E D I T O R I A L

Shock and Awe
And so it has begun, the cartoon caricatures are locked in; the cowboy and the tyrant his father created, locked in an endgame that will trash more than the infrastructure of Iraq.

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

Peace Marchers Warn Off Provocateurs

Monk Ignores Job Losses

Trade Warriors Turn to Water

Gap, Target Pay Sweatshop Dues

Firies Douse Insurance Blaze

Kennett Delivers $2m Gas Bill

Vials Sparks Security Scare

Buggers Hit Six

Rail Towns Win Jobs Reprieve

Telstra Dotty Over Witching Hour

Crow Eaters Choke on Waste

CSL Boss in Political Pickle

Lawyers Push Super Class Action

Fair Clothing Activists Take Stock

Activists 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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Peace Marchers Warn Off Provocateurs

As the peace movement gathers momentum, Walk Against the War Colation spokesman Bruce Childs says that the staging of violent incidents in marches had long been a tactic to undermine the peace movement.

Childs, a veteran of the Vietnam and anti-nuclear protests, said that previous peace events had been hijacked by individuals, either acting alone or under the instructions of groups hostile to their cause.

"The violent scenes at Thursday's emergency rally were perpetrated by one or two individuals, but overshadowed the actions of 20,000 in the media coverage," Childs says.

"If John Howard isn't paying these people to play up, he should be.

"Neither the organisers nor the overwhelming majority of those taking part in the protest condone these actions. Indeed, violence at a peace rally plays into the hands of those who support War on Iraq.

The Walk Against the War Coalition is calling on those who march on the weekend to keep their eyes out for people acting strangely and inform marshals. "We are also calling on the broader public to view portrayals of violence at peace marches with the scepticism they deserve."

Emergency Appeal Launched

Meanwhile, the ACTU and its overseas aid agency Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA has condemned in the strongest terms the joint military offensive against Iraq.

"The Howard government, acting without the support of the Australian public, has joined a pre-emptive assault on Iraq, even though options for peaceful negotiations for disarmament are not exhausted," said Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA's Executive Officer, Peter Jennings.

"We recognise that Saddam Hussein's regime is a brutal dictatorship, but this war is unlikely to bring real freedom to the Iraqi and Kurdish peoples. We call on the United Nations and the international community to ensure that disarmament occurs peacefully".

Jennings says the victims of the US led war will be the women and children of Iraq. The UN estimates that over 500,000 will be killed or seriously injured in the first few weeks of fighting.

"Without either medicines or electricity, hospitals will be unable to function," he says. "Without electricity, neither the water or sewerage systems will operate - the impact on the civilian population, especially children, of the subsequent diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis will cause even more deaths."

Union Aid Abroad is today launching an emergency appeal for assistance to the innocent Iraqi and Kurdish victims of war. Funds collected will be delivered via Norwegian People's Aid and Swiss Workers Aid, labour movement aid agencies working with workers and their families in Iraq. They are preparing to support camps for people displaced by conflict to the Suleimaniya area in northern Iraq.

To make a tax-deductible donation, please ring:-

1800 888 674 (free-call - business hours) - (02) 9264 9343

http://www.apheda.org.au

Or mail to Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA Level 3, 377 Sussex St, Sydney, 2000

   All the latest news on Anti-War protests

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005