Workers Online : Issue No. 2, 26 February 1999


Issue No 2		26 February 1999

Features
Interview: Checking the Spellar
We talk to a former union official who is now a minister in the Blair Government about the difficult relationship between New Labour and the labour movement.

Unions: Working It Out
NSW trade unions have embraced a movement-wide campaign to deal with the vexed issue of ensuring workers have a life.

History: Remembering The Eveleigh Railway Workshops
The Eveleigh railway yards have a rich history which your average commuter would never imagine.

Review: Opening Tanner's Australia
Lindsay Tanner's new book offers a frank and forthright view of the future for Australia.

Campaign Diary: Carr And The Unions
No-one would accuse the Premier and the labour movement of being bossum buddies, but their fortunes are inextricably linked.

Bob Carr Launches Workers Online

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News

Endangered Species?

Revealed: Reith Defies Own Pollster To Bash Unions
The Howard Government is planning a new assault on trade unions despite its own pollsters telling it that unions are popular in the general community.
[ Full Story » ]

What's Going Down at Gordonstone?
A central Queensland mine has become the latest site for Rio Tinto's assault on the union movement.
[ Full Story » ]

VSU To Stop The Music
The Howard Government's push for Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) will decimate the local live music scene, key industry players have warned.
[ Full Story » ]

Employment Advocate Dines Out, But Not A Sausage For Workers
Zero, zip, zilch, SFA -- these are some of the words that describe the Employment Advocate’s enforcement activities in the interests of trade union members in its first two years of business.
[ Full Story » ]

Union Interpreter Translates The Word “Exploit”
The CFMEU has used an interpreter to help uncover underpayment of Chinese construction workers on a major Sydney development.
[ Full Story » ]

How Much Can A Koala Bear?
Workers at a Sydney hotel show how pulling together to stand up to management can lead to better hours and even regular pay-packets.
[ Full Story » ]

Botsman Shifts North To Tame The Rednecks
Former Evatt Foundation director Dr Peter Botsman is fleeing New South Wales to set up a new Brisbane-based think tank, designed to end Queensland’s image as the redneck capital of Australia.
[ Full Story » ]

No Fan of Piers

Don't Be Glib

EMILY's List International Women's Day bash

Uglies From All Angles

They're coming from all directions -- Reith's second wave, Kemp's assault on the students, the Employment Advocate sitting on his hands and Rio Tinto up to its usual tricks.

For a union movement which worked constructively with the community for more than a decade in the national interest, the attacks from so many fronts sometimes seems unjust.

Now we are having our "workplace revolution". Except here the assault comes from those in power, rather than those without it; egged on by accountants who can't be bothered looking up from their balance sheets to consider the real world. A weird revolution indeed.

Thanks to the nearly 2,000 readers who are already subscribers to Workers Online, we trust Issue #2 arrives in your mailbox in one piece. If you haven't subscribed yet, please follow the links to the form.

We've also been honoured to be named LabourStart's International Web Site of the Week. While we haven't got a links engine yet, this is one site all trade unionists should cheek out regularly. You can find it at http://www.labourstart.org.

Finally, thanks to all those who have sent us feedback. We're still working out the Letters to the Editors so they won't all be posted this week. For those who want to contribute, the best thing to do is email your stories as attachments and send to [email protected].

Hope you enjoy the issue.