The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 166 14 February 2003  
 
F E A T U R E S

Interview: Agenda 2003
ACTU secretary Greg Combet looks at the year ahead and how a union movement can keep the focus on the workplace at a time of global crisis.

Peace: The Colour Purple
Local communities across Australia are taking stands against war by displaying purple banners. Jim Marr visits one.

Industrial: Long, Hot Summer
As Workers Online took its annual break, the world kept turning � at an increasingly alarming velocity.

Solidarity: Workers Against War
Joann Wypijewski reports on how union locals in the USA are fighting the hounds of war at home.

Security: Howard And The Hoodlums
With all the talk of terror, the Howard Government�s Achilles heel is its tolerance of Flags of Convenience shipping , writes Rowan Cahill

International: Industrial Warfare
Scottish freight train drivers have already acted to disrupt the war effort in the UK with crews of four freight trains carrying war supplies to ports walking off the job, writes Andrew Casey

History: Unions and the Vietnam War
The Vietnam experience steered some unions towards social activism for the first time. Unions are today key players in the anti-war movement, writes Tony Duras.

Review: Eight Miles to Mowtown
Mark Hebblewhites looks at two summer movies that tap into different sounds of American culture - white boy rap and motown blues.

Poetry: Return To Sender
Resident bard Divd Peetz discovers that Elvis has become the latest shock recruit to the peace cause.

Satire: CIA Recruits New Intake of Future Enemies
CIA Director George Tenet announced today that the agency has begun recruiting future enemies for the year 2014.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch


 
L A T E S T   N E W S

The Cuffe Link � Taxpayers Cough Up
Australian taxpayers will subsidise the $32.7 million payout from the Commonwealth Bank to Colonial funds manager Chris Cuffe to the tune of $10 million.

The ACTU is stepping up its push for the removal of tax deductibility for corporations who pay their executives more than $1 million per year or reach multimillion termination payments in the wake of Cuffe�s golden handshake furore. [full story]

Carr: Secret Lib Plan to Slash Public Sector
A Coalition State Government would slash 5,000 public sector jobs and allow the NSW industrial system to become a plaything in Tony Abbott�s leadership ambitions, NSW Premier Bob Carr has warned.

Announcing the ALP Industrial Relations policy to the Labor Council Annual General Meeting, Carr also made commitments to improve regulation of labour hire, reduce asbestos-related diseases and increase industrial protection for taxi drivers. [full story]

Abbott Comes Out Swinging
Federal Industrial Relations Minister Tony Abbott has begun 2003 with a legislative haymaker, attempting to make an employers� capacity pay the key issue when considering wage rises for the low paid.

The former Oxford boxing blue is also believed to be gearing for a fresh stoush with building unions with legislation being drafted that would give courts the power to remove union officials from office. [full story]

Thanks a Million: Cole�s Lawyers Clean-up
One lawyer hired to prosecute the CFMEU in Tony Abbott�s Building Industry Royal Commission took almost $1.5 million out of the public purse for less than 18 months work.

When Senate Estimates revealed the cost of the Royal Commission this week, Melbourne silk John Agius QC topped the money-earner�s list for his effort in extracting $1.489 between August 16, 2001, and February 7, this year. Included in Agius� haul was a staggering $88,000 in perks and allowances. [full story]

Corrigan Dogs On Jobs Promise
Chris Corrigan�s Pacific National has been accused of political chicanery and welching on commitments it made when buying its freight rail business from the NSW Government.

Rail Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary Nick Lewocki fired the stinging broadside at Pacific National after it announced maintenance facilities at Parkes and Lithgow would close prior to the March state election. [full story]

Gnomes Fess Up � Unionism Best For All
Everyone benefits from trade union membership, but women do best of all, according to a World Bank study released this week.

The report from the conservative financial institution comes as New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark prepares to open a global union women�s conference expected to draw 500 delegates to Melbourne. [full story]

ALSO MAKING NEWS

 Owens Survives 30-Year Ban

 Ribs and Rumps Something for Government to Chew On

 Badges of Honour

 Guards Rail Against Assaults

 Workers Online Scoops Global Prize

 Currawong Must Pay It�s Way

 Let�s Get Real! 2nd Australasian Organising Conference

 Guard Knocked Out in Villawood Escape

 Activists Notebook

email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet
"Our members are split 50/50 on Bush. Fifty don't believe a word he says. Fifty think he's a liar." - Joann Wypijewski, 'Counterpunch'

E D I T O R I A L
Those of us opposed to a War in Iraq face a difficult dilemma; having argued for months that the US must not act unilaterally, what do we do if the UN gives its rubber stamp to military action?

Schieffer Brains

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Getting On with The Job
Premier Bob Carr chose Trades Hall as the venue to launch Labor's IR policy for the upcoming state election.

Postcard
Justice in Bogota
Sydney lawyer Ian Latham knows how to pick them. He�s gone straight from the Cole Royal Commission to justice Colombian-style.

The Locker Room
Heart Of Darkness
There is a school of thought that there is, in fact, only one World Cup - and it doesn�t involve cricket, writes Phil Doyle.

Politics
Danger Mouse
John Howard's politics have trapped him into supporting an unpopular war. He is in political trouble, Leonie Bronstein argues.


LETTERS to the Editor
 Bouquets and Brickbats
 War Talk
 A Tale of Two Malls
 Talk Back Tom
 On The Beach

Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/166/index.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET