*****
The deckchairs got a shuffle in Canberra during the week and the government took the opportunity to promote people solely on merit. All of them. Well, except for Ian Campbell.
The Prime Minister admitted that our new Environment Minister wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but what could he do? If he waited around until the Western Australian division of the Liberal party threw up someone with a brain we'd be waiting until the middle of the Century before he could form a cabinet. And it was imperative that he had someone from WA, even if that person has the intellect of a house brick.
It was pleasing to see Helen Coonan promoted on merit; Howard has showed his commitment to gender equality by promoting incompetent liars such as Coonan to match the incompetent lying males in the Federal cabinet.
On his first day on the job Campbell showed his grasp of the role the Environment plays in the scheme of things by saying that the only way we can fix our environmental problems is by having a robust economy.
What sort of economy we're supposed to have if there's not enough drinking water or NSW's south west slopes starts to resemble the more arid regions of Campbell's home state of WA remains unclear.
Maybe Campbell is onto something. If we completely bugger the environment and leave the south eastern corner of the country like the Simpson desert then Campbell will feel at home in the eastern states, who can then start producing more slack jawed yokels like him.
Campbell continues the longstanding tradition of the senate being used by Western Australian division of the Liberal Party as a sheltered workshop for failed accountants and deranged Rotarians. Our Tool Of The Week is carrying on the stupefyingly dumb tradition of such luminaries as Noel Chrichton-Brown and Ross Lightfoot.
Our man Campbell has already presented himself as a shining example of Liberal intellect. During the Government's attempt to shut down debate on the Iraq war he described attempts by other senators to raise the issue as a "cruel and disgraceful stunt", which he claimed, without a hint of irony, "demean[s] this great political institution, and... Australia as a democracy."
His credentials as an environment minister received a massive boost when he lambasted the Western Australian Government for pressing ahead with a railway instead of turning Perth into a clone of Los Angeles.
The WA Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Alannah MacTiernan choked on her cornflakes when she read about Campbell being promoted to the Environment portfolio.
"We've got a man here who simply does not understand environmental issues, as demonstrated by his frequent attacks on the rail project and urging us to halt the rail project and put all of the money into roads."
No wonder he wants the US to secure the Iraqi oilfields at any cost, regardless of how many get killed along the way. We'll need all that petrol to keep up his vision for a Freeway led recovery.
Chainsaw Campbell takes over from David Kemp, who became environment minister due to his uncanny resemblance to a log.
Campbell told a national shipping industry conference earlier this year that the government's support for ships of shame would "never reduce our strict safety, security and environmental standards".
Well, it's a bit late Campbell old son, you've already done that.
Campbell is a big fan of throwing Australian seafarers out of a job and replacing them with crews from god knows where, chucking any safety concerns out the window along the way, which doesn't bode well if he's all that stands between us and environmental ruin.
The good Senator also took time to tell a bemused crowd at the IMF that the Iraqi war had created some economic uncertainty. This will come as surprise to his colleagues Hill, Downer and boss Howard given that they seem to think that the Iraqi scenario has led to a new golden age of freedom and is an unsurpassed success, just ask Mick Keelty.
A man out of his depth is seldom a pretty sight, but our Tool Of The Week can take pride in the fact that he's probably not going to have to be Environment Minister for too long, and not because he'll get his wish to concrete over it either.
The IMF (International Metalworkers Federation) is expected to help block escape routes for the one-time blue chip by lobbying Governments in Europe and the US to negotiate legal treaties with Australia.
An IMF meeting in Geneva is considering AMWU proposals to mount pressure on the Governments of the Netherlands and the US state of Delaware for formal treaties that would oblige James Hardie to meet its debts to tens of thousands of Australians dying from asbestos-related lung diseases.
The move is part of a multi-faceted union response to James Hardie's bid to have the NSW Government introduce a statutory scheme that would limit its liabilities by slashing payments to asbestos disease sufferers and surviving family members.
James Hardie floated the proposal, essentially a re-run of last year's unsuccessful move to allow asbestos producers to keep their profits while socialising their losses, this week.
It came in the company's formal response at the Jackson Inquiry that had heard evidence it told the NSW Supreme Court, at the time of its relocation to the Netherlands, it would leave $1.9 worth of assets in Australia for the benefit of creditors.
Less than 18 months later, at a secret board meeting, James Hardie cancelled that arrangement without informing the court, the stock market or asbestos sufferers.
Treaties with the Netherlands and Delaware, where the company is also registered, are just one element of a campaign that will also include consumer boycotts and possible workplace bans.
NSW unions will also join state Labor's Left Caucus members in lobbying to ensure the Carr Government does not accede to a proposal that would slash compensation payments and transfer some of the cost onto taxpayers
Labor Council unanimously supported a five-point action plan from the AMWU and CFMEU after hearing an impassioned plea from dying Sydney man, Bernie Banton.
"I implore you people to stop them getting away with this," Banton told delegates.
"It's people like me and my family that are suffering every day because people at James Hardie have no morality," he said.
"James Hardie knew for years that its asbestos was killing people. They promised the court they would leave behind $1.9 billion for sufferers then, by stealth, they turned around and robbed us.
"These people have lied to the Commission, lied to their shareholders and lied to the court. They can't be trusted."
AMWU national secretary, Doug Cameron, said the move to head James Hardie off at the international pass was serious.
"Through our international ties, the AMWU will use every possible pressure point to ensure this company does not get away with this corporate jail break," Cameron said.
"The behaviour of James Hardie towards Australian victims of asbestos disease is reprehensible and demands, local, national and international responses to ensure it meets its legal and moral obligations."
The Inquiry into James Hardie's behaviour, headed by David Jackson, QC, is expected to report to the NSW Government in September.
Peter McLean has been charged with breaching the dispute resolution procedure in the Victorian Building Industry Agreement, months after Hadgkiss told Senate Estimates his organisation did not pursue employers for award breaches.
"They certainly have a different approach when it comes to workers," CFMEU industrial officer, Jesse Madisson, told Workers Online.
"This Task Force came into being on the back of allegations of thuggery and violence. This is the third matter it has taken to court in Victoria in two years and it is the third time a union rep has been charged with failing to comply with disputes procedures.
"They say Peter should have taken the workers' grievance through a consultative committee. Knowing the company involved, I would be very surprised if there was a consultative committee on the job."
Workers Online understands the action stems from the failure of Zouner Construction to pay workers at La Trobe University, Mildura, the site allowance set out in their enterprise bargaining agreement until after the job shut down for one day.
Mildura sources said the money, including back pay, arrived immediately after the stoppage.
The case is being run in the Mildura Magistrates Court by controversial Taskforce officer, Gary Ponzio, fingered in Senate Estimates for offering an apprentice payments to pass on union documents.
McLean, said "constant interference" by Ponzio had made the Mildura issue more difficult to resolve.
He said he had received assurances from Zouner representatives the $1.65 an hour, at issue, would be paid. However, nine or 10 weeks and many representations later, it was still being denied.
"We had ongoing arguments with Ponzio, over all sorts of things," McLean said.
"I was harrassed by him for weeks. I was also the safety representative and, at one point, he ordered me to hand over all my books and diaries
"I really think the court action is personal. We won the argument and now it is payback time."
Occupational Health & Safety Daily News, a division of Prahan-based Electronic News Group Pty Ltd, is threatening legal action against anyone who uses, reads or transmits its OH&S sheet, without paying for the privilege.
OH&S News warns freeloaders will be tracked and referred to its "Data Protection Unit (DPU)".
"The policy of the publisher is that all breaches must be remedied," it says.
"Only the paying subscriber is entitled to read/use any part of this Bulletin. Any transgressions detected will result in an invoice of $599 for each and every breach."
It promises to pursue every invoice through the courts and, if necessary, to wind up companies or bankrupt individuals.
The copyright warning was issued less than a year after OH & S Daily News failed to respond to a request from Workers Online that it attribute articles pinched directly from our web pages.
It's not like it took the hint and quietly ceased passing off our work as its own. On Monday, July 12, the two top articles presented to "privileged clients", came from the previous Friday's Workers Online.
Attempts to speak with OH & S News boss, Ann Crowley, were unsuccessful which was a shame because we wanted to ask her ...
- if her staff writes any of the newsletter themselves?
- how much of each $599 payment would be returned to Workers Online or other "original" sources, such as our much-pillaged sister publication, Union Safe?
- if she feels embarrassed by her company's assertion that "breach of copyright is theft"?
Spot the Difference
Here is the lead article from OH & S Daily News of July 12:
"SYDNEY:A former Chubb Security Operations Manager claims years of bullying has left him a physical and emotional wreck. John McPhilbin has come forward as the NSW Labor Council moves to campaign against the "nightmare "of workplace bullying.In 2000 McPhilbin was allocated to Chubb 's "Project Phoenix " where he was denied appropriate pay or performance reviews for over two years.
"A Chubb internal investigation supported Mr McPhilbin 's claims that that the company had acted inappropriately,describing the company 's conduct as "less than satisfactory ".
"The harassment came to a head in August 2003 when McPhilbin was forced to take sick leave and,despite numerous requests for an anti-bullying program to be implemented,was finally sacked by Chubb in February of this year.
Medical experts have backed McPhilbin 's claims of the physical and emotional impairment resulting from his prolonged exposure to a hostile workplace.
And here's their second article:
"BRISBANE:Labour hire giant Adecco faces accusations of unfair dismissal,discrimination, sexual harassment,safety shortcomings,sacking a worker with epilepsy,and losing $480,000 through management incompetence.The claims are contained in actions against the Swiss-
based multi-national being tested in separate Queensland jurisdictions.
"Gladstone branch manager Brian Robertson,says the company rejected his argument the man should have been transferred to light duties.
"Mr Robertson alleges problems with his employer began when he was informed by Workcover Adecco could be in breach of health and safety laws because it did not have rehab officers on major sites.He claims that when he took up his problems with an Adecco director she told him,and others,that he sounded "old and grumpy and needed to get laid ".
See the full, originals for free at http://workers.labor.net.au/228/
Matthew Hudson, who was not being paid for his work, was killed when a forklift he was driving collapsed on him at Blue Ribbon meats.
Meatworkers Union officials investigating the death discovered the existence of laws in the Tasmanian criminal code, dating back to the '20s, that make a crime of unlawful killing in the workplace.
"We're the only state to have industrial manslaughter legislation," state secretary, Grant Courtney, said.
"We want this tragedy thoroughly investigated. It's a disgrace."
Hudson, who was not supoposed to be working on the site, was unlicensed for either a motor vehicle or a forklift. His family claims he came home filthy and dirty every day; it is further alleged the 16-year-old took instructions from Blue Ribbon Meats employees.
The meat company has "washed their hands of the incident", according to the Meatworkers Union, by claiming he was the responsibility of a contractor.
The union understands Hudson was the son of a "mate" of the contractor.
"Some mate!" says Courtney.
The contractor was working on a federally funded job at Blue Ribbon Meats, who have locked out 20 workers seeking award protection since April, 2003.
The Meatworkers Union has slammed Tasmanian Liberal Senator Guy Barnett for organising the funding "while he knew of the industrial situation at Blue Ribbon".
Courtney contrasted federal funds being directed to a "murderous" Tasmanian employer, while being denied to unionised projects on the mainland.
Locked out Blue Ribbon workers have won their case in the Industrial Relations Commission and the Supreme Court. They are currently awaiting a decision on Blue Ribbon's appeal to the full bench of the Supreme Court.
Australia Post carried off the inaugural Tony Award, struck to commemorate Tony Abbott�s support for poor employers, and copped a dishonourable mention last year.
CEPU secretary, Jim Metcher, confirmed he would nominate the company as a 2004 finalist, after helping a new Mum recover six weeks of maternity leave entitlements.
Australia Post caved into a CEPU deadline and countermanded an order by Strathfield Mail Centre chief, Gary Sadler, that would have reduced her leave from 12 weeks to six on the basis that her child had arrived 13 weeks before the date she nominated.
"Gary Sadler directed the entitlements manager to only pay half of her maternity entitlement," Metcher said.
"The woman went through her supervisors, the HR Department and local delegates but Sadler was a brick wall.
"Unfortunately, management on the operational side of Australia Post treats workers without dignity or respect. There are a couple of managers out there whose philosophy is - my way or the highway.
"They are trying to create an environment based on the old Redfern Mail Exchange model when that place was known as one of the worst industrial environments in Australia."
Workers Online has come into possession of management emails that call for recent dismissals to be held over heads of surviving workers.
The first informs the same Gary Sadler that two sacked workers have failed to lodge appeals within the required 14 days.
Sadler immediately instructs managers at the country's largest mail centre: "Please ensure that we spread the word that we have sacked a couple for poor attendance ... Gary."
In a brief memo to "all" on June 28, Sadler announces: "2 staff members at SWLF have been dismissed for poor attendance. Those who snub their nose and continue to register poor and late attendance will suffer the same fate!!!"
Metcher calls this "management by threat". There is, he says, nothing positive or team building in the approach.
He said the union had not tested the validity of the dismissals because the pair had not been members.
Meanwhile, Workers Online understands Australia Post could be severely embarrassed by revelations surrounding the recent death of a long-serving Dural postie.
According to AFP management, goatee beards and stud earrings, are banned from all federal sites immediately.
The diktat was communicated to affected workers after their union asked the basis on which the AFP had failed to consult on its "practical guide to uniforms, standards of dress and appearance.
CPSU spokesman, Evan Hall, said the goatee ban had been queried because it was "competely inconsistent" and turned long-standing arrangements upside down.
"Wearing a goatee is established practice for some Protective Services Officers," Hall said. "Their guidelines allow for other styles of facial hair such as beards and moustaches. Where do you draw the line?
"After members expressed concern, AFP told us there would be a six month phase-in period. Then, yesterday, they announced the ban on studs and goatees would be immediate."
The CPSU has invoked the dispute settlement procedure in the guards' agreement in a bid to trim the argument.
The true Labor man, dedicated to family, union, party and community, passed away last week at the age of 88.
As a casual driver on the waterfront Altoff joined the TWU in 1956, and became an active delegate in 1959.
This was the same year Ernie Wilmott took over the indebted union and, as legend has it, paid the staff their Xmas wages with his own Long Service Leave entitlements.
Altoff was a confirmed rank and filer who insisted everything he and his union did was from the ground up.
His contribution was critical to the union successfully wining the $24 a week rise in the 70's, a rise that sent shock waves across the country.
As part of the claim Altoff was supposed to drive Commissioner Wells around Sydney for three days so he could see first hand the realities of being a transport worker.
On the first day they were on the job for 16 hours.
The Commissioner didn't turn up on the second, and the TWU members won the case.
In passing his decision, Altoff warmly remembered how the Commissioner remarked "Those transport workers deserve every cent they can get."
For his years of service Altoff was made a TWU Life Member, the first Rank and Filer to do so in 110 years.
He was also the holder of the Labor Council Scroll of Honor.
Altoff's most recent milestone was his 29 years as Labor Council doorman, where he repulsed many a protester with his quiet and dignified style.
Frank's mentoring role in the TWU continued until his death and advice to his young comrades never changed - always fight hard, fight from the ground up and always, always follow the motto,
"The past we cannot change, but at present we can better the future."
The former world champ, ranked 32 of the top 100 surfers of all time by Tracks magazine, said the shipowners making "a lot" of money from the ships were putting nothing back.
"They register these ships of shame in one country, crew them in another and you can never track down who the owner is when something goes wrong," Dean says.
"We need to educate our youth about what's going on."
State champ Erin Nicholls who came second at the Whalebone Classic says the rusting ships should be banned totally.
Nicholls was competing in France in 2002 when the slick from the oil tanker Prestige hit the beach.
The Bahamas flagged tanker snapped in two contaminating 183 beaches and causing an estimated $80 million in damage.
"It was pretty disgusting," said Nicholls "There was slick all over the beach, all over my board. It was ugly.
"These things are hard to fix when they happen. It's better to put a stop to these rotten ships altogether."
Ship owners often register their boats in countries with the least stringent regulations and with the cheapest fees.
Maritime Union official Dean Summers says the government's plan to replace Australian vessels with the cheapest alternatives afloat exposes the country's coastline to environmental catastrophe.
Summers fears an incident such as the Prestige or Exxon Valdez disasters would devastate beachgoers, fishing and aquaculture.
One hundred and thirty workers face the loss of their jobs and up to $5.8 million in redundancy entitlements at the Forgecast factory in eastern Melbourne, despite the company having assured them their entitlements were secure, during enterprise bargaining negotiations, last year.
"We cannot rely on the word of the employer anymore," says Dave Oliver from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU). "Steps have to be taken to secure entitlements".
Workers from the Forgecast factory demonstrated outside the office of local federal Liberal MP, Phil Baressi last week, in protest against the inadequacy of the Howard Government's redundancy scheme and insolvency laws.
"The workers are very angry, says AMWU organiser Zeljko Curak. "There is not much trust in management."
"Nonetheless they are determined to fight on."
Forgecast was placed in voluntary administration under PricewaterhouseCoopers two weeks ago after losing export contracts to supply car parts to the United States.
Unions have been negotiating with administrators and other Forgecast customers in a bid to keep the company trading.
Forgecast supplies to motor vehicle component manufacturers and there is some concern that the collapse of the company may lead to stand-downs at major car manufacturing plants.
In a 'best case' scenario workers are looking at losing over 25 percent of their entitlements, with no guarantee for the remainder.
The General Employee Entitlements Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) will pay less than half of the workers' lawful entitlements.
Brother Howard
The Australian Workers' Union National Secretary Bill Shorten said Prime Minister John Howard used taxpayers' money to pay 100% of workers' entitlements owed by his brother Stan Howard's company National Textiles in 2000, but would not even pay half of the Forgecast workers' entitlements.
"The Forgecast workers just want Mr Howard to treat them like workers in his brother's company," Mr Shorten said. "Otherwise many long-serving workers could be short-changed by tens of thousands of dollars.
John McPhilbin blew the whistle on claims of systematic bullying and harassment in last week's edition of Workers Online.
"Numerous copies of the story are now floating around Chubb," says McPhilbin. "'It's about time someone took a stand', is apparently the most common response."
A report by Chubb's insurance consultants Lee, Kelly & Associates Pty Ltd says McPhilbin "would present as an excellent witness in his own cause".
A former workmate, Robert Moore, who worked his way up from guard to business manager, was demoted in a move he attributes to his "association with John McPhilbin".
"As a result of the treatment I became highly agitated, had high blood pressure, was physically shaking, I was unable to sleep, had difficulty in concentration and ability to drive."
Moore's health problems have been diagnosed by a doctor as being "totally work related".
McPhilbin has urged other victims of bullying to speak out and become part of the NSW Labor Council campaign for respect and dignity in the workplace.
The campaign will be launched at a September 8 conference at the Sydney Opera House.
People interested in attending the bullying conference can contact the NSW Labor Council on (02) 9264 1691.
The head honchos had already provoked a strike, during their North Coast sojourn, by hauling an ASU member over the coals for distributing union information in the workplace, via email.
The ASU said the Sydney-based AIDS Council of NSW managers had flown to Lismore to take disciplinary action against the man. It described their mission as a "disgraceful act of "anti-union thuggery".
Lismore organiser, John O'Driscoll, said the member had been victimised for pursuing legitimate union activity.
"It seems the activist has been disciplined because he distributed a union newsletter critical of his employer," Mr O'Driscoll said. "If this was the standard for discipline, there would be very few union delegates in a job."
"What is particularly disturbing is that an organisation like the AIDS Council, which does great work in addressing discrimination against people with HIV, should itself discriminate against a union delegate."
Workers Carter Holt Harvey, Oberon, have labelled their managers "Keystone Cops" after they began industrial action over safety and a move to a "living" wage.
Twenty of the 100-plus workforce walked off the job last Thursday night forcing management to work through the night to maintain the plant.
The strikers were told to leave the plant; fearing a lock out they refused, instead moving to the lunchroom. Management then began to follow the workers and union representatives around the plant. When workers move to the warmth of their vehicles disgruntled managers maintained their watching brief in sub-zero temperatures.
Management's attempts to intimidate their employees were shrugged off by the workers, with the entire workforce backing the industrial action.
Workers were told they were to shut the plant down after they had begun strike action, and were to start the plant up again before the strike finished.
"They told the members to work for free while they were on strike," says Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, Timber division organiser Adam Lincoln. "Unqualified management and staff kept the plant open in what is a potential breech of safety procedures."
Safety at the plant has been under the microscope following revelations last year that inadequate management of hot oil had turned the mill into "ticking time bomb".
The CFMEU says meetings with company representatives are scheduled for early this week, with mass meetings to follow if there is no positive response from the company.
Workers at the Carter Holt Harvey mill are seeking an increase of 4.5% a year over the next two years.
The Public Service Association says up to $47 million dollars in compulsory waste levies paid by all householders and businesses in New South Wales are going to projects other than sustainable waste programs and grants.
In addition, 300 staff who administer waste programs have been axed.
Numbers have been halved in some regional offices such as Woloongong, Newcastle, Central Coast and Queanbeyan.
Staff have begun an industrial campaign to 'work to rule' and are refusing to work any more unpaid overtime, or take on the workload of any workmate made redundant.
PSA general secretary John Cahill says his member have had enough of the cut and chop approach to environmental protection and conservation.
"The very department which was telling those of us who smoke 'Don't be a tosser', is now tossing staff employed to look after the environment out of their jobs," Cahill says.
"The Department no longer has the staff to properly protect and conserve the State's environment."
Boycott and Picket the Safari Restaurant
SUPPORT UNPAID SUBCONTRACT BUILDING COMPANIES IN THEIR CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE
How can you help?
Boycott the Safari Restaurant
Sign our Supporters Petition
Make a donation to the campaign
Picket nightly from 6.15pm - 28 King Street, Newtown.
Dream on!
National competition for students - term 3
The Australian Council of Trade Unions' Worksite for Schools website
(www.worksite.actu.asn.au) is currently running a national
competition for school, TAFE and RTO students - Your Dream Job.
To enter, students must write about the job of their dreams. There is $100 for the student
winner, $50 for 2 runners-up, and $25 for the winner of the special effort category.
The competition will not only give students a chance to win, it's a great way for them to learn about the workforce and get them excited about their working future.
Worksite is a terrific source of information about the workforce, providing statistics, encouraging debate, creativity and analysis.
The competition closes Friday 22nd October 2004. More information and an entry form
can be obtained from the Worksite website - www.worksite.actu.asn.au.
Please call 1800 659 511 (toll free) or email [email protected] if you have any questions.
COALITION FOR TRUTH - The impact of the Bush-Howard-Blair invasion of Iraq
A post June 30 assessment
SUNDAY JULY 18, 2-4pm
Guthrie Theatre, University of Technology, Sydney
702 Harris St, Ultimo (near Railway Square, Central Station)
Speakers include :-
Alison Broinowski, former diplomat and author
John Valder AO, former Federal Liberal Party President
Tanya Plibersek, MHR, Labor member for Sydney
Senator Andrew Bartlett, Leader, Australian Democrats
Senator Kerry Nettle, Australian Greens
MC Quentin Dempster
Entry $5.00
Organised by the Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition,
Labor's Policy on the Republic
Shadow Attorney General Nicola Roxon MP
Date: Tuesday 20 July 2004
Time: 6:00pm drinks for 6:30 start
Venue: Glover Cottages
Address: 124 Kent Street Sydney
Admission: $15 members / $20 non-members
Flyer at http://www.republic.org.au/ARM-2001/news&events/Sydney_Speakers_Series_Flyer
Republican Trivia Night
with guest MC�s Chris Taylor & Craig Reucassel
Date: Thursday 22 July 2004
Time: 6:30 for 7.00pm
Venue: Gaelic Club (upstairs)
Address: 64 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills (5 mins walk from Central
Station)
Admission: $20 (includes light supper ~ drinks at bar prices)
Flyer at www.republic.org.au
Seminar on radical Right
The Sydney Branch, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, with the Business and Labour History Group, University of Sydney presents:
Damien Cahill, speaking on
From Fringe Dwellers to Opinion Makers: A History of the Radical Neo-liberal Movement in Australia
Level 7, PSU House, 191 Thomas Street, Haymarket, Sydney
(Thomas Street runs off George Street, just down from Central Station it is in the heart of Chinatown)
SUNDAY July 25, 2004 (2-4pm)
This paper discusses the origins and history of the radical neo-liberal movement - what is commonly called the 'new right'- in Australia. The central question addressed is: 'How was it that a small, fringe movement was able to develop, within a relatively short period of time, into a powerful and vocal political force in Australia?' It is argued that the answer to this question has more to do with the alliances the movement made with key fractions of capital than with the organisational strength of think tanks or the power of neo-liberal ideas. In analysing the movements history and its relationships with capital, this paper also discusses the impact that the movement has had in Australia.
Damien Cahill is a researcher in the School of Social Sciences, Media and Communications at the University of Wollongong and a research officer for Michael Organ MP, Member for Cunningham. He has recently completed his PhD thesis on the radical neo-liberal movement in Australia.
Entry is free. All welcome. Tea and coffee will be provided. Due to difficulties in accessing the building, we would appreciate it if you could arrive before 2pm.
Rail: Get off at central
Bus: Get off at Railway Square
Car: Parking station next door
Enquiries: Julie Kimber: (02) 9557 9231 [email protected] or Rowan Cahill: (02) 4861 2323 [email protected]
The Day Before Tomorrow
The Real Threat of Climate Change and What Australia should do about it
Place: @Newtown
62 Enmore Road, Newtown (old Newtown RSL)
Date: Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Guest Speakers:
world-renowned climate scientist Dr Graeme Pearman
Chief, CSIRO Atmospheric Research (1992-2002)
Anna Reynolds , Climate Change Campaign Director
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Kelvin Thomson MP
Federal Shadow Minister for Sustainability, the Environment
and Heritage
All Welcome
For more information: Shane McArdle (02) 9564 3588 or Paula O'Sullivan
(02) 9357 6366
A Night of Comedy, featuring Mick Meredith and Thomas Bromhead
Thursday 29 July
Further details here
Strategic Thinking And Planning
An East coast opportunity to work on your campaign or organisation's strategic thinking and planning.
Would you like to be an activist who knows where their campaign is going? Do your current strategies and tactics match the broader social and political context? Would you like to be the kind of community worker who is clear about the aims of their project so that you can clearly evaluate what you are trying to achieve? Many environmental and social justice advocates are flying by the seat of their pants and looking for effective strategies to address the challenges we face. Sometimes we can get stuck in reactive modes, or feel overwhelmed by the challenges of the moment.
The good news is that there are skills and tools for helping us become more pro-active, and creative as an organisation. We can become smarter at strategy!
So would you like to build the skills base in your organisation? How to develop a plan? Strategic analysis? Are you merely being more reactive about your work? This workshop provides you with an opportunity to not only reflect, but to learn new skills in strategic thinking and planning to add to your activist tool kit.
Four seasoned trainers will be facilitating two days of active and experiential learning on strategic campaign analysis and planning.
Workshop goals:
Develop skills in understanding how organisations create smart strategies for change;
Learn new tools for campaign planning;
Increase your skills for accessing creativity and understanding your gifts for strategic thinking;
And apply these skills and tools to your organisation!
When &where:
Brisbane :: Thursday 29th & Friday 30th July :: Brisbane Powerhouse
Sydney :: Monday 2nd & Tuesday 3rd August :: Quakers Meeting House
Melbourne :: Thursday 5th & Friday 6th August :: The Green Building
How much: $220-550 > sliding scale [includes GST unfortunately]
Contact Amy for more details: [email protected]
Work Interrupted
The ACTU will be co-sponsoring a conference on casual and insecure employment in Melbourne on August 2, 2004.
This timely national conference will examine the impact of casual and insecure work on Australian workers, business and the economy.
Casual employment as a proportion of the total workforce has grown from 13% in 1982 to 28% in 2003. It is widespread in many new industries and occupations and is increasingly long-term. Most jobs created in the 1990s were part-time and casual.
This conference will look at:
* the personal experience of casual workers
* international comparisons with Australian casual employment
* the economic impact of casual employment
* policy challenges for legislators, business and unions
This conference brings together some of Australia's leading thinkers and commentators and policy makers from business, unions, academia, politics, and the media to further this important debate.
Union places at the conference will cost $150 per head. To reserve your place download and complete the registration form below and fax it to RMIT University/CASR on 02 9365 6067. Or email your details to [email protected]. Or post the registration form with payment to: Work Interrupted, PO Box 7267, Bondi Beach NSW 2026.
http://www.actu.asn.au/public/news/1087890291_19647.html
Oxfam fundraiser - The Corporation
Oxfam Community Aid Abroad invites you to the screening of The Corporation an award winning documentary film by Michael Achbar.
THE CORPORATION is a film which is resonating with audiences all over the world. Analyzing the very nature of the corporate institution, its impacts on our planet, and what people are doing in response, filmmakers Mark Achbar (co-director of MANUFACTURING CONSENT), Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan provide a darkly amusing account of the institution's evolution as a legal "person," and a powerful indictment of the roots of corporate power.
Based on Joel Bakan's book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of
Profit and Power", the film has been generating popular support from street
level to the boardrooms of the Corporate Social Responsibility movement.
Featuring interviews with CEOs and top-level executives from some of the
world's largest corporations and critical thinkers including Noam Chomsky,
Peter Drucker, Milton Friedman, Naomi Klein, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva,
Steve Wilson, Michael Moore, and Jane Akre.
Winner of the AUDIENCE AWARD for DOCUMENTARY in WORLD CINEMA at the 2004
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL and numerous other awards including 7 audience
choice awards.
Special Guest: Mark Achbar, Co-director of The Corporation
will give a brief introduction to the film and will be available for
questions after the film.
When: TUESDAY, 3 AUGUST @ 7:00pm
Where: The Chauvel Cinema
Paddington Town Hall, Cnr Oxford Street & Oatley Road, Paddington
Entry $20 / $15. For bookings phone: 93615398 ($10 to OCAA and ACCA)
Nibblies provided. Drinks at the bar.
hoWARd the arseLIcKEr
-Written by D.B.Valentine - Directed by Mark Cleary
-The Edge Theatre - Cnr King & Bray Sts Newtown
-Advance previews Wed 4th & Thurs 5th August.
-Opening Friday 6th Aug to Sunday 29th Aug.
-Time: 7.30pm (tbc)
-Bookings 9645 1611 or www.mca-tix.com
-More info go to: www.newtowntheatre.com.au click on "The Edge"
The Republican Movement and Reconciliation
ARM Sydney Speakers Series #2: author and academic Mark McKenna - Tuesday 10 August 2004
Further details at
http://www.republic.org.au/ARM-2001/news&events/Sydney_Speakers_Series_Flyer.PDF
Labor and Community Organising in Los Angeles: a popular education approach
12 August Kent Wong seminar - Pop Ed in LA for unions and community organisations
Centre for Popular Education Seminar
Kent Wong Director UCLA Centre for Labor Research and Education
How do unions and community organizations organise in Los Angeles? What role can a University center play as a bridge between the University and the Labor community in Southern California? And how have the dramatic changes in the Southern California economy in recent years shaped this relationship?
Kent Wong, the Centre Director, will talk about the Center and its concentration on working with unions, immigrant worker and other community unions/associations, and how its research - which encourages and draws upon community scholars - provides an important source of information for unions and community organisations. Perhaps this explains why the Center's future has been threatened by Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger's proposed 2004-05 state budget, which aims to dramatically reduce its funds.
When: Thursday 12 August
Where: Centre for Popular Education, UTS
5th Floor Conference Room
235 Jones St, Broadway
Time: 3-5pm followed by drinks
RSVP: [email protected] 9514 3866
Republican Film Night - Tuesday 31 August 2004
Further details at
http://www.republic.org.au/ARM-2001/news&events/NSW_Film_Night_31_August_2004_Flyer.PDF
Parliamentary Theatresports
Just a quick reminder that this coming weekend's opening night of "Parliamentary Theatresports" at Belvoir Street features guest judge Sen Aden Ridgeway (Democrat NSW Senator in Fed Parliament) as well as Nova FM star Bianca Dye and comic Gabby Millgate (among a cast of super impro comics).
The shtick is mock political, with 'parties' competing for the audience's vote...
There'll be the snouts in the trough section (for bribing the audience... this week with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!) and ample opportunity for audience suggestions ("questions without notice")!
See the attached press clipping - one of many already... or visit http://parliament.improaustralia.com.au
We need HELP.
I am a member of Diabetes Australia NSW and have Type 2 Diabetes, to my horror the CEO of McDonalds has been given a place on the Board of Directors of our association, NOT elected.
I contacted DA and asked what benefit we as members and people with Diabetes would benefit the only thing they could say that he had great experience in sales.
PLEASE HELP informing as many people as possible about this especially members of Diabetes AusNSW, so they DONT vote for him at the next AGM.
David May
It is a story about morality and how an organisation that committed heinous crimes is trying to duck responsibility.
James Hardie is not the victim of market fluctuations, mismanagement or even the sort of fraud that has landed the heads of Enron in the dock. James Hardie sits alongside the tobacco industry, Union Carbide and Exxon as a company that profited from human misery.
Let us be blunt. James Hardie is in its current position because it perpetrated a crime of massive proportions, knowingly selling products that killed for years and years, ignoring and even suppressing the evidence to maintain its profits.
Tens of thousands of Australian have died premature and painful deaths because of this crime; tens of thousands more are expected to in the years to come.
If James Hardie was a person, not a corporation, it would be facing murder charges, not manslaughter. The evidence suggests the cover-up was conscious, calculated and ongoing.
While these sins were committed decades ago by managers no longer with James Hardie, the damage is ongoing.
The concern must be that the very values that allowed James Hardie to flog asbestos products long after it knew it was deadly, still pervades a company prepared to shift resources offshore so victims will die penniless deaths.
The architects of this plot should not be allowed to hide behind corporations law, fiduciary duty and boardroom decisions, they should face the force of law and be exposed for what they have become - criminals.
This is not just some bag-snatcher skipping town, it is the equivalent of a mass-murderer breaking out of jail - and yes, you do have to wonder about the wardens as security seemed pretty light at the time.
And James Hardie's solution to the current predicament? A statutory scheme that would cap payouts to victims and presumably be underwritten by the taxpayer.
You only need to turn to New Zealand where such a scheme is in place; payments average $A90,000 for claimants whose lives are cut short. Ninety thousand dollars, just two years average salary. Now think what the reaction would be if a multiple murderer were sentenced to two years. There would be justifiable outrage.
So what should we do with corporations that kill? Unlike a certain Leader of the Free World we don't believe in capital punishment in Australia. We believe in rehabilitation and reparations in the hope that some good will ultimately come from the crime.
We do not wish James Hardie failure or collapse - in fact, we want it to thrive; not just so it can continue to compensate the victims of its crimes, but so it can stand as an ongoing reminder of what happens when a corporation puts profits above morality.
But current shareholders in Australia and abroad need to know what they are buying into - a company with debts to settle that no profit forecast or share price can justify walking away from.
If people are to maintain confidence in our justice system then James Hardie can not be allowed to get away with its Amsterdam Solution; it must continue to pay as long as lives are ruined by the sins of its fathers.
Peter Lewis
Editor
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