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Issue No. 225 18 June 2004  
 
F E A T U R E S

Interview: The New Democrat
Canadian activist Judy Rebick explains how she's using lessons from Brazil to rebuild the labour movement.

Bad Boss: The Ugly Australian
Prime Minister John Howard is in California spruiking the "merits" of this month�s Bad Boss nomination �

Unions: Free Spirits and Slaves
International capital demands guest labour � legal or illegal � as a way of beating down wages and conditions and, as Jim Marr discovers, the Australian Government seems happy to oblige.

Industrial: National Focus
Noel Hester reports on another workplace death (we-will-not-RIP NOHSC), heartburn for the Canberra consensus and all the action from around the states in our national wrap.

History: A Class Act
The problem of forgetting the primacy of class in favour of other ideas of community is highlighted in a new book, writes Neale Towart

International: Across the Ditch
NZ Nurses Union leader, Laila Harr�, is in Sydney this week, comparing notes with the Australian Nurses Federation and seeking transTasman support for New Zealand�s highest profile industrial campaign.

Economics: Home Truths
Sydney University's Frank Stilwell argues that tax policy is driving the housing boom.

Review: No Time Like Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is one part Grim Reaper of the environmental movement and two parts fictitious fable dramatically window dressed with extreme special effects, writes Tara de Boehmler.

Poetry: Silent Note
Resident Bard David Peetz uncovers the current public service motto � "Don't tell the Minister!".

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L A T E S T   N E W S

Multi Bets on China Card
One of Australia�s richest men is playing the China card in a bid to beat off claims from long-serving process workers earning $13 an hour.

AMWU members at electronics giant, HPM, are calling on community supporters to help them extract living wages from Peter Simon, estimated by BRW to be worth $170 million.  [full story]

Community Flags Reconciliation Push
Teachers and wharfies this week joined a 2000-strong community push to return the Aboriginal flag to its position above the Taree City Council Chambers.

Rank and file workers linked arms with Aboriginal leaders and community members to protest the newly-elected Taree City Council's decision to lower the Indigenous flag.  [full story]

Nigel�s Ad Values Questioned
Nigel Hadgkiss� sudden entry into the world of paid advertising has renewed calls for the scrapping of his Building Industry Task Force.

The Task Force chose last Wednesday, just six days before a Senate Committee is due to release its report on the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Bill, to advertise a service to workers and CFMEU spokesman, Dave Noonan, smelled a rat. [full story]

Medal for "Jobs Vandal"
John Howard has gonged a "jobs vandal" responsible for the disappearance of scores of positions from the WA waterfront.

Freemantle Ports chief executive, Kerry Sanderson, was given the OAU as Perth workers lined up a meeting with the state government to discuss her latest decision � to send skilled fabrication work for a ship unloader to Poland. [full story]

Schoolies Earn Thousands
School assistants across NSW will get "interim" increases of up to $10,000 next month, and jobs for around another 2000 people.

Thousands signed off on their four-year workload work value campaign by voting up the deal struck between the PSA and state government at a video conference linking 170 venues around the state, last week. [full story]

Westbus Drives Over Entitlements
Hundreds of millions of dollars in entitlements are riding on a blue between Westbus and its drivers.

Workers at one of the country�s biggest private bus operators stopped work last week over its refusal to guarantee their money. [full story]

ALSO MAKING NEWS

 Circus Owners Cut Up Rough

 Fireys Slam Adelaide "Death Traps"

 Job Slasher Faces Spam

 Sixty Stations Face Axe

 "Sickies" to Join Dinosaurs

 Mr One Percent on Notice

 Stink Over DJ�s Bogs

 Aussie Kids Die on the Job

 Activists What�s On!

email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet
This is part of the $22 million Point Piper house that women earning $13 an hour helped build.

E D I T O R I A L
In a global world, global business rules must apply � a company can not just change nationality and free itself of responsibilities.

Task Farce

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Pursuit of Happiness Part I
The Australia Institute's Clive Hamilton questions the assumptions underlying a society that defines happiness in dollar terms.

The Soapbox
The Pursuit of Happiness Part II
Clive Hamilton concludes his analysis, looking at how more and more Australians are pulling back from a marketplace that is no longer providing the goods.

The Locker Room
Sack �Em All!
Phil Doyle puts his job on the line, but doesn�t everyone these days?

Politics
The Westie Wing
The NSW Government has an agenda on the table but the test is finding innovative ways to finance it, writes Ian West


LETTERS to the Editor
 Flexed To Death

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