Workers Online : Issue No. 20, 02 July 1999


Issue No 20		02 July 1999

Features
Interview: They�re Not All Bastards
The Australian Industry Group�s Roger Boland is one employer representative who believes trade unions will continue to play an important role in the economy - and society - of the future.

Unions: Always the Pay is No Good
Fair Wear's campaign for clothing industry homeworkers is changing the way we think about consuming.

History: A Refreshing Advance
Women workers organising in the NSW Rail and Tramways Department Refreshment Rooms in the 1920s.

International: MAI Back on the Agenda
After being ditched in the wake of an international cyber-protest, the World Trade Organisation is trying to salvage the MAI from the ashes.

International: Courage Against the Odds
A Cuban trade union leader urges for a 30 year blockade to be lifted, with a fundraiser to be held this Thursday.

Review: Without You I'm Nothing
British pop music doesnt come any better than Placebo.

It's All in the Jeans - Builders Strip for Justice

Notice Board
- Check out the latest events

Latest Issue

View entire latest issue
- print all of the articles!

Previous Issues

Subject index

Search all issues

Workers Online - 2nd place Labourstart website of the year

News

UNAMET Headquarters in Dili

Direct Links to Timor Militia Revealed
A delegation of trade union officials has returned from East Timor with documentary proof the Indonesian Government is funding the militia groups who are threatening the vote on independence.
[ Full Story » ]

Child Laws Cause School Camp, Sport Chaos
School camps and the selection of school sports teams are under a cloud following the release of guidelines covering the new child protection laws.
[ Full Story » ]

False Advertising Complaint on Second Wave
The NSW Labor Council will investigate whether Peter Reith has breached the law in naming his anti-worker laws �More Jobs, Better Pay�.
[ Full Story » ]

Its Official. Howard's Public Sector Cuts Hurt Everyone
The Federal Auditor-General has criticised the way Howard Government handled the cutting of tens of thousands of public service jobs during its first two years in office.
[ Full Story » ]

Hard-Hats Only as Builders Strip for Outworkers
It wasn�t pretty, but it came from the heart. Sydney builders stripped outside big-name clothing chain Jeans West to pressure it to sign a Code of Practise ending exploitation of clothing outworkers.
[ Full Story » ]

Unions Unite to Protect Jobs in the Bush
In a show of unity amongst unions the unions have sent a cross-factional message to the Carr Government about the impact of it�s policies in regional NSW.
[ Full Story » ]

Square Eyes Workplace Warning
Rail signallers have discovered what parents have always known - watching too much television is bad for you.
[ Full Story » ]

WorkCover Scheme Has Passed Use-By Date
The NSW WorkCover scheme was an Industrial Age approach to workers compensation which has passed its used-by date, NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says.
[ Full Story » ]

Bruised Not Beaten: FSU Battles On
The Finance Sector Union says its failure to defeat a non-union ballot will not stop its efforts to unionise Westpac�s finance company AGC.
[ Full Story » ]

Gordonstone Miners Win Battle, But Robbed of Justice
The Miners Union is considering its legal options following a ruling by the Federal Court that it does not have the power to overturn a decision even though it was wrong.
[ Full Story » ]

Currawong Spots Up For Grabs
You've seen the stories, now visit Currawong! Some vacancies still exist for weekends in July and August and there are lots of openings during the week.
[ Full Story » ]

Workers Online Turns 21!
Next week will mark our 21st issue. We're holding drinks in the Trades Hall Tavern to mark the occasion. Friday July 9, from 6pm. All readers are welcome.
[ Full Story » ]

Thanks from the Hyde Park Hyatt

The Chant of a Jilted project Co-ordinator

Have the Times Really Changed?

You've Got to be Kidding!

The Butterfly�s Wings

We are living in inter-related times. Each seemingly random story from around the globe has increasing relevance to our own world.

As the economies of nation-states merge, information of expolitation or instability reaches us instanteonously, effecting the way we look at the world and shaping our responses to it. The information determines who we are and becomes part of our collective consciousness. Take the issues we look at this week.

A delegation of union officials return from East Timor with a fuller appreciation of the turmoils to our north, armed with evidence of Indonesian complicity and urging the Australian Government to act.

Building workers strip for the cameras outside a Sydney fashion store, letting consumers know of their complicity in outworker exploitation. The company says its not responsible because it imports all its clothes from China.

Cubans seek our support from America's 30 year blockade, pleading with us to look past the Cold War rhetoric and consider the impact sanctions are having on the lives of human beings.

And Peter Reith continues to snub his nose at international laws in his desperate bid to outlaw a century and more of trade union activism.

The impact of each incident flows way beyond its obvious sphere of influence. Morality, labour conditions, politics, economics , none of them can be confined by national borders any more.

While financial markets have accepted and profit from globalisation, reactivating the MAI to further tear down the barriers of the nation state, it seems our collective consciousness is still rooted in the narrow confines of our own physical neighbourhood.

What happens in Dili, in China, in Havana, in Canberra and in Geneva affects us as well. A butterfly flaps its wings on one side of the world causing a hurricane on the other. To understand the hurricane we must be prepared to watch the butterfly.

Peter Lewis
Editor