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Issue No. 212 12 March 2004  
E D I T O R I A L

Unfriendly Fire
The decision by Rail Corp to invoke Peter Reith�s hardline industrial laws against NSW rail maintenance workers could cause more casualties than intended.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Baby Bust
Labor's Wayne Swan argues that the plight of our aging workforce is only one side of our demographic dilemma.

Safety: Dust To Dust
Failure by authorities to police safety in the asbestos removal industry is threatening the lives of members of the public, writes Phil Doyle.

Bad Boss: Shaming in Print
Delegates from print shops around Sydney will publicly shame this month�s Bad Boss nominee with a rally outside his new Alexandria operation next Thursday.

National Focus: Work's Cripplin' Us
Noel Hester reports on a spin doctors' talkfest, workplace pain, stroppy teachers and IWD party time in the national wrap.

International: Bulk Bullies
An extraordinary five month struggle over affordable health care, by nearly 70,000 Californian supermarket workers, has just come to an end, writes Andrew Casey.

History: The Battle for Kelly's Bush
Green Bans saved a piece of bush before they saved much of the Sydney�s built environment, writes Neale Towart

Economics: Aid, Trade And Oil
Tim Anderson reveals Australia�s second betrayal Of East Timor is playing out before our eyes.

Review: The Art Of Work
Workers and westies are being celebrated as the cultural icons they are thanks to two Sydney exhibitions reminding us there is a world of art in the everyday, writes Tara de Boehmler.

Poetry: Sew His Lips Together
Wondering where the next porkie is going to come from? Resident bard David Peetz knows.

N E W S

 Bring It On Costa

 Dodgy Tests Cost Drivers

 Peeking Dicks Roasted

 Serial Killer Cops Fine

 Printers Defy Age

 Actors Bucket "Crap" Deal

 Burrow Lashes Independents

 Perth Loses Ugly Fight

 Ambos Bans -Free Rides

 Millions Rung Up on Telstra

 AWU Publishing Coup

 Deliveries Scratched

 Activists What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Iraq and Your Mortgage
How high interest rates go will be a key issue in 2004 and if you are looking for a clue, there's no better place to look than the war in Iraq, writes Michael Rafferty.

Sport
Hang Onto the Day Job
Show someone else the money, says Phil Doyle.

Politics
Westie Wing
Ian West shows why Eveleigh Street�s not so far away from Macquarie Street

Postcard
Don�t Give Up the Fight
Get Up, Stand Up is the logo of choice on a popular range of subversive condoms. Ken Davis from Union Aid Abroad reports from Zimbabwe�s second city

L E T T E R S
 Bring Back Gough
 Seven Good Reasons To Save Medicare
 Naked Leading The Blind
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Deliveries Scratched


Deliveries of court documents, scratch lotto tickets and state transit bus tickets have ceased as public servants gear up for stoushes with the NSW Government.

PSA members at Q Stores and cmSolutions, printing business units within the Commerce Department, have imposed a range of bans in response to plans to hock the services off to private operators.

Workers are demanding a full public audit into the costs of replicating services put on the block and assurances of no job losses in the interim.

Meanwhile, representatives of 2250 public school admin staff have called for the resignation of Education Minister, Andrew Refshauge, after he declined to act on recommendations that came out of a four-year departmental review.

PSA president Sue Walsh called Refshauge's refusal to act on the review's finding that support staff were worth more money an "extraordinary abrogation of responsibility".

Delegates met last week and voted for a campaign of industrial action to press their demand for more money.

Walsh said they had been "outraged, angry and disgusted" at the lack of recognition for school assistant and senior school assistants.

"The PSA entered into negotiations at the Department's request to address the enormous work overload and work value issues," she said. "It is reasonable to expect the Department will deliver on its findings."


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