E D I T O R I A L

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.

F E A T U R E S

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!

N E W S

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

C O L U M N S

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.

L E T T E R S

WHAT YOU CAN DO

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Activists Notebook

Patterns of Union Joining in New Zealand: Causes, Characteristics and Consequences.

Results of the NZ Worker Representation & Participation Survey

Professor Peter Boxall

University of Auckland Business School

Do New Zealand workers join unions for ideological or instrumental reasons?

Is there an unsatisfied demand for union representation in New Zealand?

What are the consequences for NZ unions as they strive to increase membership levels?

This seminar reports findings from the New Zealand Worker Representation and Participation Survey conducted in January and February this year by Peter Haynes, Peter Boxall and Keith Macky. One thousand New Zealand workers were surveyed about their experience of work, including their felt and desired levels of influence over a range of issues and their attitudes to union representation.

Date: Monday, 3 November 2003

Time: 12.00pm - 1.20pm

Venue: JG Seminar Room 119, 1st Floor,

John Goodsell Building, UNSW

For more information contact Marie Kwok on 9385 7156 or [email protected]

Volunteering in Palestine: an Information Evening

6-8pm, Tuesday November 4th

1st floor conference room,

Unity House 79 Stirling Street, Perth

Two Western Australians - a union Organiser and an International Solidarity Movement activist - will share their recent experiences volunteering in Palestine.

Internationals perform an important role in bringing people's attention to the tragic suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Please direct any questions to Rodney at [email protected] or (08) 9322 1384. or to Pat at 93610186 and at [email protected]

Fairwear!

Is your organisation involved in merchandising? Do You Buy clothing to sell with your message? Do You Know if the workers making those clothes are receiving their legal wages? If you want to Be Sure that the clothing you sell is being made for fair wages, under fair conditions then this is the training for you.

Fair Wear is providing a free training day on how to get your clothing supplier accredited to the Homeworkers Code of Practice. This code was developed by the Textile/Clothing Union together with representatives of the retail and manufacturing industries. The code is a self regulatory system that monitors the production chain from retailer to outworker to ensure legal wages and conditions. Some outworkers have been paid their Award entitlements for the first time as a result of the accreditation process.

Once accredited, suppliers can display the No Sweatshop label: a sign of sweatshop free production. As organisations you have the power to demand companies you source from commit to sweatshop free conditions, and through demanding accreditation you can be directly involved in improving the conditions of outworkers in the Australian clothing industry.

Fair Wear is calling on all NGO�s, charitable organisations and community groups to get behind the No Sweatshop Label and get their suppliers of T-shirts, windcheaters or any other garments, accredited to the Homeworkers Code of Practice.

Where: Labor Council 377-383 Sussex St Sydney. Executive Board Room, Lvl 9

When: Wednesday 5th November. 9am - 12.30

Contact: Dez Karlsson;

[email protected]

ph: 9380 9091

fax: 9380 8159

mob: 0403 128 013

http://www.fairwear.org.au

Paying for Private Profit seminar

Evatt Breakfast Seminar - November 11

Location: Macquarie Room, Quality Hotel (formerly the Southern Cross Hotel),

Cnr Goulburn and Elizabeth Streets Sydney, opposite the Goulburn Street

Parking Station, and a short stroll from both Central and Museum railway

stations.

Time: Breakfast will be served from 7.30 am, the seminar will commence at

8.00am & finish at 9am precisely.

Cost: $14 (includes breakfast)

RSVP Evatt Foundation: [email protected]

NSW Labor Film Night - 'The Contender'

A presidential political thriller. After the Vice-President dies in office, the President decides it's time for a woman to take the job. Senator Laine Hanson gets the nod, but Republican leaks and disinformation threaten to derail her campaign.

'The Contender' (rated M) stars Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen and Gary Oldman.

Come and enjoy this Oscar nominated film & then enjoy some refreshments with other Party members.

6:00pm for 6:30pm start on Tuesday 11 November

Theatrette, State Parliament, Macquarie Street, Sydney

$20 / $15 concession (bookings essential)

Light refreshments will be served after the movie.

For more information please contact Paul Sekhon on (02) 9207 2000 or email [email protected]

*You must be a Party member to make a booking

Trading Australia Away?

Anthony Albanese MP and Grayndler ALP presents "Trading Australia Away?" - a public forum to debate the important issues of free trade and globalisation.

7.30pm to 9pm Thursday 13th November, 2003

Marrickville Town Hall, 303 Marrickville Road, Marrickville,2204

Guest Speakers are Senator Stephen Conroy (Shadow Minister for Trade, Corporate Governance, Financial Services and Small Business), Pat Ranald

(Convenor AFTINET) and Doug Cameron (National Secretary AMWU).

Contact Shane McArdle on 02 9564 3588 or [email protected]

Australian Fabian Society (NSW Branch) and Gleebooks present

Crowded Lives - A New Agenda for Social Sustainability

Lindsay Tanner , Federal Labor Communications Spokesperson discusses his new book, Crowded Lives, which argues that relationships need to be at the center of government policy.

Dr Ariadne Vromen, Lecturer in Government,University of Sydney

discusses the family/work/public life pressures on people and the

changing political participation of young people.

Dr David McKnight, left activist and Lecturer in journalism, UTS,

discusses the conservation of the human in progressive politics.

Where: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe

When : 6pm for 6.30pm, Monday 17th November

Concluding at 8pm

Entry Fee : $10/$5 Fabians and concession

To book phone Gleebooks on 96602333 or [email protected]

About Crowded Lives, published by Pluto Press

HEAR! Shadow Attorney General Robert McClelland MP on Howard's IR agenda

and Industrial law experts from Turner Freeman Solicitors on recent IR changes and what they mean

FREE! all welcome

Meeting room

Newcastle Trades Hall Council

Devonshire House

406 King Street Newcastle West 2302

5 pm Thursday 20 November 2003

refreshments served

call 02 4929 1162 or email [email protected] to register or make enquires

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