Online's Mark McGrath looks at what worked best for unions online in 2002.
Industrial: The Past Is Before Us
Neale Towart argues that 2003 will be a year where traditional industrial campaigns come back into fashion.
Economics: Market Insecurity
Sydney University�s Frank Stilwell looks back at 2002 from a political economist�s perspective.
Review: Shooting for Sanity
Michael Moore's new movie Bowling for Columbine looks at America's love affair with guns, writes Mark Hebblewhite
Poetry: The PM's Christmas Message
Workers Online has secretly obtained an advance copy of the text of the Address to the Nation that the Prime Minister plans to make. We reproduce the text below.
Culture: Zanger's Sounds of Summer
If 2001-02 was the summer of political and musical terror then this summer 2002-03 is where irreverent Aussie music runs rife.
 Abbott Gears For Grocon Stoush
Delo Brushes Taubmans Pay Off
Restaurateur Takes Knife to Wages Protection
Legal Double Whammy to End Year
We�re Dreaming of a Sweat-Free Christmas
Star Organiser Takes Off
Abbott's Xmas Message: Go To Jail
Nurses Perform Wage Surgery
Woolies Discount Spirit of Christmas
New Collapses Prove Entitlements Farce
Suncorp Ballot Draws Fire
Unions On Big Day Out
UN Migrant Worker Charter Welcomed
The Soapbox
Tread Carefully - Very Carefully
Nick Housten argues that structural weaknesses could keep federal Labor in Opposition for many years to come. The Locker Room
A Year Of Two Halves
It was one of those years. It started with a lot of sport and it ended with a lot of sport. Noel Hester and Peter Moss check the runes and dish out the gongs in this year�s Workers Online Sports Awards. Bosswatch
Footloose Capital
It was a year where the corporate world finally came close to consuming itself with bloated salaries, off the wall options and a string of mega-collapses
Predictions
Into the Beyond
Every year we ask our readers to gaze into the crystal ball. While history shows the view is mirky, we�ve don it again.
Refugee Review
Representative Representatives
Men Only?
Dry Argument
Vale: Phil Berrigan
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News
Legal Double Whammy to End Year
NSW unions have ended the year with two big Commission wins, securing a right to payroll deductions and seeing off a bid to outlaw bargaining fees.
Labor Council secretary John Robertson said the twin decisions set the scene for unions to organise more vigorously, particularly in areas where they already have a presence.
The Labor Council had applied for the Union Dues Clause to be inserted in industrial awards to stop the trend of employers cutting off funds to a union when in dispute.
A full bench of IRC ruled that employees should have a right to have their union dues deducted and forwarded to their union at their request.
"Union membership fees belong to workers not the boss; they should not be for the boss to use as an industrial tool," Mr Robertson said.
The decision came 24 hours after the IRC rejected a push by employer groups to have bargaining fees declared a matter outside NSW enterprise bargaining principles.
This means that NSW enterprise agreements, endorsed by a majority of employees, can require non-union members to pay a fee to a union that negotiates a pay rise on their behalf.
Mr Robertson said the decision was a slap in the face for Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott's efforts to see bargaining fees outlawed.
"Employers have been using the legal system to reduce union rights for some years.
"These two decisions mean we can end 2002 on the front foot, ready to campaign vigorously on the ground in the year ahead."
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Issue 165 contents
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