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The Mouse That Roars
A number of campaigns this week show how web campaigning is reaching a level of sophistication that is transforming it from a gee-whiz fad to a potent industrial tool.
Interview: Machine Man
It�s regarded as the most powerful job in the Party, but new NSW ALP general secretary Mark Arbib wants to build a bridge with the union movement.
Unions: Testing Times
Unions are not opposed to drug and alcohol testing, but they do want to see real safety issues addressed, writes Phil Doyle.
Bad Boss: Freespirit Haunts Internet
FreeSpirit forked out a motza for a whiz bang internet presence then disappeared right off the radar � once it was nominated as our Bad Boss for May.
Unions: Badge of Honour
Surry Hills is home to one of the world�s finest displays of union badges thanks to Bill "The Bear" Pirie and a supporting cast headed by Joe Strummer, Mark Knopfler, George Benson, Annie Lennox and other seriously big noises.
National Focus: Noel's World
Shrill bosses bleat over minimum wage rise, union spinmeisters congregate in Melbourne and Tassie�s nurses take the baton from their mob in Victoria reports Noel Hester in this national round up.
Economics: Safe Refuge
A humanitarian approach to refugees and an economically rational one?? I�d like to see that. Frank Stilwell did, when he went to Young in NSW to look into the impact of the Afghan refugees on temporary protection visas who came to work for the local abattoir
International: Global Abuse
Amnesty International have joined the chorus against the violation of trade union rights in the former Soviet republic of Belarus.
History: The Honeypot
To the Honeypot come those individuals anxious to get their hands on instant wealth. So it was in the early days of Broken Hill, wrties Grace Hawes in this homage to the mining town.
Review: Death And The Barbarians
This new take on coming of age films focuses on the coming of death and the dignity and maturity it can inspire among those touched by it - though not always easily in the overcrowded Canadian public health system, writes Tara de Boehmler.
Poetry: Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Resident Bard David Peetz uncovers some of the unfolding mysteries of talk back radio.
 Casual Affair Costs Family
Dob a Driver Strikes Out
Crash LAME�s Smoking Gun
Axe To Fall On Skippy
Internet Replaces Crayons
Young Lives Crushed
Feds Move Goal Posts
Telstra Baulks at Two Percent
Crane Death Brings Fine
Worker Breaks Unwritten Law
Private Nurses Short Changed
RailCorp Wrecks Weekend
Thunderbirds Are Stop
Activists What�s On!
The Soapbox
Rethinking Left and Right Part 1
Dr David McKnight, from the University of Technology, Sydney presents a new frame for looking at the competing ideas within Social Democracy. The Soapbox
Rethinking Left and Right Part 2
David McKnight concludes the paper he presented to the �Rethinking Social Democracy� conference, in London, April 15-17, 2004. Sport
Out On A Limb
Phil Doyle becomes the first Australian journalist to state that the Olympics will be called off.
Politics
The Westie Wing
In the latest episode, Ian West explores what Disraeli called "Lies, damn lies and statistics". Postcard
Message from America
Searing snapshots from a landscape of uncertainty have plunged the Bush Administration into deeper crisis, writes WorkingForChange's Bill Berkowitz.
Reprehensible?
Justice For Victims Denied
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Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
RailCorp Wrecks Weekend
Tens of thousands of NSW rail travellers were stranded last weekend after railway communications equipment failed, and workers have sheeted home responsibility to a "culture� within NSW railways that is seeing maintenance, equipment and safety standards being run down.
An inquiry into the fatal Glenbrook train disaster by Justice McInerney four years ago recommended an urgent overhaul of railway communication equipment.
These recommendations are yet to be implemented despite problems with railway communication equipment being identified in inquiries into the subsequent Hexham and Waterfall accidents.
"Railcorp needs to get its act together," says Bob Carcary from the Electrical Trades Union, who has slammed a lack of direction in the rail industry for affecting infrastructure maintenance.
Workers at RailCorp claim that infrastructure maintenance is being sacrificed as the rail operator focuses on operating train services, with staff shortages in maintenance areas compromising the safety of the network.
"These are the people who talk about safety, yet they can't even get an Asbestos register together," says Carcary. "My experience is that when you put pressure on [RailCorp] they have a knee jerk reaction."
"The previous management of [Railcorp forerunner] the Rail Infrastructure Corporation outlined a vision, and their actions backed it up," says Carcary. "Now when RailCorp CEO Vince Graham talks about change he never says what or when. He's said nothing about infrastructure maintenance."
"There's a lot of buzzword and catchphrases."
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Issue 219 contents
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