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Issue No. 167 21 February 2003  
E D I T O R I A L

Scales of Injustice
The Cole Royal Commission�s final report will be handed to the Howard Government this week, although its public release will be strategically delayed for maximum political capital.

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.

N E W S

 Cole Commission: The Rort Goes On

 Penalty Rates Under Attack

 Abbott Brushes Ripped Off Aussies

 Overworked Seaman�s Painful Hangover

 Australia Snubs International Body

 Women Attracted to Unions

 Murdoch Hacks Dropping Like Flies

 Peace is Union Business

 Qantas Takes Big Stick to Cabin Crew

 Sheltered Workshop in Orange Squeeze

 Carr Govt Commits $13m To Safety

 Monk Puts IR in Test Tube

 Concreters Bury Six-Day Week

 Graincorp Boss in Cyber War

 Activists Notebook

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.

L E T T E R S
 This Means War
 Who Let The Troops Out?
 Wagga Wagga Calling
 Ode to Johnny
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Qantas Takes Big Stick to Cabin Crew


Qantas is using Patrick-style strike breaking tactics in its bid to deny flight attendants a share of the record half-yearly profit it announced this week.

The dominant player in the Australian airlines market will fast-forward rookies from labour hire outfit Maurice Alexander Management onto international flights this Tuesday to cover for striking FAAA members. It is also relocating non-union, labour hire staff from its Bangkok base.

The move came after the company, which rewarded chief executive Geoff Dixon with a million dollar share bonus, refused to deliver on a promised "recognition" clause for increased cabin crew productivity.

The "recognition" deal struck in the last negotiations obliged Qantas to reward workers for their agreement to cut crew numbers. Industry observers suggest it has contributed $40 million towards this year's profit.

"It is agreed that this contribution will be recognised in the negotiation of EBA 6," the document signed by Qantas and the union reads.

FAAA International Division secretary, Johanna Brem, said that when the parties met to negotiate EBA 6 there was no recognition forthcoming.

"We now learn, apparently, that recognition for saving them $40 million doesn't mean money," Brem said.

"Our members accepted a wage freeze, then raised productivity. We have asked management to recognise our role in the company's performance and they have refused."

Australian-based flight attendants will stop work from midnight Monday, until 2pm Tuesday, affecting 30 international flights. Their union has written to the Civil Aviation Transport Authority (CASA) asking it to investigate the propriety rushing newcomers, to be trained this weekend, into key safety roles on international flights.


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