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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 Pádraig 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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News
Law Rewritten To Get Workers’ Cash
Mudgee Abattoir workers, who faced losing $5 million dollars worth of entitlements, received welcome news this week with the NSW Government amending legislation to remove obstacles to their payouts.
"The fight has only just begun,' says Graham Kelly of the United Services Union. "Whilst the state government has kept its promise that now needs to be followed up."
"John Anderson now needs to keep his promise to make available $2.9 million in GEERS funding."
The Minister for Local Government, Mr Tony Kelly pushed through changes to the Local Government Act to meet conditions outlined by the Federal Government.
Deputy Prime Minister and local Federal MP, John Anderson, put a number of conditions on the State Government before he would pay the workers' entitlements, even though payment under GEERS is discretionary. GEERS is the Federal governments scheme to protect some employee entitlements in the event of a business going bankrupt, as happened with Mudgee Abattoir.
Anderson has gone on the record as saying that without the legal obstacles payments could come through in as little as four weeks.
"Our first priority has always been to make sure that the workers got what they were owed," says Tony Kelly. "Now it's time for the Federal Government to pay-up!"
Tony Kelly said that while the situation was not ideal, the NSW Government had made sure that the Federal Government would cover the workers' entitlements.
"We can't give them back their jobs, but at least now the abattoir workers and their families can have a decent Christmas," says Tony Kelly.
Graham Kelly was also interested in amendments that would allow the Minister for Local Government to make financial orders on councils.
"This puts Mudgee and Rylstone council on notice," says Graham Kelly. "We will be meeting with the Minister on November 3 to explore options to seek the balance of money owed to Abattoir employees under their statutory entitlements."
Mudgee and Rylstone Councils were two of the councils that made up the county council that owned the abattoir, which went bust earlier this year owing $5million in employees entitlements.
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Issue 201 contents
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