 |
Gold Fever
So this is our most successful Olympics ever. Our athletes will return from Athens with their biggest ever haul of medals, more winners per capita than anywhere on earth. If all this is true, why does it all feel so empty?
Interview: Trading Places
New ACTU International Officer Alison Tate cut her teeth delivering aid to developing nations through APHEDA. Now she is helping chart the global union agenda.
Safety: Snow Job
James Hardie has been drilled into our collective consciousness as a story of power, greed and immorality. It is also, as Jim Marr reports, a tale of human tragedy.
Politics: In the Vanguard
Damien Cahill reveals how neo-liberal think tanks have been at the forefront of the corporate assault upon trade unions and social movements in Australia.
Unions: Gentle Giant Goes For Gold
Don�t get between Sydney sparkie Semir Pepic and a gold medal in a dimly lit alley, writes Tim Brunero.
Bad Boss: 'Porker' Chases Blue Ribbon
Perfect Porker, Darren Vincent, brings a history of meat worker shafting to this month�s Bad Boss nomination.
International: Cruising For A Bruising
Europe�s big unions are bruised as they watch companies roll over some of their best-organised unionised workplaces demanding longer work hours � without any recompense, reports Andrew Casey.
History: Under the Influence
Was John Kerr drunk when he wrote and signed the letter dismissing Edward Gough Whitlam from the Prime Ministership in 1975? Geraldine Willissee investigates.
Economics: Working Capital
Where superannuation fits, where it fails and what we should we do about it. Neale Towart gives the tough answers.
Review: Fahrenheit 9/11
There's many a must see moment in Mike Moore's new flick but beating the propaganda machine at its own game wreaks havoc with wearied bullshit detectors, writes Tara de Boehmler.
Poetry: Bad Intelligence Rap
When Flood washed away the PM's sins, the truth was once again left high and dry.
Satire: Osama Bin Manchu
During a recent visit to an elderly relative in a nursing home, I was waylaid by an ancient gentleman who insisted I listen to what he had to say, writes Rowan Cahill.
 Crane Topples at Death Probe
Treasury�s "Scary" Power Play
Aussie Idol on the Farm
Email Volley Defends Delegate
Hardie Slow on the Uptake
Meatworkers Go Full Monty
Sydney or the Bush
Delta Blues
Badge of Honour Signals Row
Libs to Trump Court
Project Champions Working Poor
Jobs Victory on the Border
Scabs in the Valley
Activists What's On!
Parliament
The Westie Wing
The Labor Governments in each State must take the lead to stop the abuse of corporate law in Australia in the absence of action from the Federal Government, as the Inquiry into James Hardie�s has highlighted, writes Ian West. The Soapbox
Cleaners Deserve Our Support
It's time the state's cleaners were given some support, loyalty and long service leave, writes Chris Christodoulou. The Locker Room
Half Time At The Football
Phil Doyle wants to have his pie and eat it too.
Tribute
Faithful Servant
Frank Mossfield was one of the labour movement�s quiet achievers. Former Labor Council secretary Michael Easson pays tribute. Postcard
Lessons From East Timor
Just back from a study tour to East Timor, National Reserach Officer with the Construction division of the CFMEU, Ben Stirling, writes about the experience for Workers Online.
Watch What they Do
|
| other LaborNET sites |
|
Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
|
|
|
News
Libs to Trump Court
Federal Government�s promise to trump a court right of entry decision exposes the "big lie" behind AWAs, according to the CFMEU.
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews, this week, committed a re-elected Coalition Government to re-writing the industrial rulebook to make it clear AWA employees would not have on-the-job access to union advice or assistance.
"This is the Howard Government bending over again for its friends in the mining and resources lobby," the CFMEU's Joe Macdonald said.
"Rio Tinto abd BHP want to run non-union operations where workers don't get a collective say in wages, conditions or safety standards.
"Peter Reith, Tony Abbott and all the rest argued AWAs would enshrine freedom of choice. Now, not only do workers get no choice about whether they are employed on AWAs, but the government will legislate to make sure they don't have the choice of approaching union officials at their workplaces.
"The whole argument for AWAs is a big lie."
Macdonald was speaking days after the CFMEU used its federal court breakthrough to win a 36-hour week and substantial increases for 600 workers on Rio Tinto's Dampier port upgrade.
At least 100 AWA employees of a contractor joined the Dampier action and will benefit from shorter working hours.
"Once we got to the AWA guys and showed them how they were being screwed they joined the campaign," Macdonald said. "That's what Andrews, Rio Tinto and all the rest are scared of - workers making informed choices."
The CFMEU blasted a hole in the government's strategy to deunionise workplaces when the federal court ruled, last month, it could access AWA employees of anti-worker activist, Len Buckeridge, at Burrup Fertilisers.
The court heard uncontested evidence from 40-year industry veteran, Alan Kuret, that the OEA had registered a fraudulent AWA in his name, although he had never seen, let alone signed, the document.
Justice French described as "surprising" OEA evidence that it registered electronically-submitted AWAs outside the 21 days allowed by law.
The court learned that Buckeridge's company bound sub-contractors to employ AWA labour only.
Andrews has not responded to a CFMEU challenge to investigate the OEA and companies that commit fraud.
 View entire issue - print all of the articles!
Issue 235 contents
|
