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Interview: The New Deal
US union leader Amy Dean expands on her agenda to give unions a real political voice
Unions: In the Line of Hire
Unions have lobbied and negotiated in a bid to stem casualisation and insecurity. Now, Jim Marr, writes they are seeking protection through a formal Test Case.
Culture: Too Cool for the Collective?
Young people are amongst the most vulnerable in the workforce. So why aren't they joining the union, asks Carly Knowles
International: The Domino Effect
An internal struggle in the biggest and strongest industrial union in Germany IG Metall has had a devastating wave effect across not just that country, but also the rest of Europe, writes Andrew Casey.
Industrial: A Spanner in the Works
Max Ogden looks at the vexed issue of Works Councils and the differing views within the union movement to them.
National Focus: Gathering of the Tribes
Achieving a fairer society and a better working life for employees from across Australia will be key themes at the ACTU's triennial Congress meeting later this month reports Noel Hester.
History: The Welcome Nazi Tourist
Rowan Cahill looks at the role Australia's conservatives played in supporting facism in the days before World War II.
Bad Boss: Domm, Domm Turn Around
Frank Sartor might have shot through but Robert Domm still calls the IR shots at Sydney City which pretty much explains why the council is this month�s Bad Boss nominee.
Poetry: Just Move On.
Visiting bard Maurie Fairfield brightens up our page with a ditty about little white lies.
Review: Reality Bites
The workers, united, may never be defeated but if recent episodes of Channel 10 drama The Secret Life Of Us are to be believed, this is not necessarily a good thing, writes Tara de Boehmler.
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L A T E S T N E W S |
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Legal Missile Holes Ships of Shame
A seven-nil judicial flogging for the Howard Government could sink Flag of Convenience shipping on domestic routes.
MUA secretary, Paddy Crumlin, raised the prospect when he said the unanimous High Court decision, bringing Bahamas-flagged CSL vessels Stadacona and Yarra under AIRC jurisdiction, could be extended into other crucial areas. [full story]
Labour Rights Threaten Trade Deal
The Howard Government�s refusal to guarantee collective bargaining rights could bring the US-Australia bilateral trade talks undone, the ACTU has warned.
ACTU president Sharan Burrow has revealed that the ACTU has been providing the US Labour Department with information about the situation for Australian workers via the peak US union body the AFL-CIO. [full story]
Workers Sharpen Community Clause
Building workers have flagged industrial action in a bid to have an upmarket property developer contribute $815,000 to childcare and other community services.
CFMEU secretary, Andrew Ferguson, confirmed workers on a Milson�s Pt housing development would consider direct action to force the hand of Platino Properties which is refusing to pay a development levy, earkmarked for community projects. [full story]
"Puppet" Sparks Appeals
Controversial Government appointee to the Industrial Relations Commission, Rob Cartwright, is using his position to over-rule agreements consented to by union and employer representatives.
Senior Deputy President Cartwright, appointed to the bench by former Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith, is the first IRC Commissioner in Australian history to have been found guilty of discriminating against tens of thousands of workers on the basis of their union membership. [full story]
FiFo, FiFo � Out the Gate We Go
AMWU members at Note Printing Australia took management�s ultimatum to "fit in or f� off" to heart, this week, and walked out the gate for 36 hours.
The 170 workers who manufacture bank notes at Craigieburn, north of Melbourne, took exception to more than what they have dubbed the "FiFo principle", alleging intimidation and harrassment had become routine management practice. [full story]
SRA Chief Off The Rails
Rail unions are urging NSW Transport Minister Michael Costa to deliver on his oft-stated commitment to consultation as they brace for major reform.
The unions have foreshadowed a �summer of discontent� for rail passengers if Costa does not pull his chief bureaucrat Vince Graham into line and direct him to work with unions as he prepares a restructure that threatens 600 jobs. [full story]
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ALSO MAKING NEWS |
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Qantas: Long Lunches on Rocks
Water Crisis a Mist for Sell-Off
Aussies Enter Karoshi Zone
Combet Flies Ansett Plan
Westfield Workers Seek Clean Start
Rubber Workers Stretch Bridgestone
Workers Art in Broken Hill
Activist Notebook
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The Soapbox
Fighting Words
Craig Emerson gave what could be the most spirited Labor spray in a decade to the NSW Labor Council this month. Here it is in all its venom. Education
Out of Their Class
Phil Bradley argues that Australia's education system should not be up for negotiation in the global trade talks. The Locker Room
The ABC of Sport
Phil Doyle argues that the only way to end the corporate madness that is sport, is to give it all back to the ABC. Postcard
Locks, Stocks and Barrels
Union Aid Abroad's Peter Jennings updates on the situation in Burma, where the repression of democracy is going from bad to worse.
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