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Issue No. 226 25 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

Hadgkiss Sinks Boot into Safety
Nigel Hadgkiss will spend taxpayers� money to get his hands on workers bank records, and continue his campaign to have agreed safety procedures declared illegal.

The Building Industry Task Force boss told Workers Online his organisation would appeal an injunction that restrains Multiplex from handing him the financial records of a dozen Melbourne building workers. [full story]

Put a Job in Your Trolley
Embattled Aussie icon Golden Circle is turning to rank and file union members in an advertising blitz designed to evade the rough end of the pineapple.

National Union of Workers member, Rob Diefenbach, features in full page weekend newspaper ads appealing for Australian workers to "buy some extra Golden Circle products" next time they go shopping.  [full story]

Della Puts Cleaners Through Schools
John Della Bosca has put 6000 low-paid workers on the block in his bid to save money.

Labor Council and the LHMU will register "strenuous objections" to the government�s move to flog off school cleaning contracts to the lowest bidder at a showdown with ministers this week. [full story]

Freespirit Severs "Slavery" Link
Months of AMWU pressure have convinced the WA "slave labour" rort company to cut ties with programs organised by the state�s powerful Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"The company only entered into this area on the invitation of the CCIWA (Chamber of Commerce and Industry, WA). Freespirit will not get involved with any of these programs again," managing director, Paul Rigby, pledged this week. [full story]

Luna Fringe Targets Fun
The Carr Government is being urged to stand firm against North Shore NIMBYs who want to strip Luna Park of 610 jobs.

Labor Council secretary, John Robertson, accuses the Not In My Back Yard brigade of orchestrating opposition to the latest incarnation of Sydney�s historic fun park, much of which is heritage protected. [full story]

Labour Warriors Fall
The Labour movement lost warriors last week from two different generations - former Tasmanian Premier Jim Bacon and retired Sydney labour lawyer Roy Turner.

Bacon, a one-time Maoist student leader and BLF official, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in February and resigned as Premier. [full story]

ALSO MAKING NEWS

 Canberra Six in Dock

 Lobbyists Look for ALP Spine

 Tree Plan Faces Axe

 Sydney Water to Drip Feed Public

 Safety Nosedives At JetStar

 Irritable Desks on March

 Howard Backs Union Model

 Activists What�s On!

email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet
Poster Boy - NUW activist Rob Diefenbach is one of the workers being featured in an advertising campaign designed to turn around Golden Circle's fortunes.

E D I T O R I A L
In attacking the short-sightedness and self-serving nature of the Bush adventure in Iraq Latham is lining up alongside many Americans

Est Maximus Tool

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
 Lest We Forget

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