E D I T O R I A L

Coke or Pepsi?
And so the battle of the NSW political brands enters its final week – and at times it seems more like the Coke and Pepsi Taste Challenge; only this time the brown syrupy liquid is power.

F E A T U R E S

Poetry: If I Were a Rich Man
Through a distortion in the time-space continuum, we have found a recording showing how people a few years into the future will deal with health care.

Interview: League of Nations
ICFTU general secretary Guy Ryder on the war, core labour standards and why Australia is an international pariah.

Industrial: 20/20 Hindsight
A retrospective analysis of the Accord is needed to help develop future strategies. Is it worth trying again? And if so, what would need to be different?

Organising: On The Buses
A new rank and file leadership team is standing up for the harried bus driver in the run-up to the NSW State Election

Unions: National Focus
A gaze around the country reveals some inspiring and innovative organising initiatives, a fruitful connection with young workers in South Australia and some typically robust industrial campaigns reports Noel Hester.

History: The Banner Room
On the eve of it’s refurbishment, Jim Marr ventures into one of Trades Hall’s best kept secrets; the room that houses relics of labour’s halcyon days.

International: The Slaughter Continues
Chilling new statistics from Colombia's main trade union confederation CUT: nine trade unionists assassinated in the first two months of this year.

Legal: A Legal Case For War?
Aaron Magner looks at the legal implications of the crusade of the Coalition of the Willing

Culture: Singing For The People
When there’s a struggle for social justice, when a war is brewing or rights are being eroded, the first ones to pen, paper and protest are often the folkwriters.

Review: The Hours
On the eve of International Women’s Day Tara de Boehmler follows the tale of three women who would rather choose death than a life devoid of personal choice.

Poetry: I Wanna Bomb Saddam
Scarier than Star Wars, the latest weapon to be deployed in the battle for Iraq is the Singing Dubya.

Satire: Diuretic Makes Warne's Excuses Look Thin
Australian cricketer Shane Warne today admitted that he was still feeling the after effects of the diuretic he tested positive to.

N E W S

Travelex Wrong-un Stumps Staff

No Utopia In Lifetime Contracts

Della Renews Jobs Pledge

Chef Roasts Double Standard

Howard’s Navy – Aussies Need Not Apply

Bank Lockout Mars Peace Day

Intrepid Tourists Buck ILO Bans

Whistle Blown on Second Hand Rail Safety

Back-Packers Used to Break Hotel Strike

Qantas for High Jumps

Burrow Calls for New Family Formula

Central Queensland Sucks on Roche

Cabbies Hail Fair Deal

Smoke Free St Patricks Day

Workers Flush on Poo Pay

Activist Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Workers Friend
Shock jock Alan Jones snubbed his Liberal mates to bucket the Cole Royal Commission and launch Jim Marr's book

The Locker Room
Boer Bore Boring
In the face of oppression Phil Doyle falls asleep in front of the TV

Guest Report
Dead Labor
The Hawke and Keating legacy is John Howard, Leonie Bronstein argues.

Seduction
Hands Off, Tony
John Della Bosca argues the NSW Industrial Relations System gives his State a competitive advantage.

Bosswatch
Groundhog Day
Another year, another round of corporate excess. Bosswatch returns from its summer slumber to find the same old dogs up to the same tricks.

L E T T E R S

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Howard’s Navy – Aussies Need Not Apply

This startling revelation was made to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in Sydney this week.

MUA secretary, Paddy Crumlin, told the committee Howard Government support for the continued demolition of Australian seafaring, through its green light for foreign crewed Flag of Convenience operations, stood in stark contrast to the line taken by key allies Britain and the US.

Both those countries have identified a strong domestic merchant marine as a key element in their defence strategies. The union submission drew attention to that situation with official statements from Washington and London.

"American commercial crew and US-flagged ships are necessary for the national security of our country. They provide the manpower and equipment necessary to transport vital supplies and personnel around the globe in times of national emergency," Representative Ike Skelton, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, explained.

"The Jones Act," he went on, "helps to provide a basic manpower pool of US mariners that can be utilised in times of emergencies, and there is no substitute for that."

Skelton was explaining a 1999 decision to commit US$10 billion to merchant marine shipbuilding and operating over the following 10 years.

In one of its four main points the Blair Government's Defence White Paper, issued in 2002, said it was necessary to: "encourage UK ship registration, to increase shipowner identification with the UK, to improve our regulatory control of shipping using UK ports and workers and to maintain the avialability of assets and personnel that may be needed in time of war."

Transport Minister John Anderson, on the other hand, is presiding over a declining Australian merchant fleet with a diminishing associated skill base.

The MUA argues this is down to Anderson's ideological commitment to Single Voyage Permits which have seen an explosion in the number of foreign-crewed Flag of Convenience ships muscling in on Australia's coastal trade at the expense of vessels employing Australians.

The union also tendered a personal letter of thanks from Interfet Commander, Peter Cosgrove, for the support MUA members provided to the Timor operation.

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