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Motherhood Statements
There is a term for political statements that are so bland they have lost their meaning – terms that no one could disagree with, designed to win the support of all people at all times.
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.
 Big Bribe Misses Battlers
West in Great Leap Backwards
Cheques in the Mail
Bullets Foul Childcare
Thanks Bob - Lawyers Tuck In
Watchdog Barks for Workers
Budget Brushes Elderly Blueprint
John Sutton’s Fine Idea
Teachers Unified in Out(r)age
Qantas Hits Panic Button
Lights Out At MCG
Richs to Rags Warning
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.
Railroaded
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Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
Qantas Hits Panic Button
Qantas workers at Melbourne Airport that have been spat on, punched and kicked have hailed a move by Qantas to trial distress buttons as a "small step" to combating passenger "air rage".
The airline has also agreed to introduce two security guards to intervene and protect employees from abusive and threatening passengers.
The new distress buttons will be placed at every counter and every location where staff deal with passengers; if the measures are effective Australian Services Union (ASU) members are expecting Qantas to roll out the system across all airports.
The move follows a union survey that found 96 per cent of airport staff had witnessed customer rage.
Airport staff have been battling the growing problem of air rage for some time, including participating in a worldwide campaign on the issue promoted by the International Transport Workers Federation and conducting a survey to measure the incidence of air rage on airport staff.
ASU delegates from around the country met with Qantas Airport Managers and Head of Airports, Grant Fenn, last Monday to discuss the incidence of air rage at airports around Australia.
The ASU has slammed an "argument" between State and Federal Police and the Australian Protective Services about who is responsible for bad passenger behaviour at airports.
"Ultimately we would like and encourage the Government to stop procrastinating and introduce legislation with harsh penalties to deal with offenders at Airports," says Linda White from the ASU. "We have to ask our governments and politicians how they would like it if there was violence in their workplace."
"The parliament is public place like an airport. Members of the public who threaten or assault our politicians in parliament have police swarming everywhere but at airports it appears we have a police free zone."
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Issue 220 contents
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