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Criminal Logic
It has taken the tragic death of 16-year-old Joel Exner to focus public opinion on laws that allow an employer guilty of killing a worker to get off paying a measly $1800.
Interview: No Ifs, No Butts
Rugby League Professionals Association president Tony Butterfield on his battle to deliver a collective agreement for NRL players.
Unions: National Focus
In this month�s national wrap: Noel Hester meets a heavy hitter talking up open source unionism, truckies front the suits at Boral�s AGM, tales of corporate bastardry and Medicare birthday revelry.
Industrial: Fools Gold
Unions have thrashed out a string of protocols with the NSW Labor Government. Some, now, are questioning whether they are worth the cheap, imported paper they are written on, reports Jim Marr.
Bad Boss: Bones of Contention
Byron Bay chicken boners have nominated thier boss for a Tony after seeing their entitlements plucked.
History: The Gong Show
In late September the South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) celebrated 75 unbroken years championing the rights of workers in the coastal Illawarra region 80 kilometres south of Sydney, writes Rowan Cahill.
Politics: The Hawke Legacy
The election of the Hawke Labor government twenty years ago holds some salient lessons for today�s Labor Party, writes Troy Bramston.
International: Sick Nation
As Australia celebrates 20 years of Medicare�s universal health coverage the crisis facing American workers in need of medical care is a useful reminder of what we�ve got � and what we stand, writes Andrew Casey.
Economics: Closed Minds
Philip Mendes looks at the political influence of right-wing think tanks, their financial backing and asks why the left hasn�t been able to get its ideas out there.
Review: Mixing Pop and Politics
He's had relations, with girls from many nations... but Billy Bragg seems to like us Aussies as much or even more than any of the others, writes P�draig Collins.
Poetry: One Size Fits All
There once was a man from the Lodge - Who tried hard, our poems, to dodge... Resident bard David Peetz is back!
It's Official - Life Worth $1800
Bank Fesses-Up on Robbery
Corrigan Straddles Robot
Striking Guards Beat Chubb
Killer Company Cuts And Runs
Call Centre Loses Its Sensis
Greens Set to Bowl Workers� Homes
The RSL With No Beer
Law Rewritten To Get Workers� Cash
Pressures Lead To Truckie Deaths
Soup Kitchen Signals Bleak Future For TAFE
Art For Workers Sake
Carr Sweeps Cleaners Off Their Feet
Activists Notebook
Postcard
North By Northwest
Phil Doyle returns from up north, where he survived on nothing but goodwill, good people and a great big orange bus. The Soapbox
The $140 Million Patriot
It would be hard to imagine a steeper slide from hero to zero than the experience of Richard Grasso, the now-deposed head of the New York Stock Exchange. writes Jim Stanford. Media
Bush's Bad News Blues
The Bush Administration is cooking up a new campaign 'to shine light on progress made in Iraq', writes Bill Berkowitz. The Locker Room
A Tale Of One City
Phil Doyle gazes into the crystal ball for signs of life, and finds that somewhere the horses are running in the wrong direction. Culture
With Banners Furled
There is no better account of the glory that was the annual Labour Day marches than that given by Kylie Tennant in Foveaux, her fictional account of life in inner Sydney in 1912, the year she was born. Politics
The Westie Wing
Our favourite Macquarie Street MP, Ian West MLC, reports on the world of NSW politics. Postcard
The Cancun Wash-Up
The dramatic collapse of the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, last month has been followed by a deafening quiet from Geneva, Brussels and Washington, writes Peter Murphy.
Child Labor
Industrial Manslaughter
The Miracle Of Tom
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Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
It's Official - Life Worth $1800
The Tamworth roofer, said to have dodged 90 percent of the OH&S fine levied over the death of Dean McGoldrick, has two homes and drives around town in a Ford LTD, according to bereaved Mum, Robin McGoldrick.
Mrs McGoldrick said her family was "shattered" to learn the businessman had paid only $1800 of the $20,000 fine imposed over her son�s fatal fall from a Broadway, Sydney, building site.
The claim was made by CFMEU secretary, Andrew Ferguson, during a rally of 10,000 workers to honour another slain teenager, Joel Exner, and demand introduction of industrial manslaughter laws.
Checks with the office of NSW Industrial Relations Minister, John Della Bosca, confirmed there were no records of other payments towards the 2001 fine imposed by the Chief Industrial Magistrate's Court from either the businessman or his company, Advanced Roofing, which also traded as Tamworth Metal Roof Fascia and Guttering.
He was found guilty of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his employees.
"Our family is devastated, we are back to square one," Mrs McGoldrick said.
"This is just so disrespectful. It is disrespectful of Dean, us and the law.
"We live in Tamworth. We know this man lives in one home with his mother and also has an investment property, although it might very well be in his wife's name.
"They own a business called Advanced Hair Supplies and he drives around in an LTD."
Unions allege that Dean McGoldrick, who had only been with Advanced Roofing 11 days, worked for a company that didn't supply scaffolding or safety harnesses.
The same allegations have been leveled against Garry Denson Roofing, the company that employed 16-year-old, Joel Exner, who died earlier this month. Exner was only three days out of Evans High School, Blacktown, when he lost his life at Eastern Creek.
Mrs McGoldrick hailed the ACT Government's determination to bring in industrial manslaughter legislation and called on other states to "display similar courage".
"If one useful thing comes out of this it will be that other parents don't have to go through the hell Tim and I have been through," she said.
"That's why industrial manslaughter is important. What deterrent is a $20,000 fine, especially when it turns out it wasn't even paid?"
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Issue 201 contents
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