The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 216 16 April 2004  
E D I T O R I A L

Joining the Dots
At first blush there appears little connection between the Howard Government�s handling of the War on the union movement and the War on Iraq � until you realise the key players come from the same team.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Terror Australis
The Howard Government has just discovered the nation's ports are a terrorist target. The International Transport Federation's Dean Summers has been warning them for years.

Unions: Graeme Beard's Second Dig
Hidden in the Australian Workers Union Sydney office is a mild-mannered industrial officer who once strutted the international cricket stage, writes Jim Marr.

Industrial: The Hell of Troy
On the basis of a couple of hours in the witness box, Building Industry Royal Commissioner Terence Cole described Troy Stratti as "credible". Six men who, together, have known the company director for the best part of 50 years beg to differ.

Organising: Miners Strike Gold
Traditional unions are rediscovering the power of grassroots organising. Paddy Gorman reports from the coal face.

Economics: The Accepted Wisdom
Evan Jones argues that economic policy making has been narrowed and rendered mechanistic and antiseptic.

History: Vicious Old Lady
Despite its Liberal leanings, the Sydney Morning Herald has never been shy of bashing unions, writes Neale Towart.

International: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Thailand must end its crackdown on Burmese fleeing rights abuses in their military-ruled homeland, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

Review: War Unfogged
Want to go to war but not sure where to start? Look no further than Errol Morris' latest doco-drama for the definitive 11-step lesson plan, writes Tara de Boehmler.

Poetry: TAFE
A TAFE student struggling under the weight of fees shares his wordly wisdom

N E W S

 Weekend Warrior Outed

 Dick�s Got Form

 Mum Burned By "Barbecue Stopper"

 RSL Bombs Vets

 Sweetener for Sugar Pills

 Death Highlights Risky Business

 Casual Affair On The Buses

 Athens Update: Dying Games

 Nuns Run Amok in Cessnock

 Roving Commission for Safety Reps

 Workers Order Ziggy on Toast

 Divers Down

 Activists What�s On!

C O L U M N S

Postcard
A Voice for Peace
Palestinian trade union leader calls on militants to lay down their arms while the ICFTU protests harassment of Palestinian union leader.

The Soapbox
The Double Standard Bearers
Nicholas Way argues that when it comes to collective action, the Howard Government has different views depending on whether you are a unionist or a small business.

The Locker Room
The Fine Print
While the result mightn�t be everything, it does make the back of the newspaper more interesting, as Phil Doyle reports.

Politics
The Westie Wing
Ian West crunches the numbers in Macquarie Street and finds virtue in deficit.

L E T T E R S
 Sick Pay
 Tom�s A Furphy
 Rolling in Clover
 More War And Peace
 Invisible Workers
WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch



News

Athens Update: Dying Games


Thirteen immigrant workers have lost their lives on Athens� Olympic facilities, prompting outraged Greek unionists to draw comparisons with Sydney preparations that cost the life on only one building worker.

"What's happened is criminal in the truest sense of the word and it's been done in the name of profit," says Giorgos Philiousis, president of the construction workers' union at the Athens 2004 Olympic Village. "As the time got pressured with contractors chasing bonuses and without serious health and safety measures the number of accidents increased."

According to unions, contractors may have concealed fatal accidents at any one of t more than 35 non-union Olympic sites. There are also a very high number of injuries.

Sydney's unionised Olympic building program is increasingly being viewed as a benchmark.

"Over 90% of the Athens workforce is migrant labour," says Australian CFMEU national secretary John Sutton. "Employers are exploiting immigrant labour en masse."

Sutton also points out that the quality of work has suffered greatly, safety standards are poor and workers are being treated in an undignified fashion.

"The Greek government should have approached this with a cooperative attitude,' says Sutton, who contrasted the Athens scenario with the experience of the Sydney preparations where the union movement and the NSW Labor government worked together. "It has backfired for the Greek government"

Earlier this year the CFMEU staged a protest outside Greek diplomatic facilities in Australia to send a message on behalf of Australian workers about the "disgraceful" way workers in Greece were being treated.


------

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 216 contents



email workers to a friend printer-friendly version latest breaking news from labornet


Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/216/news85_athens.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET