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Australian Idols
It was a week for the little people as Casey won Australian Idol and Rebecca beat the railways. In entertainment and politics it was a young woman from the burbs who ran rings around the pros.
Interview: The Reich Stuff
Robert Reich has led the debate on the future of work – both as an academic and politician. Now he’s on his way to Australia to help NSW unions push the envelope.
Economics: Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.
Environment: Beyond The Wedge
Whether the great forestry divide can ever be overcome or whether it is best sidestepped for the sake of unity and sustainability in other areas is up for debate, writes Tara de Boehmler.
International: The End Of The Lucky Country
Linda Weiss, Elizabeth Thurbon and John Mathews show us How To Kill A Country
Safety: Tests Fail Tests
Nick Lewocki from the RTBU lifts the lid on the shonky science behind RailCorp testing
Politics: Labo(u)r Day
John Robertson lets fly at this years Labor Day dinner
Human Rights: Arabian Lights
Tim Brunero reports on how a Sydney sparky took on the Taliban and lived to tell the tale.
History: Labour's Titan
Percy Brookfield was a big man who was at the heart of the trade union struggles that made Broken Hill a quintessential union town writes Neale Towart.
Review: Foxy Fiasco
To find out who is outfoxing who, read Tara de Boehmler's biased review of a subjective documentary about corrupt journalism.
Poetry: Then I Saw The Light
Brothers and sisters! Praise the Lord! Brother George has saved the White House from an invasion by infidels, writes resident bard David Peetz.
 Helicar Fingers Victims ... Again
Rabbits Sick of Clover
What a Banker
Pack Up and Go Home
Pratt By Name
Horror at the Hacienda
Women Wiped for Bush Jobs
Veteran Fights Bullet
Tunneler Survives Death Trap
Bathurst Three Face Court
Chullora Cuts Struck Out
Bully Breaks Heart
Southern Cross Flies High
Activists What's On!
The Locker Room
In Naming Rights Only
Phil Doyle has Gone to Gowings The Soapbox
Homeland Insecurity
Rowan Cahill tells us how the Howard Government’s appointment of Major-General Duncan Lewis to head up the national security division of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has received little critical comment, until now. Parliament
The Westie Wing
New proposed legislation in NSW provides a vital window of opportunity for unions to ensure they achieve convictions for workplace deaths, writes Ian West.
Regarding Pee Poles
Pee Pole Shame
Latham Is A Scapegoat
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News
Tunneler Survives Death Trap
A worker was lucky to escape with his life when pinned by a "death trap" crane used on the Epping to Chatswood railway line.
Construction company Hoch-Teif ordered staff to use equipment the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) had already fingered as faulty.
A subsequent audit by CFMEU and WorkCover exposed a number of safety breaches, including unlicensed formwork and faulty cranes, with WorkCover issuing seven rectification notices.
"This company has shown complete disregard for the safety of its workers,' says CFMEU secretary Andrew Ferguson. "The attitude to safety on this job created an environment that was a recipe for someone to get killed.
"Does a worker have to die before employers will take safety seriously?"
Other safety issues that emerged during the audit included scaffolding at tunnel entrances that created risks of falls and a faulty electrical system.
CFMEU safety expert Dick Whitehead said safety on the job had "gone out the window". He called the Hoch-Teif cranes "death traps".
Hoch-Teif brought in safety expert, John Nankara from CraneSafe Australia, to examine the cranes at the centre of the near fatality.
Nankara, one of 6 accredited crane safety inspectors in NSW, slammed the defective cranes.
The cranes are now undergoing major repairs and workers will be left hanging for up to two weeks until the work is complete.
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Issue 248 contents
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