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Border Protection
The High Court�s decision that Australian labour laws should apply to cargo ships plying our shores could be the first shot in the fight back against the excess of corporate globalisation.
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.
 Legal Missile Holes Ships of Shame
Labour Rights Threaten Trade Deal
Workers Sharpen Community Clause
"Puppet" Sparks Appeals
FiFo, FiFo � Out the Gate We Go
SRA Chief Off The Rails
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
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.
Workplace Bullying
Casual TAFE
Wage Rise
The Fifth Column
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IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
Qantas: Long Lunches on Rocks
Unionists are predicting the demise of the long management lunch in the wake of an IRC recommendation restricting invasive drug test trials to a fleet of Qantas "executives".
"That's the long lunch on hold for a few weeks," Flight Attendants Association secretary, Johanna Brem, quipped after the IRC limited the drug and alcohol testing trial to the company's 700 "senior executives".
The compromise came after workers reacted angrily to a Qantas plan to random test staff for alcohol, stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
At a series of mass rallies, Qantas union members rejected the plan as an unwarranted invasion of privacy, arguing the company had no right to know what medicines they took if their work quality was unaffected.
They resolved not to participate in the company's testing program, and to support any staff member disciplined as a result.
In the space of a fortnight, thousands signed a petition urging a re-think on the company.
The IRC recommended that the trial be restricted to non-union members, whilst worker and management representatives attempt to thrash out agreed procedures.
Talks have been scheduled for Wednesday with the parties to report back to the Commission on Friday.
ACTU Senior Industrial Officer Richard Watts hailed the IRC recommendation as "a common sense approach to a controversial issue" that would avoid immediate confrontation.
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Issue 190 contents
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